Practical advice

How to pack a storage unit properly

Most of what goes wrong in storage is decided in the first hour of loading. Here's what thirty years of watching people load units has taught us.

Leave an aisle down the middle

The single most common regret. Load down both sides and keep a walkway to the back wall. You will need something from the back, and you will need it before you expected to.

Everything off the floor

Pallets, 2x4s, or even a layer of sacrificial boxes. Concrete holds cold and moisture, and anything sitting directly on it — particularly cardboard, upholstery, and mattresses — will find that out over a humid Upstate summer.

Label the sides of boxes, not the tops

Once boxes are stacked three high, the tops are invisible. Write on two sides in something you can read from across the unit. A number and a list on your phone beats "KITCHEN MISC."

Uniform box sizes stack. Mixed sizes topple.

Boxes of the same size interlock into a stable wall. A mix of grocery boxes and moving boxes makes a pile that leans, and eventually falls onto whatever is beneath it.

Appliances: clean, dry, and propped open

Defrost and dry a refrigerator or freezer completely, then store it with the door propped open an inch. Sealed shut with any moisture inside, it grows something you'll remember. Same for washers — drain the hoses.

Furniture likes to be taken apart

Bed frames, table legs, and shelf units come apart in minutes and often save an entire unit size. Tape the hardware in a labelled bag directly to the piece it came from, not in a "hardware box" you'll lose.

Mattresses stand on their side, wrapped

Upright takes far less floor space. Wrap it, and don't stack heavy things against it — a mattress compressed sideways for six months keeps that shape.

Don't wrap upholstery in plastic

Plastic traps moisture against fabric. Use old sheets or moving blankets so it can breathe. Plastic is fine for keeping dust off things that don't mind it.

What not to store, ever

• Anything flammable — gasoline, propane, paint thinner, fireworks. Drain mowers and trimmers before storing them.
• Food of any kind, including pet food and sealed cans. This is how a pest problem starts, and it starts in someone's unit and then becomes everyone's.
• Anything living, plants included.
• Anything perishable or wet. A damp rug will take a whole unit with it.

We include pest control across the property, but nothing overcomes a bag of birdseed in a corner.

Heat-sensitive items

Our units are drive-up and non-climate-controlled. Candles, vinyl records, chocolate, and instruments with glued joints don't enjoy an Upstate July. Most furniture, appliances, tools, and household goods are perfectly fine. If you're unsure about something specific, call and ask — we'll tell you honestly rather than take the rental and let you find out.

Last in, first out

Whatever you'll want first goes by the door. Seasonal items you won't touch for months go at the back. Ten minutes of planning here saves an hour every visit afterwards.