Warehouse facilities offer storage units in sizes from 25 to 10,000 square feet. Whether big or small, there areperfect warehouse storage solutions to fit your every need. Here are a few to help you choose.
Among other options, you can have a portable storage container shipped to your home from the warehouse—instead of transporting your items there and having to fill the unit yourself on site.
Once stocked, the portable container will then be picked up and transported directly to the warehouse facility.
What can you store?
You can store just about anything, with some obvious exceptions.
- It might be just a few suitcases, a vehicle over the winter, or even the entire contents of your home if, for example, you're temporarily relocating overseas or doing major renovations.
- On the other hand, corrosive and potentially explosive chemicals (such as gasoline, solvents, paint and propane), perishables and animals have absolutely no place in a warehouse.
What are your needs?
You must determine your needs before shopping around. That includes how much space you will need. Rates vary considerably from one place to another, depending among other things:
- Amenities (temperature and climate control, camera surveillance, alarm systems for individual units).
- Accessibility (during office hours only or 24/7).
- Location (you’ll spend much more on rent in the city than the suburbs).
- Length of storage time.
Required space
Warehouse logistics experts can easily help you determine how much space you’ll need. You can also research warehousing and storage websites: they break down unit capacity by associating them with examples of what you can store. For example, 150 square feet is the equivalent to storing the contents of a 4 ½- or 5 ½-room apartment.
- Warehouses strongly suggest that when packing your own items, use boxes of the same size to maximize storage space.
Inspect the facility
It pays to visit the warehouse where you'll be leaving your belongings.
- Is space the tidy? Make sure the space is properly cleaned so as to avoid the risk of contamination or rodent infestation.
- Is there adequate lighting for exits and passageways?
- Are units fireproof?
- Is the door wide enough for entry of your largest items?
- What security measures do they have in place?
Don’t forget
- You may not use a warehouse as a workshop.
- Lawnmowers and power equipment must be drained of all oil and gasoline before storing.
- Always lay a tarp on the ground to protect your personal belongings.
- Stored items you may occasionally need to retrieve from time to time at the front of the unit.
- If you have many items to store in large unit, arrange them so as to create a small corridor through which you can circulate.
- Label the contents of each box.
- Make an inventory list of everything you store, and keep it for insurance purposes.
For every need—big or small, long- or short-term—there's aperfect-size storage solution that's ready to help make your life a bit easier.
