Two tips for people who've rented storage units for long-term use

Here are some tips for people who've rented storage units for long-term use.

They should use quality storage boxes

If a person only plans to keep their belongings in a unit for a few weeks, it might be ok for them to use cheap storage boxes. However, people who'll be keeping items in their units for a long time should use higher-quality storage boxes (such as boxes made of durable plastic or triple-walled cardboard). The reason for this is that if, for example, a person puts several hefty tins of paint in a thin-walled cardboard box, the weight of these items pressing against the box's weak walls might, over the course of a long time, cause the box to loose its (already limited) rigidity. This box might then collapse when the person picks it up. If this happens, the person could get hurt by the paint tins landing on their feet or the tins could get broken and paint could get onto the other items in their unit.

Similarly, if a person will be using a storage unit for a long time, the chances of them needing to frequently reorganise it, to make room for new items and to locate items they've been keeping in it, will be fairly high. If a person like keeps most of their items in the unit in strong plastic boxes that have wheels, the process of repositioning these boxes to make space for additional belongings or to move boxes out of the way when searching for other ones that are near them, will be faster and less tiring than if these items were kept in standard boxes, without wheels, that the person would have to pick up or drag across the floor.

They should make their unit easy and safe for them and others to navigate

When people use storage units for long periods of time, it's common for their units to get very full and a bit disorganised, as they gradually store more and more of their things in these spaces. With this in mind, it is important for people who'll be renting their units for many months or years to make it easy for themselves, as well as anyone else who'll need to visit the unit, to navigate this space. For example, if they reach the point where they need to keep dozens of boxes in their unit, they should not continue to simply stack the boxes on top of each other until the box piles reach the ceiling, but should instead consider putting some mobile shelving units in their space. Stacking boxes too high could result in them falling over and might also make it very difficult for anyone to safely pull boxes from the middle of any of these tall piles, without causing an entire stack to tip over.

Additionally, people in this situation should try not to allow items to accumulate in the centre of the unit to the point where there is virtually no floor space left, as this could mean that those who visit the unit need to either climb over or stand on top of things to reach any of the contents by the walls. This, in turn, might lead to them falling or breaking some of the unit's contents. 

For more info about storage units, contact a local company.