Archive for the ‘Storage’ Category
Loose Linens in a Storage Bin are Vulnerable to Rodents
April 2, 2012Common Mistakes in Downsizing: Acting as if the downsizing is very temporary.
October 12, 2010
Not Recommended Way of Stacking Your Boxes in Storage Bin
Healthy optimism may dictate you or your client see the downsizing as very temporary. But this becomes very costly if this means putting a lot in storage for when you return to living in a big house or office. You or your client may have a financial recovery, but it is rarely worth it to pay monthly storage until that happens. A 10×20 storage unit is around $170 per month. That is $2040 per year. The average storage bin customer has their stuff in storage for 22 months. At $170 per month that means the average storage customer is paying $3740. That is why mini storage is quite profitable.
Most of the time, the items stored are not worth $3740. And guess what? If they are, then that means you could sell them and pocket hundreds or thousands instead of paying thousands.
It is better for your downsizing client to sell or give away the excess items when downsizing, and use the proceeds and storage savings to buy appropriate furniture and items when she does recover financially.
A Customer’s Chaotic Storage Bins
November 5, 2009
These are pictures of a customer’s storage bins. The customer will remain nameless, but I can say they are a major medical practice! They directed our Moving Company to simply deposit these boxes and miscellaneous equipment in their bins. Some questions come to mind:
1) Are these boxes full of archived records that might need to be located at some time?
2) How do they expect to find anything?
3) Might there be a better way to organize these Storage Bins?
Moving Items to Self-Storage Bins
May 3, 2009
Ricky Packing a Storage Unit
We will move a customer’s items either to their own storage, or to our storage:
1) If they are using their own storage, we will tell them what size storage bin they need.
2) <a href=”“>Usually climate-controlled storage is not required, though we also offer climate-controlled storage if it is really required.
STORAGE — “Climate-Control” or “Non Climate-Control?”
January 29, 2009
Climate-Controlled Storage Building
Versus
Non-Climate-Controlled Storage with External Door
With apologies to “Public Storage” and other climate-control storage companies—“Climate-Control Storage” is mostly a marketing gimmick and a very Non-Green one at that (think of how much energy they are using cooling and heating all those storage units. It is a shame to spend all that energy cooling inanimate objects. The furniture is not going to complain about the heat—I assure you.) The fact is: in the far majority of cases, non-climate controlled storage works just fine. You may have heard of furniture sustaining damage in non-climate controlled storage, and that is invariably because WATER GOT INTO THE STORAGE UNIT! Especially when water got into the unit, and then SHRINK WRAP HELD THE WATER IN PLACE. This creates mildew and over time it is damaging to both upholstery and wood furniture. IF IT IS RAINING ON THE DAY FURNITURE IS PUT INTO STORAGE, THEN NO SHRINK WRAP SHOULD BE PUT DIRECTLY ON THE FURNITURE! The furniture can be padded first and then shrink wrap can be wrapped over the pads to hold them in place.
As more evidence against climate-controlled storage, think of this: When the sofa is made in the factory, is the factory climate-controlled? No. When the sofa is driven in the truck to “Havertys,” is the truck climate-controlled? No. When the sofa is stored in Haverty’s warehouse, is the warehouse climate-controlled? No. It is only when the sofa gets to Haverty’s showroom that it becomes climate-controlled. When it is sold it is then transported once again in a non-climate controlled truck.
It is true that the units in a climate-controlled building are down the hall away from the outside door, thus protecting against water entry. But it is also true that non-climate-controlled units at their door—slope up into the unit, thus preventing the inflow of water. And I can assure you, the warehouses of the major Van Lines—United, Mayflower etc. are not climate-controlled.
Wood furniture, upholstery: as long as there is no water present—stores fine in non-climate-controlled storage units. Mattresses and box springs also do fine as long as they are dry and have a pad or blanket to rest on, but I think it is worth it to put them into mattress boxes—they just stay clean that way, and off the concrete floor.
Now I wouldn’t store the “Mona Lisa” in non-climate controlled storage. Nor would I store the original US Constitution in non-climate controlled storage. Probably I also wouldn’t store a 16th Century French Sofa in non-climate controlled storage. Climate-controlled storage sometimes costs twice as much as regular storage. If a furniture piece or artwork belongs in an art museum, then go with the expensive climate-control. Otherwise save your money . . . and the electricity.
“PODS”
July 3, 2008
P-O-D-S are a very mixed bag. These are steel boxes, and there are wood versions, which are dropped off at your client’s home, and then the client gets them loaded somehow, and the PODS company comes back and picks them up and delivers them to the destination.
My experience with PODS is they only pay off for the customer IF THE CUSTOMER IS DOING THE LOADING AND LOADING THEMSELVES! If you were going to put some boxes and garage items and wooden chairs in a pod, and ship it somewhere or store it—Fine. But when you try to plan a major move, here are the problems: 1) The PODS are irregular sizes and the PODS incoming sales people frequently underestimate how many you need and then you need to call and order additonal PODS, and get an upcharge once you are already committed.
