SELF STORAGE TIPS

Storage Basics

Storage Basics Overview

We understand finding a storage unit can be stressful, especially if you are not familiar with the variety of features and options that are available. You first need to consider how long you may need the storage unit – and the different specials that facilities offer.

Save money by only renting enough space for your items. Check out our storage calculator to assist you. Many self-storage facilities offer storage for larger items as well such as cars, campers, and other motorized vehicles.

Take into consideration the items that will be in storage. Will they need a climate controlled unit? Normally items that should be in climate-controlled storage include leathers, furs, clothing, photographs, furniture, DVDs, CD’s, electronics, etc.

Make sure the facility is secured by providing security cameras, fencing, gates, alarms, guards, etc.

MaxSecure Storage 4929 E 13th St N Wichita, KS 67208

Why Use Self-Storage?

✔ Reduce Clutter

Reduce clutter and free up needed space in your home or office by renting a self-storage unit. Storing a few boxes, old appliances, old toys, or even clothing can allow more room for other items.

✔ Security

In addition to a lock, facilities are often protected by a security fence, surveillance cameras, a gated entry, limited entry after hours, exterior, or onsite management. Self-storage units give you the benefits of both extra storage space and added security.

✔ Safety

You may be handy around the house and enjoy renovation projects, but between jobs, a self-storage unit can keep those power tools, ladders, saws, and drills away from curious children reducing the risk of possible accidents around the house.

✔ Space

Homes often do not have the storage space to hold large items. For example, boat, cars, and RV’s, you may not have room for them in your garage or driveway. A self-storage unit could give you a place to store such items that provide protection from the weather and some added security.

✔ Insurance

When renting a unit you may be required or at least offered insurance. Insurance will replace your valuables if they are stolen or damaged while in storage. Self-storage insurance may be cheaper than homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.

Choosing a Storage Facility

Are the items you wish to store sensitive to cold, heat, moisture, or dust?

If you are storing valuable items such as documents, electronics, computer equipment, stereos or television sets you may want to opt for a climate-controlled unit.

Do you need to store large items such as cars, campers, or other motorized vehicles?

Self-storage can be a great option for storing vehicles. If needed, you can rent a climate-controlled unit to help preserve these items. Safety is another factor to consider so you can rest easier knowing that your valuables are properly secured.

Is the storage facility you chose secure?

Compare the safety and security features of facilities before renting. Ask if there are security cameras on the premises. Is the facility equipped with motion lights or otherwise well lit? Some storage facilities offer security alarms and security fences.

Personal Storage Tips

Decluttering: Store or Keep?

As you look around your house, have you realize that you have accumulated more than will fit into the square footage available in your home? Deciding to rent a self-storage unit can help alleviate the clutter. The hard part is deciding what should stay and what should be stored in your self-storage unit.

Keepers

✔ Hold onto clothes that are in season and that you wear regularly.

✔ Keep at home practical items in regular use like silverware, towels, bedding and soap dishes.

✔ Retain often used furniture.

✔ Keep photos and wall hangings.

✔ Hold onto board games and enough toys to fill your child’s toy box.

✔ Keep enough of your college student’s personal objects to make them feel at home when they visit.

✔ File current bills and private documents like social security cards and bank account information at home.

✔ Show off collectors’ items in a display cabinet.

✔ Make room for sporting gear that someone in the house uses every few days.

Storage-bound

✔ Store out-of-season clothing and footwear.

✔ Box up extra items that clutter your cupboards like excess towels, the good silver used only on holidays, extra blankets needed only in winter.

✔ Store photos and wall hangings that haven’t seem to make it on the wall.

✔ Pack away extra toys that you have no room for. Rotate them in and out every few weeks so that your child can enjoy all of them. Involve your child in the decisions.

✔ Stash tax documents and other papers that may be needed but are seldom reviewed.

✔ Store collectors’ items that take up too much room and don’t look good on display.

✔ Pack up the out-of-season sporting gear.

✔ Bundle garden tools together in the offseason and stick them in a garbage bin in your self-storage unit.

✔ Ultimately, use your discretion to decide what stays and what goes. Label your stored goods well.

Holiday Decoration

The presents are unwrapped, the boxes are emptied of their contents, and tissue paper is strewn about the room. Time to clean up from all the holiday merriment; but don’t be too hasty to throw out the tissue paper and empty boxes – recycle them. This article will give you tips for storing holiday decorations.

Ornaments

Keep fragile ornaments at the top of a box.
Egg cartons are perfect for tiny ornaments.
Have a partitioned cardboard wine box? Use it to store tissue-wrapped ornaments. Several ornaments can be stacked on top of each other in each slot.
Reuse a shirt box or shoebox to store ornament hangers. Fill it with hooks, rolls of small ribbon, cording, scissors, twist ties and craft wire.
Store food-based decorations (like the cinnamon and applesauce ornaments your kids bring home from school) in sandwich bags to protect them from humidity, and then place the bags in an empty cookie tin to keep rodents out.

Garland

Store bulky garlands in large plastic storage boxes. You can push a lot into a big box since there’s nothing to break, and garlands can be fluffed out.
Mark the center of a long swag with a colored twist tie before you remove it so you won’t have to measure it again next year.
Lights
Instead of coiling your lights in a bundle that somehow turns into a big tangled ball, wrap them around empty wrapping paper tubes and tape the ends of the string to the tube.
Put extra bulbs and fuses in a sandwich bag and place inside the tube.

Home Appliance Storage

It can be difficult to make space in your home or garage for unused appliances. But because new appliances are expensive, many people prefer to hold on to old ones for hand-me-downs, vacation homes, or back-ups. A self-storage rental can be a convenient, affordable solution. However, if you don’t properly prepare your appliances for remote storage, you may return to find useless, moldy boxes. Below is some useful advice for secure appliance storage.

Run a final cycle

Consider running an empty clothes washer and dishwasher through a complete wash cycle using either a cup of bleach or white vinegar instead of detergent prior to placing in self-storage.

Drain liquid

Empty any water from hoses, holding tanks, plastic tubing and other internal components. This will help prevent freezing and mildew.

Clean the interior

Scrub and dry the interior completely — especially in refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens. Food and sugar remnants can attract bugs, even in interior storage units. In refrigerators, clean and dry the defrost pan — you’ll find it underneath or behind the refrigerator. In water-using appliances, wipe the rubber cushion seal around the perimeter of the door. Mildew tends to collect in this area.

Treat for insects

Insects that infest food are found almost everywhere. To prevent an infestation, be sure to spray your clean appliance for bugs.

Clean the exterior

Any motor-driven appliance will have an intake area (lint filter, tube or grid). Be sure to clean this vent. A vacuum may do the trick, but if the opening is greasy, you might use an old toothbrush.

Remove glass and protect the finish

If your appliance has glass shelves or fragile parts, remove them and transport them separately. Appliances with finishes that can scratch or dent should be wrapped in blankets or bubble wrap. Refrigerators should be transported upright.

Secure with tape

Use a strong tape to hold the appliance door closed. Even though the tape should only stay in place during the move, you may want to choose a type that won’t leave a residue (such as blue painters tape). Once in storage, remove the tape and prop the appliance’s door open to prevent mildew.

Choose a suitable storage unit

If you are storing your appliances in a region that experiences high temperatures, low temperatures, wide temperature swings, or high humidity, you may want to consider a climate controlled storage unit. Because climate control temps are kept constant, the mechanical/electronic parts of your appliances are better protected from rust and fissures.

Load last

If you’re moving more household items into your self-storage unit, put the large appliances on the truck last. This way, they will be the first to come off the truck. Refrigerators should be transported upright.

Unload first

By placing appliances in the back of your storage unit, you’ll have easier access to smaller items that you retrieve more frequently.

Turn the power off

The large majority of storage facilities will not offer electrical outlets in your storage unit. But if yours does have power, do not use it. Leave your appliance off for the duration of the rental.

Protect fragile parts

If you store appliance parts separately (glass panels, shelves, etc.) remember to mark them as fragile and avoid stacking or leaning heavy items on them.

Prop open the door

Find a way to keep the appliance’s door ajar for the duration of the storage rental. This will help deter mildew.

Avoid unwanted odors

Place an open box of baking soda in stored appliances.

Conserve space

Although some storage and moving companies advise against stowing items inside your appliances, careful preparation will offer additional storage space. A clean, dry, open appliance is a good spot to store lighter items, including fragile things. Do not jam-pack your appliance with heavy items, like books.

Cover and protect

Use a breathable material such as a tarp or sheet to shield your appliance from dirt, dust or accidental scratches.

Spring Cleaning and Storage

Whether you conduct a full-house cleaning once a year or once a month, you may want to consider renting a self-storage unit to get things out of the way during the process. In addition, cleaning and organizing easily can turn into redecorating. Self-storage facilities are great places to store items for the long-term that do not fit into your updated home design scheme but that you are not ready to toss, sell or donate.

Spring cleaning tips:

To keep track of what you have already accomplished, clean from the top down, dusting and washing ceiling fans, light fixtures and corners first. Then wipe and wash walls, windows, counters, furniture, and floors. A similar philosophy works with windows. Try cleaning the inside from left to right and the outside from the top down. This will make it easier to tell which side has streaks, if either.

Replace smoke detector batteries, test the smoke detectors and give them a good wipe down.
Clear counters and shelves and wash them thoroughly. Wash knick-knacks and dust books. If you have accumulated stacks of papers or bills, now is a good time to file the important documents in your self-storage unit. Recycle junk mail, outdated magazines and used envelopes. Shred old bills and other papers that contain personal information.
Pull out appliances and wash the sides and floor. Clean normally hidden spills and wipe the walls.
If you plan to paint or thoroughly shampoo the carpets, consider moving your furniture into a self-storage unit. Many companies will rent units for as little as a day. Mobile storage companies will even bring a storage unit to your house and remove it when you are done with it.
When cleaning mattresses and other furniture, consider laying down a tarp and leaving the bedding and upholstery outside on the driveway for a few hours. Some strong sunlight and ultraviolet radiation can help eradicate microscopic creatures that are trying to take up residence there. A thorough steam cleaning may leave your furniture feeling and smell fresh, also.
Sort through seasonal clothes. Wash or dry clean them, and sew on buttons or stitch up minor tears. A wardrobe box with a hanging rod will help keep clothes looking good and can easily be placed into your storage unit. Remember to look critically at your garments. Get rid of overly worn garments and things you never wear.
As you clean the nooks and crannies, you may find leaky faucets, broken door handles or cracked tiles. Take time to make these repairs now to prevent them from becoming more serious or costly problems later. Get seldom used tools out of the way when you are done with the repairs by placing them in your self-storage unit.
Remember the small stuff. Sweep the corners where your vacuum does not reach, wash down air vents, clean the dirt from the tracks in your windows and patio doors, and wipe crown molding and window frames.
Don’t forget the outside of the house. Use a power sprayer to remove grime, empty wasps’ nests and spider webs from exterior walls and windows. Spray down the garage floor while you are at it to rid the space of fluid leaks and road salt or sand that can easily be tracked inside and stain your carpet.
Remove lawn furniture from your basement, garage or self-storage unit. Clean it. A good spraying with the hose will usually do the trick. Replace the furniture with snow blowers, snow shovels and winter toys like sleds and snowboards. These bulky items can get in the way when stored at home. As these seasonal items don’t need to be removed often, you may find that when you tuck them away in a self-storage unit you have taken a very practical step toward keeping your home free of clutter.
Trim bushes, aerate the lawn, lay down fresh mulch, and maybe even plant a few flowers. Garden tools can be bundled together and placed in trash barrels in your self-storage unit when they are not needed.

Document Storage

Document Storage Overview

Anyone who needs to store documents, whether a business or an individual, should take special care in where and how they save this data. Documents require special care when they are placed into storage. Fire safety is imperative, but special precautions should also be taken to avoid even small amounts of moisture as this also can destroy documents. A little humidity may be enough to cause documents to mildew when they are not stored properly. In addition, documents worthy of the expense involved in placing them into storage may be important enough to require strong security measures.

A self-storage unit may be the answer for those who would like to remove document clutter from their workplace or home, but who also wants greater personal control at a lower price.

Self-storage facilities allow you to remove documents from your business or household and store them at a secure location, and storage facilities come in many forms. Those planning to store documents should look for more than just a room that protects goods from wind and weather.

Look for a self-storage unit with adequate security. Consider features like lighting, cameras, fencing, onsite management, and security guards.
Find a facility that offers climate control features like temperature and humidity control. Find out if the unit has individual controls or if the entire facility is adjusted by management.
Consider pest control. Ask the facility how they deal with this potential problem and look around the facility to see if it is clear of weeds, foundational cracks and other signs of trouble.
Be sure you can access the unit whenever you might need to review your stored documents.
Look for self-storage facilities that specialize in document storage.

Military Storage

Military Storage Overview

Military members and their families understand that relocation comes with the job, often on short notice. Whether your move involves a Permanent Change of Station (PSC), Temporary Duty (TDY) or Temporary Additional Duty (TAD), self-storage can be a convenient option for long or short-term use.

To prevent unnecessary expenses and last minute decisions, it is important to plan ahead. Whether you have six months or one week before moving, the smallest amount of organization can help.

Before you start packing, visit your military financial center and learn which travel and transportation stipends are available to you. When moving, the option is to either do it yourself or hire a moving company. There are military programs that can assist you if you decide to do it yourself. According to www.military.com, “The Do-It-Yourself (DITY) move is a voluntary program that allows you to be reimbursed by the government for moving your own belongings.”

Once you’ve started planning, there are many things to consider during your search for a public storage facility.

Determine your needs

How much storage space will you rent? Identify the items you will be taking with you and decide which items will be left behind. Are you storing a few small boxes or an entire household worth of furniture? Many storage facilities offer outdoor parking for car or boat storage, as well. Once you have figured out the items you will be stowing, a storage calculator is a handy way to determine the storage unit size that meets your needs, and it can also prevent you from overpaying for a space that is too large. If you’re relocating to another state or overseas for a long period of time, amenities like climate control and property security are important features to consider. Once you’ve established how much storage and which type, planning your budget and moving options is a much easier task.

Locate specials and discounts

Many storage facilities offer military discounts for active-duty personnel and their families. Also, if you will be deployed for many months or years, there are many long-term rental specials available and if it works within your budget, many storage companies offer pre-payment discounts.

Consider other services

There are a variety of additional services available at most self-storage facilities. A majority of locations offer online and automatic payment options, which is very helpful for someone whose military deployment is an extensive assignment or in a remote location. Also, many storage businesses sell packing and moving supplies (such as boxes, locks, furniture covers and more), and also provide their customers with the option of truck rental – which is sometimes included in the rental at no additional charge.

Moves and deployments can be stressful experiences for military personnel and their families. When there are bigger issues to consider, moving your household and family should be a simple undertaking, and with proper preparation, using self-storage can be a hassle-free process.

Choosing a Moving Company

Let’s face it: moving to a new home can be a frustrating and demanding process. But sometimes it’s a necessary evil. For many people, like military personnel who receive permanent change of station (PCS) orders every few years, moving is a part of life. The good news is: proper research and planning can make your move much less distressing so you can focus on the fun things, like arranging your new place.

Families essentially have two choices for relocating belongings: do it yourself, or hire a moving company.

If you choose to do it yourself, you will have total control over the fate of your things, which is certainly a nice benefit. What’s more, you will probably save a lot of money. But you will also have more work, fewer helping hands, sore backs, and no one to blame but yourself if your things get damaged.

Professional movers, on the other hand, are typically well trained in the laborious arts of packing, lifting and moving. Their process can go much faster than do-it-yourself and good movers know how to protect your stuff. If they don’t, replacements costs may come out of their pockets!

That said, finding and choosing a “good” moving company isn’t always easy. A Google search with keywords like “bad movers” can attest to that, and we’ve all heard horror stories from friends or family about disreputable companies. That’s why it’s vital to sort the good from the bad as early as you can. To ensure you get a quality moving company, you’ll want to put in some legwork.

Think about what you want from a move. Then, before you reach out to any companies, make a checklist of what you need and expect from your relocation experience. This list will help you keep your questions on track, your expectations clear, and your estimates accurate.

Prepare yourself before you request a quote:

When do you need to move? Keep in mind that movers are often busy at the end of the month, on Fridays and weekends. They may charge more for service in these premium times. Consider moving on an “off day” and ask if they offer a discount for relocation during the company’s less busy times.
Where are you coming from, going to? Are you looking to move locally, long-distance or overseas?
How much stuff needs to be moved? Write down the number of rooms in your home. Mentally walk through every room, listing the big items first (like furniture, appliances, and other items that don’t fit into boxes). Then try to work out how many boxes it will take to remove the rest of the stuff in the room. Don’t forget to think about garden furniture and the contents of your garage.
Do you want help with packing, or do you want to do the small stuff yourself?
Will you transport valuable or fragile items?
How much insurance will you need? Use your list to estimate the replacement value of each item.

Now you’re ready to start calling around for estimates. But whom do you call?

The best way to find a reliable moving company is by word-of-mouth. If you know someone who has recently moved, find out which moving company they chose and what they thought of the service. Your real estate agent might also be able to give a good recommendation (as well as tell you which movers to avoid!).

Use the web to search and compare local and national companies. Several terrific independent websites offer unbiased information and comparisons of movers, like 123Movers.com. But be alert: some mover-directory websites gather your contact information and sell it to multiple movers; your phone may start ringing a lot. A consumer rating site, like Yelp.com, aggregates customer feedback for an expansive customer review.

Shopping and comparing; what to ask a mover:

How long has your company been in business?
Do you own your own equipment, or do you contract out?
Are you licensed and insured?

Are you a member of the American Moving and Storage Association?
Do you have any references that I may contact directly?
Will you do an in-home estimate, at no charge?

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of your movers, you should do a final check with the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to make sure none of them have serious problems with unresolved complaints.

After talking to a handful of companies, arrange for at least three or four in-home estimates to get a better idea of your moving costs. It’s the only way to get a close-to-accurate moving quote, and it’s usually a good way to screen out scammer moving companies (who often don’t like to take the time to give you an in-home estimate).

Show the moving company everything you plan to move. The more thorough you are in detailing what has to be relocated, the more accurate the estimate will be. Also, let the estimator know about any issues at your home — or the home you’re moving to — that could complicate the process. Lots of stairs, narrow angles and poor driveway access are just a few examples that might add to your overall costs.

Comparing quotes will help you decide which company to choose, but try not to make your choice by cost alone. It may be smarter to spend a little more money and get the company with the best reputation. If you just have a bad feeling you can’t explain but the price is right, trust your gut over your wallet.

Once you make a decision, you’ll be asked to sign a contract outlining the details of your move. Read. The. Contract. If anything seems strange or confusing, ask for clarification. Make notes right on your contract. If the mover dismisses any phrase in the contract by suggesting, “Don’t worry about that,” cross out the sentence. Ask the mover to initial and date any contract changes in pen.

Don’t forget to give your movers a call a few days beforehand to confirm your arrangements. Be sure you (or a trusted friend) attend all inventory counts and truck weigh-ins in person. Make your own notes. Keep all documents and records in a safe place where they can’t be misplaced during the move.

These basic guidelines should help you position yourself for a successful move. But in the end, if you feel like you’ve been taken advantage of, cheated in some way, or robbed by a mover, report it immediately and report it often.