By Stephen Davis
Special to Relocation.com
Storage facilities come very useful when you have extra stuff during moving. They are also helpful when you need to house old furniture that you don’t want to sell and when your house is undergoing renovation. Storage facilities can be rented monthly or yearly. Some facilities also offer storage space on daily rates for people who only need it for a short time. The cost varies depending on the type of items being stored. Facilities also offer some amount of insurance coverage on the stored items. However, this amount is usually very small and it is recommended that you purchase separate insurance as well.
Basic Self Storage:
Self storage is cheapest and most basic form of storage. The storage facility contains a number of small room-like compartments separated by concrete or corrugated metal walls and do not contain windows. The sizes of these spaces vary depending on their purpose. Some are small, 10 x 5 feet, and some are larger, up to 50 x 50 feet. Storage spaces used for commercial purposes may be even larger than 50 feet. But for an average household the former spaces are more than enough.
The storage company provides security and safety measures like locked gates, cameras and firefighting systems. In the US, these facilities are usually single storied and located in the suburbs.
Climate Controlled Storage:
Climate controlled storage units are similar in structure to the basic self-storage spaces. However, they have climate control systems to maintain safe temperature and humidity conditions in the storage areas. This makes these storage facilities useful for people with items that need extra care. Climate controlled storage units are usually housed in multi-storied buildings as it is easier to maintain conditions.
These facilities do not allow round-the-clock access to customers. There are time slots during which customers can access their storage units.
Climate controlled storage units are best for storing furniture, paintings and other expensive items. The controlled environment prevents pests, mold and mildew from forming on the stored items. Climate Controlled Storage spaces are expensive to rent but provide better preservation.
Portable or Mobile Storage:
Portable storage units are housed inside tractor-trailers and are really useful in some cases. Portable storage companies deliver the storage unit to your location where you can use it for your storage needs. Once loaded, the unit can be left parked at your residence, returned to the company for storage or shipped to a new location.
Portable storage is used by residents to make moving easier. The portable storage space allows you to arrange your new home properly by unloading items slowly over a span of days, instead of unloading them at once.
Vehicle Storage:
Sometimes vehicles needed to be stored as well when they are not to be used for a long time, like when you are travelling abroad for a long vacation. Car storage facilities are like huge warehouses where a parking space can be rented for long periods of time. These facilities can keep your vehicle safe and secure during the time you are away.
For more expensive and rare vehicles, separate storage units are also available. These units give added security for valuable vehicles.
Vehicle storage is expensive but is very useful in providing guaranteed security for vehicles.