When someone moves from a larger home to a smaller home or needs to rent for a while, having a storage unit can provide a lot of peace of mind. But, choosing the right facility is vital to safeguarding your belongings. Most established moving companies often provide customers with short and long-term storage. Chattanooga is centrally located and boasts a couple of high quality facilities designed to provide proper ventilation for climate control, which is ideal in more humid environments.
Choosing The Right Unit
Once you have shopped around and received at least three price quotes, size is going to be the biggest factor in determining what storage vault best suits your needs. It is advised to visit the storage facility and take a tour of the different vaults available and ask about price differentials. A good rule is to first consider how often you will need to access the unit.
If you need to get into the storage unit frequently, rent a larger space so you have room or an aisle or two between items. In the case you don’t mind that your property is tightly packed inside and stacked on pallets, go for the smaller unit. The second consideration is the specifics of what you are storing. Experts in both commercial and residential relocation say to make a list of the things you plan on storing such as furniture, antiques, vehicles, appliances, boxes or paperwork.
Keep Things Secure
Once you’ve created a list, consider the value of each item to help determine what type of security you would prefer. Most moving companies that provide storage take great pride in installing the most advanced alarm systems, special locks, limited access, video surveillance, and hire after hours security personnel to protect the storage vaults overnight. If security is a big deal to you, make sure you verify what is available and at what cost. Keep in mind the features you may want will vary in cost.
In Case of Fire
No one wants their things stolen, but they also do not want to lose everything they hold dear in a catastrophic fire. So in addition to security and ventilation, ask the company about whether it has gone above and beyond and installed a fire suppression system.
The General Services Administration (GSA) sets certain standards for fire protection for storage facilities, but most companies only adhere to the requirement to have smoke detectors installed throughout storage areas. If the storage unit is protected by a fire suppression system, it warrants more protection. If installed properly and inspected regularly, the advances made to today’s systems make them capable of extinguishing any fire while causing little to no collateral damage.
