Storage unit advice

[AuroraSaab]

Anybody got any recommendations or advice on using the big storage companies for a house move? Any big chain company better than others? Are their unit size claims accurate? eg for such a size house you need such a size unit? Their insurance or find your own? Thanks.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Anybody got any recommendations or advice on using the big storage companies for a house move? Any big chain company better than others? Are their unit size claims accurate? eg for such a size house you need such a size unit? Their insurance or find your own? Thanks.

Last time I did that I just agreed to the storage they offered
Whether it would fit in it was their problem - they were used to estimating it and if they needed some space for overflow that was down to them

I just discussed it with them and made sure I understood the charges

 

[AuroraSaab]

I mean the companies where you rent a unit and take your own stuff in and out as you wish, like Big Yellow. The deals seem better if you comit to a longer rental but we don't want to be paying for a unit we don't fully use.

 

[Sharky]

My daughter used "Safestore" recently for her recent move. Didn't include big items (beds, tables, sofas or wardrobes etc), just smaller items that she could load into her car over several trips.

 

[88robb]

Get more space than they recommend. Their size guides are always optimistic. Shop around for your own insurance, theirs is overpriced. Read the contract carefully for hidden fees like admin charges or required locks. Big Yellow and Safestore are generally okay, but get quotes from a few local independents too.

 

[T4tomo]

What are you doing that storage comes into it? Call me old fashioned but when I've moved we just had a lorry or two take stuff from A to B

 

[Emanresu]

Declutter first. No point in moving dusty items from one place to another.

 

[Drago]

Two skips worth of declutter when I moved. It was astonishing how much tat id hoarded in 14 years at the old house.

Stuff that was suitable was donated accordingly.

 

[ianrauk]

Some of the bigger storage companies do offers where you get a months free or such like. We had that with Big Yellow Storage, so check to see if there are any deals. We stayed with them a few months then moved all our storage to Access who also had a deal of half price for a couple of months.
We did find that Big Yellow are more expensive then others, so shop around.
We also arranged our own insurance. Far cheaper.

 

[AuroraSaab]

What are you doing that storage comes into it? Call me old fashioned but when I've moved we just had a lorry or two take stuff from A to B

Storing stuff whilst building work is done on the new property. Looks like most of the big companies will do half price deals for a month or so, with the promise of extending that after the initial rental period ends. We'll probably go with that kind of deal rather than committing to a longer stretch. Was concerned that 3rd party insurance might not be as comprehensive but it looks much the same and is cheaper. You won't know til you have to claim I guess. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[vickster]

We used Access as the closest, perfectly happy, decent deal for first 3 months negotiated with the local unit manager. Had to take their insurance, IIRC £25 a month up to 4k (we didn't have that much of value). We didn't want to take our own random policy anyhow

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

At least the OP sounds like they have a reasonably known timeline for needing the storage!

My sis moved in summer '20 and put a load of excess stuff into storage, but despite several moves since, she was still using the same storage this summer. Suddenly decided she had to stop the storage lease so grabbed some "must keep" items to cram into her current house-share, sold a few bits for relative pennies and the remainder was collected by a local charity...
Spent a few thousand squids on storage I think over those five years and kept less than 10% of the contents upon emptying!

 

[CXRAndy]

Don't rent for long term.

You will pay hundreds into thousands.

When you could easily scrap most of the possessions and buy them all new for the amount of renting storage space

 

[figbat]

Get more space than they recommend. Their size guides are always optimistic. Shop around for your own insurance, theirs is overpriced. Read the contract carefully for hidden fees like admin charges or required locks. Big Yellow and Safestore are generally okay, but get quotes from a few local independents too.

Agreed. If you have a bigger unit you can store stuff in such a way that you can still access it, rather than just filling it from back to front and not being able to get the stuff at the back without removing it all.

And make an inventory! You think you’ll remember what is in there and where, but you won’t.

 

[88robb]

Agreed. If you have a bigger unit you can store stuff in such a way that you can still access it, rather than just filling it from back to front and not being able to get the stuff at the back without removing it all.

And make an inventory! You think you’ll remember what is in there and where, but you won’t.

Absolutely. An inventory is essential. You'll forget what you have tucked away in the back.