Having a lot of items that don’t find any room at home? Looking for short-term accommodation for your belongings before moving into a new home place? Or do you just try to proof-safe some valuable artwork, musical instruments, or business equipment?
Your local storage facility company can find someplace for all of these objects. But how safe are they? Can we entrust them with our most valuable and precious items?
Find out how safe self-storage is in our today’s helpful material.
Table of Contents
What is self-storage?
Let’s start with some basics. What is self-storage anyway?
Figuring this question out might help you consider whether the storage module is a secure enough place for concrete items from your luggage before removal or your books during your university-off holiday in your hometown.
Self-storage is a professional service provided by specially licensed and regulated companies. This is an excellent reason to think that the storage modules are safe enough.
On the other side, these spaces are constantly observed and checked for issues by technicians, so you can also count on the humane estimation of substantial risks. For a storage service, you owe some fee, such as a one-time payment or a monthly subscription.
Yet, at the expense of this price, you receive full support in keeping your things not just placed somewhere outside of your home but also intact, damage-free, and as functional as you brought them here.
How safe is self-storage?
Storage facilities are comparatively safe. According to the stats, damaged items in such units are rare.
This is why so many people opt for this paid service. It’s much safer than putting different fragile or valuable items in your garage, where your kid loves making a mess, or in the basement, where mold is your constant roommate.
Still, you can help yourself by storing certain items properly, like using plastic boxes instead of cardboard ones, for example.
As a whole, storage services provide solid protection for various types of objects. Besides, today’s fast-progressing technical revolution makes It possible for storage companies to implement new techniques and devices often to improve their safety factor in each module.
Self Storage Risks
Yet, bad things happen in life. So do in storage facilities. Unfortunately, 100% safety is something that doesn’t exist in our universe. There are always unforeseen circumstances that can spoil the security factor, even in the most modern storage module.
Usually, the self-storage risks are either temporary or rare, but you should still have them in mind:
- Break-in. Like any other property, the building where your storage unit is might be robbed.
- Natural calamity. Events such as floods, fires, storms, and you name it can cause severe damage to your items even when they are delicately protected in a storage module.
- Other customers’ actions. In the self-storage industry, a special service allows you to share a unit with someone else. Of course, it’s the cheaper alternative many people rely on, but without considering the risks. If your “roommate” in the storage module doesn’t pay enough attention when visiting here, your items might be bumped, stolen, damaged, torn, spoilt, and you name it.
- Untrustworthy company. The storage service provider’s team also matters for the safety of your items. Note that if this is not a reliable company with experienced technicians, your belongings might not be secured and taken care of the right way, aka according to your instructions and their basic maintenance approach.
Tips to Make Self-Storage Facility Safer
Before you close this page, certain that storage facilities are not safe enough for your business equipment or antique furniture, here’s what we have to tell you.
There might be actions to take and things to have in mind that will for sure boost the security level in your storage module. Don’t hesitate to use all of the following tips to make your storage facility safer and more reliable.
How to Choose a Safe Self-Storage Facility
First of all, know where you bring your precious items. Finding the right place is essential for the safety factor and the convenience of using the service most flexibly and pleasantly. Apply these tactics when choosing a self-storage facility:
- Don’t underestimate the company’s reputation. Require a document that proves the necessary membership in Self Storage Association (SSA). Make sure to ask how experienced the technicians are. And don’t forget to look for some real customer testimonials for the concrete company you are considering right now.
- Research the company’s equipment. Some storage facilities are nothing else but empty indoor spaces to accommodate your things. Others, though, represent the modern look of the industry with high-tech systems for air and vent conditioning, anti-mold protection, and security measures against crimes.
- Make your choice by looking for a perfect balance between price and quality. We do understand that everything’s so expensive these days. Though, there are products and services you shouldn’t make savings from. Storage facilities are at the top of this list. Renting the most low-cost storage module might cost you a lot in the future. Don’t forget the old but gold saying that cheap gets so expensive sometimes.
What you can do to ensure self-storage safety
We’ve listed the things that you have an influence on, but only the company is responsible for. Yet, there are actions you might take to increase your stored luggage safety as much as possible. Here are some of them:
- Read your self-storage contract from top to bottom. If you don’t see a video surveillance clause, immediately leave the meeting, as this is not the right place for your items. Besides, when meeting the company’s experts, try to look at them closely while they are at work and see how well they follow the proper employee safety protocol.
- Consider using climate-controlled storage modules. These are provided with special gadgets that support constant optimal temperature inside the rented space. As a result, your items will not be damaged due to high or too-low temperatures. The same goes for the anti-mold protection, which is something you can achieve in the climate-controlled storage unit, too, because the wetness level is reduced to a minimum.
- Maintain your personal storage unit in the best way. When you pay for it, you get full access to your items. This might mean constant visits if you need your items regularly. Keeping the unity neat, clean, dust-free, and cluttered is a must to avoid any damage.
- Don’t share your access data with anyone else. Sometimes, it’s the customers who create the risk for their own stored items. To have them at your disposal, you will receive a password, digital card, or any other access identity key that’s made especially and only for you. If you don’t trust a person 100%, don’t tell him your password for your storage unit.
- Keep an inventory and make a photocopy of it. Before you entrust your belongings to the professional storage company and close the door of your unit, get your smartphone out and shoot some pictures. Next time you come, compare the view with what you have in your device photo archive. Ensure that no one touches and puts at risk your own things.
Self Storage Insurance
Most professional services these days are accompanied by suitable insurance. You might find such a clause in the storage unit contract, too. This insurance covers various risks and omissions. It’s good to know that it doesn’t have identical coverage in all companies.
Some storage unit providers even prefer to include the extra insurance as a paid service. What we can recommend you is to have self-storage insurance by all means. Just make sure to see what it covers, and not store items not under this coverage.
In Conclusion
Sure, there’s a certain risk in keeping your items in self-storage units, but it’s definitely one of the most secure options you’ve got in many cases. Taking a right precautious measures will reduce the chance of facing an issue or any damage.
