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Storage

Into a unit, or back out of one

Ordinary van work, with one thing that catches people out: the facility has rules and they are not ours.

Storage runs are their own kind of job. A facility with a corridor, a goods lift, an access window and a trolley route, and a load that usually goes in stages rather than all at once.

Part loadsTrolley providedTwo addressesFacility rules apply

What a storage run involves

One or two people Depending on the load and the distance from the bay to the unit.
A trolley Essential. Storage corridors are long and the unit is never the nearest one.
The facility's access window Theirs, not ours. We work to it and need to know it in advance.
Loading bay or car park Whichever the facility uses, confirmed before the day.
Staged loads Going in over more than one visit is normal and easy to plan for.
Labelling Worth doing properly. You will not remember which box it was in.

The facility makes the rules

Access hours, lift booking, trolley availability and insurance are all theirs.

Every self-storage facility has an access window, a goods lift or a ramp, a rule about trolleys, and usually an insurance requirement on the contents. None of that is ours and all of it affects the day.

Get the access hours and the unit number before you book us. If they require the hirer to be present, that includes you rather than just your things.

Pack for the unit, not for the journey

Things sit in storage far longer than they travel.

A box packed for a twenty-minute van ride is not the same as a box that will be stacked for months. Uniform box sizes stack; carrier bags do not. Heavy things go in small boxes and light things in big ones, which is the opposite of what everybody does.

Label the sides rather than the tops, because in a unit you will be looking at the sides.

  • Uniform boxes stack. Odd shapes waste a third of the unit.
  • Heavy in small, light in large — it is the opposite of instinct and it works.
  • Label the sides, not the tops.
  • Leave an aisle to the back wall. You will need something from the back.
  • Mattresses upright against a wall, never flat under weight.

Coming back out

Usually harder than going in, because the order is wrong.

Things go into a unit in the order they came out of a house and come out in the order you need them, which is rarely the same. If the load is going to more than one destination, tell us before we start and we will plan the unload around it.

This is also when the labelling pays for itself, or does not.

Storage in the middle of a move

That one is not a van job. Book a firm.

A run into a unit is ours. A move where your whole household goes into storage for a period and comes out again is not — that needs one party responsible for your things across the gap, with an inventory that survives it, and that is a removals contract rather than a booking.

It is on the list of five jobs we turn down, and we will say so rather than take the first half and leave you to find somebody for the second.

Into storage, out of storage

Questions about into storage, out of storage

Do you have a trolley?
Yes, and we bring it. Facility trolleys are frequently all in use, which is a slow discovery to make on arrival.
Can we do it over two visits?
Yes. Staged loads into a unit are completely normal and easy to plan for — it just needs saying when you book.
Do I need to be there?
Most facilities require the hirer to be present or to have arranged access in advance. Check with them; the rule is theirs rather than ours.
Will you pack the unit for me?
We will stack it sensibly and leave an aisle to the back wall. A full inventory and a packing plan is a removals firm's service rather than a van's.

Tell us what it is and where it is

If it is not a van job we will say so, and say what to book instead.

Both addresses, what the item is, what floor each end is on, and a photograph of the biggest thing. That is enough for a straight answer and a written price.

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