Start with the size
There are three sizes here: small at 50 to 60 sq ft from £85 a month, medium at 70 sq ft from £70, and large at 100 to 130 sq ft from £100. Every room is on a monthly rolling agreement with your own lock and key.
Square footage means little until you put furniture next to it, so the three room sizes below are drawn to relative scale against a single garage. Work from the largest item you are storing rather than a total volume: a three-seater sofa, a double wardrobe or a chest freezer sets the width you need, and the rest packs around it. If you are between two sizes and expect to visit often, take the larger one, because the space you lose to a walkway is real.
Pack for stacking, not for speed
Uniform boxes stack; carrier bags and odd crates do not. Fill each box to the top so the lid takes weight without collapsing, keep every box under about 15kg so it can be lifted safely at head height, and put heavy items in small boxes rather than large ones. Label two sides of every box, not the lid, because once they are stacked the lid is the one face you cannot read.
- Same-size boxes, filled to the top
- Heavy things in small boxes, light things in large
- Labelled on the sides, with a rough list of contents
- Books flat rather than spine-down
- Plates on edge, like records, not stacked flat
What needs protecting, and from what
Our units are insulated and dry, but anything sealed in plastic against a cold surface will sweat. Wrap upholstery and mattresses in breathable covers rather than polythene, keep fabric off the concrete on a couple of battens, and let anything that has been outdoors dry fully before it goes in. Electronics survive better in their original boxes; if those are gone, wrap the screen and keep the unit off the floor.
Furniture and appliances
Dismantle what comes apart and tape the fittings to the piece they belong to. Fridges and freezers must be defrosted, drained and dried, and stored with the door propped slightly open, or they will smell of it for the rest of their lives. Drain fuel and oil from mowers and machinery before they come on site. Sofas travel better upright on an end than flat, and take up far less floor.
Loading the unit so you can get back in
Load heaviest and least wanted to the back and bottom, lightest and most wanted at the front. Keep a corridor down one side to the rear wall, stand mattresses and table tops on their edges along the walls, and turn sofas and wardrobes so the long side runs front to back. Fill the dead space inside wardrobes, drawers and appliances with soft items rather than leaving it empty.
- Heavy, low and to the back
- A walkway down one side to the rear wall
- Mattresses and table tops on edge against the walls
- An inventory taped inside the door
- Photograph the finished unit before you lock it
What cannot go in a unit
Some of this is law, some is insurance, and some is simply what a working farm site cannot accept. If you are unsure about an item, ask before you load the van rather than after.
- Petrol, gas bottles, paint and anything flammable
- Anything perishable, including pet food
- Living things, plants included
- Firearms, ammunition and explosives
- Anything you do not own outright
Insurance, access and the paperwork
Contents in a storage unit are your responsibility, and most home policies either exclude goods stored away from home or cap them low, so it is worth a call to your insurer with the value and the site's security arrangements. Keep the inventory somewhere other than inside the unit, and keep a note of your unit number with it.
Access runs from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week, and you come and go yourself with your own lock and key. Contents cover is your responsibility rather than ours, so ring us if your insurer wants the site's security details.