3 Things To Look For In A Storage Facility When You Need To Store Furniture

Storing furniture is not quite as simple as throwing it into a self-storage unit and walking away. There are so many things that can affect the overall condition of your furniture that you do not want to store your pieces in a facility only to find that when you return to retrieve them, there's damage. To ensure the safety and original condition of your furniture before you store it, here are three things to look for in a furniture storage facility.

Appropriate Locales

Water ruins just about any kind of furniture you could own. It makes metal furniture rust and corrode. It brings mold and mildew to upholstered furniture. It warps and rots wooden furniture. To keep your furniture away from all water, check the location of the storage facility. Look to make sure it is above sea level and not near a flood plain so that flooding is not even an option. Check public records for flooding in the vicinity of the storage facility where you want to store your furniture. No floods on file and the facility is definitely above sea level? Excellent--you have that concern checked off the list. If your area is fairly rainy and there's no safe location, make sure you invest in pallets or concrete blocks to raise the furniture from the floor.

Indoor and Outdoor Temperature Control

Almost all indoor furniture storage facilities are temperature- and/or environmentally-controlled. Your furniture is never exposed to extreme heat, extreme cold, or humidity. Instead, it sits in a storage unit that is the same temperature and humidity as your home all year long. That is not the case if your furniture is stored in an outside facility. If you have to bite the bullet and use an outdoor facility, make sure that the company can keep the temperature inside the unit about 70 to 72 degrees with 40 to 60% humidity since that is the ideal condition for wood furniture. Lastly, even if your furniture is stored inside a climate-controlled area, make sure that you aren't covering it with plastic, since that can cause condensation and warping. Instead, use furniture pads and blankets to protect your pieces. 

Pest Control Measures

Finally, before you make that final decision about where to store your furniture and you sign your name to the rental contract or lease agreement, ask about pest control measures. Does the proprietor spray the exterior of the building for bugs regularly? Does he or she set out rodent traps to keep rodents from entering your unit or from entering the indoor facility? Since termites, mice, rats, voles and other pests love to make short work of different types of furniture (except metal, of course), you will want to be certain that the proprietor has these issues under control and/or has not had a problem with these pests in the past. Most proprietors want to reassure their storage renters that their belongings will be alright, so most of them are willing to supply you with information about pests and pest control measures that they use or have used.


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