There are many reasons why you may need to put your household possessions into storage.
Sometimes that might happen because you're being relocated overseas for a lengthy period and are selling your house in the process or in other cases it might simply be that there is going to be a delay before you can take possession of your new home.
Whatever the cause, you have a number of storage options and clear plastic box open to you.
Cheap and cheerful
Taken to extremes, this often involves just asking almost any old company with a small warehouse or sometimes even a large shed, to simply let you put some stuff in there for a period of days, weeks, months or years.
This is often the lowest cost option but be warned there are risks. Unless they are a specialist provider of storage services, there is a fair chance that they are going to have inadequate insurance cover - if indeed they have any at all. Security is also likely to be a challenge, as might be environmental control when the location is subject to extreme heat, cold and possible humidity.
Warehousing
People sometimes get confused over the difference between 'warehousing' and professional household storage services. The differences aren't necessarily precisely defined but broadly speaking, warehousing usually has connotations of freight and goods as opposed to household possessions.
Warehouses may accept household storage items but they'll typically be accessed continually throughout the day by people moving in and out shifting other elements of freight around. They may not be specialized in terms of guaranteeing individual security and individual access rights to the furniture's owners.
Secure storage
Professional providers of domestic storage services usually offer highly secure and environmentally controlled premises.
You may be able to rent a storage unit for a specified period of time and keep your items in there. You have total control over access to the area you have rented. You can also typically access your goods seven days a week, though prior notice may be required.
In some establishments of this type, you may even be able to place an existing container of your items directly into a secure and lockable unit.
These premises usually have security systems in place including close circuit television and some of them may have been checked and validated by the customs authorities.
Which you choose will, of course, be very much a matter for you.
You may be able to find casual or bigger warehousing type propositions which appear to be cheaper than professional storage facilities. However, you may need to balance your consideration of that against the typically more reassuring facilities that a specialist provider of storage services will be able to offer you.
In passing, don't forget to check your household insurance.
If your goods are going into storage for a period of time, your insurer may require that you only use storage that meets certain minimum criteria if your policy is to remain valid. Approved premises might typically include professionally configured storage units specifically designed for domestic storage purposes but casual warehousing might be excluded.
It's an important point worth checking.
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