Whether you’re clearing out belongings ready to move home or simply looking to declutter your current space, you may come across belongings that are too important or sentimental to discard. Whether it’s documents, family heirlooms, or other valuable items, finding the right storage solution is essential to ensure their safety and preservation.
In this guide, we’ll take you through some of the things you should consider when looking for storage solutions – and how best to safeguard your most valuable belongings.
Our Storage Solutions
At GB Liners, we offer storage solutions for clients in between moves, or on a long-term basis. Eleven of our branches offer storage facilities, whether that be a self-storage, containerised storage, or both.
Containerised storage is a highly efficient and secure way to store your belongings, particularly when moving home. This involves our removals team collecting and packing your belongings into purpose built wooden storage containers at your property, before transporting them to our warehouse. When you need them back, we will unload them at your door, so there is no double handling of your goods, which therefore reduces the risk of damage occurring. During this process, we will create a detailed inventory of your goods and possessions heading to our facility, and log your container(s) into our internal computer system to prevent loss.
For a more flexible storage solution, we offer self-storage at some of our facilities. Our self-storage solutions are fully secure and well maintained and available on a short, medium, or long-term basis. With self-storage, you are free to come and go as you please during our hours of operation, giving you complete control over when you access your belongings.
What to Consider when Looking for Storage Solutions
In general, there are a few key features you should be looking out for when researching the best facility for you.
- Security: The safety of your belongings should be of paramount concern, and you want to be sure that the facility offers robust security features to protect you from the threat of loss or damage. Check if your unit has gated access, security cameras and alarms, as well as thinking about if their level of security is right for you.
- Accessibility: If you need access to your belongings, self-storage may be a better option for you than containerised storage. If you think self-storage might be right for you, think about how easily you can access your unit should you need any of its contents. Is it in a convenient location? Is there easy access to load and unload your items? What are the operating hours of the facility, and do they work with your schedule?
- Maintenance: A well-maintained storage facility is less likely to have issues such as pests, leaks, or structural damage that could harm your belongings.
Storing Large Items
With our containerised storage solution, not all items are able to fit into our wooden storage containers. Items such as ladders or rugs may be too large, but you don’t need to worry, as we’re still able to accommodate your needs.
In this circumstance, the items will be wrapped and labelled before being stored on racking or a mezzanine floor in our alarmed warehouse. They will still be added to the storage inventory and logged on our computer system along with your other belongings. Other large items such as sofas are also stored this way, so that they are not subject to pressure marks over time.
If you would like to visit one of our warehouses to see the conditions under which your goods will be stored, our team will be pleased to arrange this for you.
Storing Valuables
It may be that you have high-value items of decor or furniture to store, such as antiques, artwork, or heirloom ornaments. We will use a variety of packing and wrapping materials to ensure not only adequate protection during loading and transportation, but to shield them from damage whilst in storage over time.
It is vital that your belongings are covered whilst in our possession and we can offer cover for your goods against loss and damage, including fire. Alternatively, you can also use your home contents insurance if suitable.
When storing valuables within one of our self-storage facilities, it’s a good idea to visit your storage unit on a regular basis to continually check the condition of your goods.
Get Advice on Storing Your Items
At GB Liners, our team of storage experts are on hand to offer any support or advice you require if you’re looking to store precious or important items. For more information, please feel free to get in touch with our team, and we’d be more than happy to help.