How to ensure the safety of your stored items?

Storage units are very popular in the United States. You can opt for a company that provides Miami moving and storage for multiple purposes. Some of them include downsizing, moving, renovating, and many others. In addition to this, one of the main reasons why people rent storage units is because they believe their belongings will be safe and well protected. Usually, this should be a case but you can also contribute to the overall safety of your items. How to achieve this? It is quite simple. Here are all the tips and tricks to ensure the safety of your stored items. 

Ensure the safety of your stored items by finding the right storage 

You have to find a good storage facility in order to protect your items. How to find a reliable storage facility? Here are a couple of suggestions.  

• Ask your friends and family 
• Search on the Internet for storage units Miami 
• Check your social media 
• Check your local newspaper 

Once you find a couple of storage facilities, it is time to check their online reputation. You should visit the website, such as Yelp, to see what other people have to say about the units. If one storage facility has mainly negative reviews, then it is safe to say you should not rent a unit from them. On the other hand, if a storage facility has predominantly positive reviews, see what customers generally praise. Based on these reviews, you can decide whether your items will be safe when you store them in one of those storage units. 

Safety measures to look for 

After you narrow down your choice, it is time to contact and visit the unit. However, before you actually go and see the unit, you need to know all the things you should look for. First, you should see the perimeter whether it has a strong gate or fence around it. A strong wired fence should keep all the thieves away. Then, pay attention to the entrance. See who has access to the storage facility. Usually, you should receive a code to enter the facility. Next, there should be video surveillance. Cameras should be installed all over the facility and all the perimeter should be filmed 24/7. Then, you cannot forget about the guards as well. There should be at least one security guard doing rounds around other facilities. This way, a security guard can check if all the units are closed or call the police if something is missing. 

Ensure the safety of your stored items with environmental protection 

The human threat is that the only thing to worry about. When you live in an area that experiences drastic climate changes, you need to be careful. For example, Florida has a hurricane season. This means hurricanes can cause serious damage to your storage unit. In addition to this, some areas have problems with floods. This again can be a huge problem since water will damage your items. Lastly, you cannot forget about fires. Therefore, when looking for a storage unit, you need to check how the storage facility handles these types of situations. All the storage facilities should prepare the units for natural disasters if the area often experiences them. Otherwise, they will have a lot of angry customers and essentially lose them all if they cannot ensure the safety of the items stored inside their units. 

A climate-controlled unit 

One of the best ways to ensure the safety of your stored items is the rent a climate-controlled unit. You might be wondering why. If you live in the area where it gets extremely humid in the summer, you need this type of storage. Humidity will cause serious and expensive damage to your valuable items. In addition to this, mold grows in a humid place. As you might now, mold is another threat to the safety of your items. For this reason, you should get a climate control unit. As the name suggests, you can control the temperature and the level of humidity inside your unit. This is especially important if you plan to store anything made out of wood, electronics, musical instrument, antiques, important documents, expensive clothes, household appliances, and so much more. Repairing any of these items mentioned above will be extremely expensive. 

Ensure the safety of your stored items with proper packing 

First of all, you should make a list of the items you plan to store. Then, make sure to take photos so you can have proof of their condition before the storage. Packing your items properly is also very important if you want to protect them well. For this reason, you need to gather all the necessary packing supplies, such as cardboard boxes, plastic bins, bubble wrapping, packing peanuts, moving blankets, etc. Then, make sure to protect your items with bubble wrapping. Place your wrapped item inside the box. Do not overstuff the boxes as this can cause damage. In addition to this, do not leave any empty space. Use packing peanuts for this purpose. Then, seal the box and lightly shake it to see if something can move around. Lastly, make sure to label the boxes before putting them in storage. 

Get insurance 

The last line of protection should be insurance. First, see if your homeowners’ insurance extends this to your items in the storage. If not, you can ask the storage facility whether they offer insurance or if you should find a third-party provider. It is important to have insurance in case something bad happens. If you plan to store extremely valuable items, having insurance is crucial. You should visit your items every now and then check for any signs of damage. If you see something problematic, make sure to notify employees of your storage facility. Lastly, you need to pay your rent on time. If you keep missing your payment, the storage facility can put your items up for an auction.