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What do warehouses have to do with Tetris?
On average, Europeans own 10,000 items per capita – quite a lot, especially considering the shrinking housing space. Not every apartment now has its own cellar compartment or attic, in which the belongings that are not used regularly can be stored. Nevertheless, there are some things in every household that you don’t want to part with – at least not for reasons of space. In addition to heirlooms and special items that come with a high emotional value, this can also include various luxury items or hobby paraphernalia.
If there is not enough space in your own walls, you can now fall back on private storage. The buzzword behind it is: self-storage. The storage boxes, which are currently mainly found in urban areas, enable interested customers to store their belongings in rented storage rooms – like in the “cellar outside the home”. But how does renting such a warehouse work, what should you pay attention to when renting and clearing and what does the whole thing have to do with Tetris?
Who could use a warehouse?
As a rule, the storage rooms are designed for short-term use for “stop-gap” – for example after a move, when the distribution of the household effects takes more time than expected. For this reason, most storage boxes can be rented for a minimum term of one month. However, you can also use the rooms during a long-term absence, for example – a longer holiday or a sabbatical can be put into action more easily by storing your own belongings in a self-storage facility. Even during renovations or refurbishments in your own four walls, you can easily get the furniture and objects out of the way from the respective rooms with the help of your own storage.
What do the storage boxes look like?
When you enter a warehouse like Mein Lager Self Storage for the first time, the whole thing is quickly reminiscent of huge cellars with individual compartments – sometimes also of prisons, which are lined up door to door. If you open one of these doors, you will find the individual storage boxes behind them. The smallest rooms are about one cubic meter – the largest variants cover an area of about 50 square meters and, due to the high ceilings with a height of about three meters, a storage space of over 150 cubic meters.
In order to make storage in self-storage houses as convenient as possible for the customer, the boxes are characterized by various advantages. The rooms are easily accessible with the help of elevators and wide corridors – even with heavy luggage – and convince with flexible rental periods. The opening hours are also designed to meet the needs of the tenants: between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., customers can visit the storage rooms of most providers and thus use them before or after work. Protection is not neglected either: the boxes are dry and protected from the weather and are usually accompanied by access control systems and video cameras, which are intended to make break-ins almost impossible.
Of course, the warehouses also have their price: depending on the size, provider, equipment and city, an average of 35 francs per square meter is charged. The more space you rent, the lower the price per square meter. In order to secure the best offer, you should therefore know in advance exactly how much space you really need and which company you can get the best offer from.
What can you put in the box?
First and foremost, storage rooms are of course designed as a “cellar replacement”. Accordingly, all objects can be found here that would otherwise be stored in the basement at home. This can include bicycles, furniture or books – everything that is “too good to throw away” or that will sooner or later be sold or given to friends. Seasonal decorative items or costumes for carnival or Halloween can also be easily stored in self-storage facilities. However, families without a basement are not the only target group of storage providers such as Mein Lager or Lagerbox.
In principle, almost everything can be stored in a “cellar outside the home” – apart from weapons, chemicals, drugs and radioactive or toxic substances. Easily flammable, perishable or harmful things as well as living beings and valuables such as furs, jewels or precious metals are also excluded from storage in self-storage facilities.
Insurance protection: How safe are my belongings in the storage room?
In principle, interested parties should of course first read the small print of the contract documents with the respective storage provider and their insurance documents to find out what damage to their own belongings is covered and to what extent. As a rule, companies are not liable for damage to stored items due to fire or theft. Such damage is usually excluded from liability in the terms and conditions, which is why you should inform the household contents insurance company if the household is outsourced. In this way, the objects can be secured.
If you want to protect your household effects over a longer period of time with insurance, you can find out about the corresponding offers from the storage facilities. This insurance is based on the estimated value of the stored items and is calculated in increments of CHF 1,000. The costs for this amount to CHF 1.00 per CHF 1,000 of material value per month.
Playing Tetris: Tips and tricks in detail
It’s worth giving some thought to setting up your own storage room in advance – this way you can ensure that you use the smallest possible space and can save money as a result. If in doubt, you can get advice on this from the company’s employees before renting a storage room. They usually know the best tips and tricks for storing household items in different sizes and shapes.
The rule of thumb is: the entire home furnishings can be stored in 10 percent of the living space. As a rule, a storage compartment with a size of 8 square meters is more than sufficient for an apartment with a size of 80 square meters. However, if an entire kitchen is to be stored, for example, this rule of thumb is not 100 percent reliable, as kitchen equipment takes up more storage space. If you know all the important tips and tricks and if you also take the time to prepare properly, you can not only set up your storage compartment inexpensively, but also intelligently.
The right preparation
In the run-up, you should proceed in a similar way to moving. It’s worth making a list of all the items to be outsourced so that you don’t lose track of things, even when there’s a lot of chaos, and you don’t forget important parts that then have to be laboriously stored afterwards.
Boxes are also your best friend when storing items. It is best to wrap fragile items in bubble wrap before placing them in the boxes. The following then applies: Light things like clothes in large boxes – heavy objects like books in smaller boxes. This way you make sure you can still carry the crates once they are full. Full boxes should then be labeled on at least two sides so that the label can still be read well when the boxes are stacked. If furniture is to be stored, it is worth disassembling it to save additional space.
The right design of the storage compartment
Once the preparation is complete, it’s time to set it up. Tetris pros who have already elaborated their skills with the popular video game should have no trouble setting up a storage compartment.
In principle, it is advisable to use the height of the storage compartments. This includes storing disassembled furniture, sofas or bicycles upright if possible before covering them with a cover to protect them from dust, dirt and scratches. The same applies to crates: stable crates with heavy contents and heavy objects can be stored below and lighter crates can then be stacked on top of them without any problems. If necessary, you can also get a load shelf at a reasonable price and use it for simple and safe storage.
There are plus points for creative solutions. For example, you can store books or other small items in larger furniture such as refrigerators or in empty suitcases in order to use the available space as efficiently as possible. If you choose this option, however, you should clamp a cloth in the door so that it remains ajar to avoid mold growth.
A site plan that shows where which items are located makes it easier to search for stored belongings, even after a long period of time. The following applies: Place rarely used items as far back as possible in the room and keep items that are used more often near the door. If you leave a narrow aisle free, you can easily reach the furthest corners and ensure that the air can circulate in the room. Finally, you can print out the site plan and stick it on the inside of the door, for example, in order to be able to keep track of all the items stored at all times.
Conclusion: What should you consider when it comes to self-storage?
Before you secure a storage compartment with a provider such as Mein Lager Self Storage or Lagerbox, you should estimate exactly how much space you really need for the belongings to be stored and consider all the tricks that can be implemented during the planning phase. It is then worthwhile to inspect the storage boxes in advance – self-storage is not a protected term, which is why the standards are not defined. Accordingly, a storage compartment can be a rusty overseas container or an air-conditioned new building. In order to decide on the best offer, it is not only worth visiting the compartments in question beforehand, but also comparing the costs per square meter.
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