Mastering Self-Storage: Top Tips for a Smooth Experience Self-storage has become an indispensable solution for many people facing space constraints, moving houses, or needing a temporary spot for their belongings. Whether you're a seasoned self-storage user or a newbie, optimizing your storage experience can save you time, money, and stress. Here are some expert tips to help you make the most out of your self-storage unit. 1. Choose the Right Size Unit Before you start packing, estimate the amount of space you’ll need. Self-storage units come in various sizes, from small lockers to large garage-sized units. A common mistake is either overestimating or underestimating the space required. Create an inventory of the items you plan to store, which will help you determine the appropriate unit size. You can use our storage calculator on our website to help estimate the correct size, or give us a call - we'd be happy to help! 2. Pack Efficiently Efficient packing is crucial for maximizing space and ensuring your items are protected. Here’s how: Use Uniform Boxes: Standardized boxes stack neatly, saving space, and making it easier to retrieve items. Label Everything: Clearly mark each box with its contents and the room it came from. This will make finding specific items later much easier. Disassemble Large Items: Take apart furniture and other bulky items to save space. Keep screws and small parts in labeled bags taped to the item. 3. Protect Your Belongings Proper protection prevents damage and keeps your items in good condition: Wrap Fragile Items: Use bubble wrap, packing paper, or blankets to cushion delicate items. Avoid Plastic Bags: These can trap moisture and cause mildew. Use breathable materials instead. Use Pallets: Elevate your boxes and furniture off the floor with pallets to prevent potential water damage. 4. Maximize Space Utilize every inch of your storage unit by following these strategies: Vertical Space: Stack boxes and furniture up to the ceiling, placing heavier items at the bottom and lighter ones on top. Shelving Units: Portable shelving can help organize smaller items and improve access. Utilize Hollow Spaces: Store items ...
—May 28th, 2024
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With Halloween and Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror and Christmas just ahead, now is a great time to de-clutter your house in preparation for those holiday guests, parties, and family meals. At The Storage Place of MT we have plenty of smaller units (5x5, 5x8 and 5x10) to store your Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations until next year. A storage unit is also a great place to hide Christmas presents from any nosy family members. If you are going all out for Christmas this year and getting an oversized Christmas tree, we have storage units available for the extra living room furniture that might get in the way. Only need storage short term? No problem; we offer month to month contracts and we pro-rate on move in. Budget a bit tight? We offer competitive rental rates and we have specials including one month free running on certain unit categories. https://www.thestorageplacemt.com/self-storage-billings-mt Happy Holidays and Happy Storing! ...
—December 1st, 2017
Although Fall has just arrived, as we all know, here in Montana winter weather is just around the corner. Now is a great time to protect your toys and store them for the winter. At The Storage Place we have many storage unit size options to protect your prized possessions over the inclement months to come. We can accommodate ATVs, UTVs, Motorcycles (both on and off-road) in units as small as 10x10. Sports cars, classic cars, rock crawlers/jeeps and boats, jetskis, rafts etc fit in our 10x20, 10x25 or 10x30 units. For those who adhere to the adage “those who die with the most toys win” we have 20x30 and 20x50 units to accommodate your entire toy collection. If your toys can stand up to the harsh weather, but you just don't have a good parking spot for them for the winter we also offer outdoor parking spots. If you run seasonal construction/landscaping businesses we also have units that will accommodate your tools and equipment (ladders/scaffolding, mowers, skidsteers etc) until you need them to go to work in the spring. Benefits of storing indoors: Tires and other rubber compounds/components and interior upholstry won't be subject to daily solar/uv exposure. Roofs and seals won't be tested by snow and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Maintain access to check on your toys (no digging them out from under the snow bank when you want to check on them). Free up space in your home garage to park your daily drivers indoors throughout the winter months. Our rental contracts are all month to month-only stay as long as you want or need to. Tips for winter storing: Stabilize all fuel. Remove your battery and take it home with you. Use a battery tender if possible to prolong the batteries life. Remove any food or attractants from the vehicles to prevent any unwanted insect/critter visits. If storing a motor boat be sure to winterize the engine and drain the bilge prior to storage. Make sure tires are all properly inflated and holding air (it is no fun to try and pump ...
—October 2nd, 2017
With Fall's arrival, school is back in session. Rocky Mountain College and Montana State University-Billings students are back in town and arranging their living situations. Whether in dorm rooms or in shared apartments or houses, students often find themselves in a tight (literally) situation. Many dorm rooms and packed apartments do not have extra space to store all the stuff today's college students need. From bikes to skis and other outdoor equipment to seasonal clothing and accessories many items will be left without a place to be stored. Here are some helpful tips to maximize your storage spaces. Loft your bed. This will give you room to either store many boxes and additional items that wouldn't traditionally fit under a bed. Some students even put their desks under their beds if they loft them high enough. Check with your school; they may provide designated storage areas where you can store extra boxes, or equipment. Coordinate with roommates prior to arriving to make sure you aren't doubling up on items. Create shelving for closets and along walls. If all else fails come visit us at The Storage Place. We have units as small as 5ft x 5ft to store your extra gear. We also offer all students a 5% discount each month with valid student ID. Our 5504 King Avenue East location is 4 miles from Rocky Mountain College and 3.9 miles from MSU-B. Our 913 3rd Ave North location is 4.3 miles from Rocky Mountain College and 2.5 miles from MSU-B. Best of luck this school year and as always, Happy Storing! ...
—August 30th, 2017
One of the biggest concerns of any customer looking for a storage unit is; will my belongings be safe and secure. At The Storage Place of MT, the safety and security of your belongings is one of our top priorities. We have enacted a number of safeguards to aid in our efforts to protect your possessions. Gates: All 3 of our location use high security electronic gates that require a key code. Each tenant is issued their own unique access code upon move in. Only the tenant on the rental agreement can change their access code, or retrieve it if they have forgotten it. Keep your code secure and do not share it with others. Our facilities have limited gate access hours; 6 am to 9 pm. Studies have shown that most criminal burglary/theft activities take place outside of those hours. To help keep our facilities safe for you and our other customers please do not tailgate cars going through the gate and do not allow anyone to tailgate you upon entry or exit through the gate. Wait until the gate has securely closed before leaving the property. Fences: All 3 of our locations are fully fenced with a mix of chain link topped with barbed wire, wrought iron and chain link, all of which are at least 6ft tall. Lighting: All 3 of our locations are lit at night by a mix of overhead and building mounted lights for your safety and security. We also employ motion detecting lights at our 5504 King Ave E location. All external units at our 5504 King Ave E. and 1835 Lampman locations have lighting provided inside of the units. Security Cameras: All 3 of our locations are equipped with security cameras, both wired and wireless. Tamper evident lock device: We place a tamper evident lock device on each of our customer's locks. If you ever change your lock please let us know so that we can put a new device on your new lock. If we find a lock without a device we will immediately ...
—July 31st, 2017
There are many reasons people use storage units, but did you ever consider that it could actually save you money? Residential/Consumer Users: You can rent a smaller house or apartment if you rent a storage unit to store your extra items, instead of using your extra bedroom for storage. After looking through the rental listings in Billings it seems that a rough average for 2 bed room houses for rent is about $800, and a 3 bedroom house is $1000. At The Storage Place, you can rent a 10ft x 10ft storage unit (approximate size of a small bedroom) for around $70 month. So if you really only need 2 bedrooms but were renting a 3 bedroom house to store your extra items, you could be saving $130 each month by using a more economical storage unit (That's a savings of over $1500 per year!). The storage unit at The Storage Place is on a month-to-month lease so if you move, or expand your family etc you are not locked into a year lease like most houses/apartments require. The Storage Place offers multiple unit sizes to best fit your individual needs. For example, you may be able to fit all of your extra belongings into one of our 5ft x 10ft units with 11ft ceilings which would save you even more each month. Business Users can benefit too. Any business that needs to store records or documents (Lawyers, Dr's. Dentists, Accountants etc) can save money by renting a smaller office and utilizing a storage unit. Retail businesses (clothing stores, furniture/mattress businesses, really any business that has to carry extra inventory) can rent a smaller store and store their back-up inventory at one of our 3 easy to access, secure storage facilities. Service businesses (plumbers, electricians, repairmen etc) may also find a storage unit a convenient option for storing parts and tools. We offer any verified businesses the option of having 24 hour a day, 365 day a year access to their units. Once again with ...
—June 14th, 2017
The Storage Place has 3 convenient locations in Billings to help serve our customers. All of our locations are fully fenced with electronic keypad access gates for security. For additional security each site has security cameras and night time security lighting. Each site is visited daily and every tenant's lock is checked to insure the units are properly secured. Gate hours at all sites are from 6am-9pm. 24 hour access is available to commercial/business customers upon approval. 5504 King Ave East This is our main office location. You can visit this site to set up your account for all 3 of our locations. Conveniently located near the city center I-90 interstate exit, this location is easy to access. The closest major intersection is Laurel Road and Parkway Lane. We are a few blocks west of Amend Park. This site is home to our on-site manager for additional security. We can accommodate a large variety of storage needs from units as small as 5x5 up to 10x30. Exterior access units have interior lights and power (for on-site use only ie no deep freezers or continuous use appliances). We also have outdoor parking spaces at this location. 1835 Lampman Drive This site is located across the street from the main UPS facility and behind Northwestern Energy's equipment and pole yard. This site hosts our bigger units, from 15x20 up to our largest units at 20x50. Each unit has power (for on-site use only ie no deep freezers or continuous use appliances) and lighting. 913 3rd Ave N Our downtown location is conveniently located for those needing storage close to MSU-Billings, The Heights or near the airport. This site is located on 3rd Avenue about 3 blocks east of the Metra. We have units from 10x10 up to 10x20 (10x20 units have doors on both ends for easy access) and a limited number of outdoor parking spaces. Stop in or give us a call anytime and we can help find the right size unit in the most convenient location for ...
—May 24th, 2017
“What size unit do you need?” This is probably the most common question that needs to be answered when you are looking into renting a storage unit. If you've never rented a unit before it can feel like a daunting task. Here are some tips in helping you choose the best fit unit. 1. What is the largest item you plan on storing? If you need to store a queen bed set, that 5x5 with the low introductory price is probably not going to work. Think about your biggest items and work backwards from there. 2. Are your stored items stackable? If so, unit height is important. Our King Avenue units offer 11ft ceiling heights. Some of the new facilities are only building with 8ft ceilings. In terms of cubic feet a 10x10 with an 8ft ceiling has 800 cubic feet whereas a 10x10 with an 11f t ceiling has 1100 cubic feet, a 37.5% increase in useable volume. 3. How long do you plan to store? If the time period is short, the unit size isn't as critical. If your storage is long term, you don't want to be paying for more than you need over many years as this cost can ad up. 4. Use a storage calculator. There are many tools; including one on our website that can help you estimate the right size unit for your needs. Or feel free to call us and we'll be happy to guide you in choosing the right unit. Don't just wing it, or you might end up like the tenant who came back to rent 3 more units as she kept filling up her previous units up. Happy Storing! ...
—April 17th, 2017
While rules and contracts/leases may vary from self storage facility to facility there are some commonalities on certain items that are not allowed/illegal to be stored in your unit. Check your lease or contact your facility for the specific items prohibited where you store. Perishable Items: Most facilities do not allow perishable item/food storage in units. Food attracts rodents and other pests which may cause damage to your stored items, your neighbors and the facility. If perishable items rot it can lead to terrible odors which no facility or its customers want. Residing in Units: Storage facilities are not built for residential purposes. Living in a storage unit is dangerous and in most states illegal. Even sleeping in a your stored vehicle/RV is a no no. Combustibles and Corrosives: These items include things like gasoline, propane, kerosene, grease, oil and anything else that can be an accelerant or cause a fire. Chemicals like fertilizer, cleaning solvents, paint thinner/paint, acids etc are also not allowed due to the danger and possible fire and health risks they impose. Drugs: Illegal drugs are obviously not allowed to be stored at any storage facility. If you are a pharmaceutical rep, check with your facility prior to storing any samples, or prescription controlled substances in your unit. Hazardous/Radioactive Materials: No storing any biological waste, asbestos or any other illness causing or damaging substances. Vehicles: Some facilities do not allow vehicle storage inside of your units. Others require proof of current registration and insurance to store a vehicle. Check with your facility prior to storing any vehicles (cars, trucks, atv/motorcycles and boats etc). Happy Storing! ...
—March 7th, 2017
Packing a storage unit properly is very important but it can be tricky. Maximizing the unit space is key; no reason to pay for extra space if you don't need it. It is also important to put the things you plan on accessing most often closest to the door.Here are some tips to help you pack your storage unit: Since most storage units in Billings, MT are not climate controlled it is a good idea to leave some space between your items and the walls of the unit. This will allow air to circulate better and keep any condensation from reaching your stored items. Also consider plastic sheets or old bed linens to lay over items to prevent dust. Many facilities provide pallets at no charge to store your items off the ground in the off chance a neighboring unit has a spill. If you can, use boxes that are the same size. This will make it easier to pack the unit and it will conserve space as well. Remember; put the heavier ones on the bottom. If possible, try to stack the boxes to the ceiling (also a consideration when renting a unit, many facilities only have 8 ft ceilings, while our 5504 King Ave E facility has 11 ft ceilings in most of the units). If you are lawn mowers, or other small engines remember to winterize them and drain the fuel prior to storage. Also if you are storing a dishwasher/washing machine make sure you have drained all water to prevent breaking of any hoses or lines during freezing temperatures. If you’re storing a refrigerator or freezer, leave the door open. This will prevent mold from building up. Remember, do not store any food in your units as it can attract unwanted pests. Make sure you do not store anything flammable in your storage unit. Many accidents happen because people store gas, oil, or paint thinner in their units. Leave a small walkway in the middle of your unit so you can access ...
—January 23rd, 2017
