Okay, let me slam my laptop shut and just talk to you. I’m not an article. I’m your friend Sarah, who just spent last weekend cleaning out my sister’s storage unit after she found a puddle. It was a nightmare. The bottom of her wedding memory box? Ruined. Photos stuck together, the lace from her bouquet smelling like a wet dog.
So I’m begging you, learn from her $2,000 mistake. Let’s keep your stuff dry. For real.
Step one is so simple, but nobody does it
Before you put a single thing inside, you have to test the unit itself. Go when it’s sunny. Bring a spray bottle filled with water. I’m serious. Spray a steady stream of water along the top of the closed door, and where the door meets the concrete. Have a friend inside with a flashlight. Are they seeing drips? Any water sneaking in? Now check the walls. Tap them. Do they feel like solid, cool concrete, or weirdly thin and hollow? Hollow can mean moisture gets in easier.
Look at the floor. Is it perfectly smooth, or are there cracks? Draw a circle around any crack you find with a piece of chalk. Take a picture. Send it to your manager with a text: “Hey, just noticed this crack in Accent Self Storage. Can you check it out before I move in?” This does two things: it gets it on their radar, and it creates a paper trail. If they’re decent, they’ll fix it. If they brush you off, run. Don’t rent there.
My manager at Accent Self Storage, Bob, actually gave me the spray bottle trick. He said, “Test it. If it leaks, I want to know before you fill it with your grandma’s quilts.” That’s the kind of place you want.
Your packing list is wrong
You’re thinking boxes, tape, labels. Nope. Your new shopping list is:
- Plastic totes with gaskets. The lid should have a rubbery seal. Run your finger along it. If it’s just a bare plastic lip, it’s not enough.
- Pressure-treated 2x4s. Not regular wood. Pressure-treated. They resist rot. You’ll lay these down like railroad tracks for your totes to sit on.
- Pool noodles. Yes, the floaty ones. Cut them in foot-long sections and slice them open. You can slip these over the edges of wooden furniture legs to act as a tiny moisture barrier.
- Unscented silica kitty litter. Not clay, not crystals. Silica. It’s in a jug. Pour it into old socks and tie the ends. Toss these “litter sausages” into every tote. They’re reusable—you can dry them out in the sun.
The setup is everything
Lay your 2x4s on the floor, parallel, about a foot apart. Place your gasket totes across them, like a bridge. Now, leave a walkway. Don’t stack wall-to-wall. Air needs to move. If you’re storing a dresser, take the drawers out. Wrap the dresser frame in a cotton blanket. Wrap the drawers separately and slide them under your shelving. Why? Trapped air inside a drawer is a mold incubator.
The weird trick that saved my winter clothes
I bought a small, battery-operated humidity meter on Amazon for $12. I stick it to the wall inside my unit. I check it every time I visit. If the humidity inside the unit is above 60%, I know I need to beef up my defense. Usually, I just add more “litter sausages.” It’s a little gauge that tells me, “Hey, the air’s getting thirsty in here.”
Make peace with visiting
Once a month during rainy season, I go. I don’t even bring my keys to unload anything. I do what I call the “Three-Point Check.”
- Nose: I take a deep breath the second I roll the door up. Musty smell? Problem.
- Knees: I get down and feel the 2x4s. Are they damp? Are they warping?
- Eyes: I use my phone flashlight to scan the back wall and ceiling, looking for any new streaks or shadows.
It takes 90 seconds. Then I leave. That’s the whole visit.
Why the building matters more than your stuff
You can do everything right, but if the unit is built like a sieve, you lose. When I was looking at Cedar Fort, I didn’t just look at the unit. I went the day after a huge rain. I walked the property. I looked at the ground around the units. Was there standing water? Were there mud channels where water had rushed? I checked the gutters. Were they clear, or overflowing? The building is your first umbrella. If the umbrella is full of holes, you’re getting wet no matter what coat you wear.
This isn’t about being a perfectionist. It’s about being smarter than the rain.
Get the right box. Get it off the ground. Throw some magic litter in there. And check on it once in a while.
Do this, and you can watch a storm from your window with your coffee, completely relaxed. You’ll know what’s in your unit is safer than what’s in your own basement. And that feeling? It’s priceless
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