Pack it once, pack it right.

A unit is only as good as the way it's loaded. These are the habits that keep furniture unscratched, boxes unsquashed, and your stuff reachable six months from now.

Before you load

• Clean and dry everything first. Anything that goes in damp — a grill, a cooler, a mattress — stays damp. Moisture is what causes odor and mildew, not the unit.
• Uniform boxes beat free grocery boxes. Same-size boxes stack square and hold weight. Mixed boxes lean, then fall.
• Heavy things in small boxes, light things in big ones. Books in a small box, linens in a large one — otherwise nobody can lift it and the bottom gives out.
• Label two sides and the top. You will be looking at these from an angle you didn't plan for.
• Photograph the serial numbers on tools and electronics before they go in. Five minutes now, priceless if you ever file a claim.

How to load the unit

• Leave a center aisle. The single most common regret is packing wall-to-wall and then needing the thing in the very back. Give yourself a walking lane.
• Heaviest on the floor, along the walls. Appliances, dressers, and tool chests carry the load; boxes ride on top of them, lightest at the top.
• Stand mattresses and sofas on end where you can — it frees enormous floor area. Cover them; don't let bare fabric touch a wall.
• Fill the hollows. Dresser drawers, washer drums, and coolers are free storage for linens and soft goods.
• Disassemble what disassembles. Table legs off, bed frames apart, hardware bagged and taped to the piece it belongs to.
• Pallets or 2x4s under everything if you're storing long-term. An inch of air under your boxes is cheap insurance.
• Point the things you'll want first at the door — seasonal decorations, tools, the kids' bikes.

Please don't store these

Not fine print for its own sake — these are the items that damage everyone's belongings, not just yours.

• Anything flammable or explosive: gasoline, propane tanks, kerosene, paint thinner, fireworks, ammunition primers.
• Food or anything perishable. Sealed pantry goods invite pests; open food guarantees them.
• Living things. No plants, no animals — ever.
• Wet or unwashed items, including that grill you meant to scrub.
• Chemicals, fertilizer, pool supplies, and anything with a warning label about fumes.
• Cash, jewelry, or irreplaceable documents. Those belong in a safe or a bank box.

Drain the fuel and disconnect the battery on anything with an engine — mowers, generators, and the like — before it goes in a unit.

Vehicles, boats and RVs

• Measure your total length before you book — bumper to hitch tip, including the tongue and any swim platform or outboard hanging off the back. Trailer listings almost never include the tongue.
• Check your height for an enclosed unit, including roof air conditioners and satellite domes. Our 25x50 spaces are open, so height is never a problem there.
• Top off the tank and add stabilizer for long storage; a full tank sweats less inside.
• Cover tires and chock the wheels. Flat spots and slow rolls are both avoidable.
• Battery on a tender or pulled entirely if it'll sit through a season.