So, it’s gonna pour all week. You can smell it in the air, that wet concrete and damp earth smell. And you’re thinking about your storage unit. That couch. Those yearbooks. Your dad’s record collection.
A little pit forms in your stomach, right? I get it. I’ve been there.
I’m not a blog writer. I’m the guy who walks the aisles of our storage facility with a flashlight, checking door seals after a storm. My name’s Mike. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the tragically soggy. I once opened a unit for a customer and found a puddle so still it had mosquitoes breeding in it. The cardboard boxes had melted into a sad, gray pulp. The guy just put his head in his hands. It was all his late wife’s books. He wasn’t crying about the stuff. He was crying about the memories he could no longer hold.
That day stuck with me. So let’s not let that be you. Let’s get your unit drier than a popcorn fart in a desert, okay? This isn’t a science paper. It’s a battle plan, from one person who cares about their stuff to another.
Imagine your storage unit is a kid going out to play in the mud. You wouldn’t send them out in socks and a tissue-paper jacket. You’d boot them up.
The Shoes: The Floor
Most storage floors are bare concrete. Concrete is porous. It breathes ground moisture like it’s trying to. On a humid day, a concrete floor can feel clammy. That dampness wants to climb into your boxes.
- What you do: Get everything off the deck. Seriously. Don’t let a single box, bag, or piece of furniture touch the naked concrete. Not even for a second.
- My cheap-as-chips fix: Go to the hardware store and buy a bunch of those cheap, plastic milk crates or a bundle of wooden “furring strips” (they’re like skinny 1x2s). Lay the sticks down in a grid and set your stuff on top. Instant 2-inch air gap. Cost you ten bucks. Best money you’ll ever spend.
The Raincoat: The Walls and Door
This is where a good facility earns its keep. You need to be a detective for two minutes.
- The Door Seal Test: Next time you’re at your unit, do this. Close the door. From the outside, run your hand along the rubber seal at the bottom. Is it snug? Does it feel thick and pliable, or cracked and brittle? Now, crouch down. Can you see any sliver of light from inside? If you can, so can a fine mist of rain driven by wind. At our place, we’re obsessive about these seals. We replace them at the first sign of wear because a floppy seal is a leak waiting to happen.
- The Wall Whisper: Touch the interior walls. Do they feel cold and maybe a little damp to the touch? That’s condensation waiting to happen. This is where climate-control stops being a fancy word and becomes a superhero. A real climate-controlled unit isn’t just air-conditioned; it has a dehumidifier that sucks the moisture out of the air like a straw in a milkshake. It keeps the air moving and steady. Your wooden furniture won’t swell. Your photo paper won’t stick. It’s a game-changer.
Your Stuff: Packing Like a Paranoid Pro
You can have Fort Knox for a unit and still ruin your things if you pack them wrong. Here’s the real talk.
1. The Cardboard Lie
We’ve all done it. Grabbed free boxes from the grocery store. They’re a trap. Cardboard is hygroscopic—it actively attracts and holds moisture from the air. A cardboard box on a concrete floor is a moisture-wicking sponge. It will pull dampness up into your Christmas ornaments.
- What you do: Plastic bins. The ones with the click-clack lids. They’re not glamorous, but they are a sealed fortress. They keep dampness out, and if something inside is accidentally damp (looking at you, hastily-packed coffee mug), they at least contain the mold explosion.
2. The “Damp Rag in a Gym Bag” Phenomenon
You would never ball up a wet towel and throw it in a closed bag. It’ll get funky in a day. Same principle. Never, ever store anything that isn’t completely, 100% bone-dry. That wicker basket from the garage? Wipe it down. That camping tent? Make sure it’s not just sorta dry from last weekend—air it out completely. One damp item can humidify the whole space.
3. The Silica Gel Secret
You know those little “Do Not Eat” packets that come in new shoes and beef jerky? Silica gel. They’re desiccants. They eat moisture. You can buy big bags of them online for peanuts. Toss a handful into every plastic bin, tuck a few into suitcase pockets, drop some into a tool box. They’re your tiny, silent army fighting humidity. For the whole unit, grab a DampRid bucket from the store. You’ll watch it fill with water it pulled from the air. It’s weirdly satisfying.
4. Give Your Stuff Some Elbow Room
Don’t Tetris-pack your unit until it’s bursting. If air can’t move, moisture settles. Leave a little aisle down the middle. Keep things a few inches away from the walls. Think of it as giving your belongings room to breathe.
The Most Important Step: The Check-In
This is the part everyone skips. You gotta visit. Not just when you need something.
Make a date with your unit after the first big storm of the season. Go in. Take a deep sniff. Does it smell like fresh air and dust, or like a basement and regret? Run your hand over a plastic bin lid. Is it dry? Is there any dusting of moisture?
Look in the corners with your flashlight. Any dark streaks on the concrete? Any drip trails?
This isn’t being neurotic. It’s being smart. It turns the abstract worry of “I hope my stuff is okay” into the concrete knowledge that “Yep, my stuff is okay.”
And if it’s not okay? You call the office. You tell us. Immediately. At my facility, if a customer calls and says “Mike, I’ve got a drip,” I’m out there with a ladder and a new seal in 20 minutes. That’s my job. I can’t fix a leak I don’t know about.
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