You’ve made up your mind. You can’t stand all this clutter around the house anymore. It’s time to get a storage garage.
But wait... how much storage do you need? What size storage unit will you need to get?
You've got all this stuff but will it fit in a medium garage or will I need a large? Or should I start off with a small garage?
When it comes to choosing the right size storage garage it may seem a bit confusing at the start. Trying to visualise whether all your stuff will fit in. And if it fits, will I still be able to reach the items in the back if I need to?
Don’t worry anymore.
The team at SASP Storage have created this quick guide to help you pick the right storage garage size for your storage needs.
What are the main items you’ll be storing?
Nothing will ruin your day faster than packing all your stuff into a storage unit and finding out not all of it fits.
The first step in working out how much storage you need comes down to - what are the main reasons/items you’ll be storing?
Are you looking to store:
● A car which you will take out on the weekends or store long term?
● Extra tools and equipment for work which you’ll need to have regular access to?
● A house load of furniture which will be stored long term?
● Inventory for your business that will be constantly taken in and out?
Understanding what and why can really help narrow in how much storage space you’ll need.
If you have inventory for your business, you might want to get a storage garage with a bit more extra space to allow you to have a walkway to the back of the unit to get to stock at the rear. Also a big enough size that will allow you to hold more inventory as your business grows without needing to change garages.
If you’ve got a house load of furniture for long term storage. You won’t need any extra room in the garage for walking to the back so you can aim more for an exact size to fit everything in and maximise your space.
With a car it’s important you can fit the car in the garage but it is also important that once it is in the garage you can get out of the car. So when deciding on a garage make sure you don’t just take the width and length of the car into account but also the door opening and someone getting in and out of the garage to get to the car.
Create an initial inventory list of items to be stored.
Now that you know what and why you are storing. You can now write up a list of what will be going in your storage garage.
While making a list of all the items. You’re going to want to keep a couple of things in mind:
1. Does this item need to be stored in a specific way to look after it?
2. If it’s a large item take measurements as this will be important for the storage garage size.
3. Will I need to access this item frequently?
Once you've done this you’ll have a list of what’s going to be stored, the rough sizes of the items that will be going in the storage garage, and whether they’ll need to be easily accessible or not.
With this information you can add it all together and work out how much space you're going to need.
But what if you’re still not sure of the size you’ll need?
Create an outline of your storage garage size.
This can be a fun game to play with the kids, or an easy way to help you visualise the storage space you’ll need.
All you’ll need is an open space like your driveway or backyard, a measuring tape, and anything to mark out the edges.
Next start off with the garage size (below) you think you’ll need and mark it out.
Small Garage - 6.8m x 1.6m
Medium Garage - 6.8m x 3.4m
Large Garage - 9.0m x 3.5m
You can now see the size of the garage in front of you and you can move some of the bigger items you want to storage into the marked out area to see if everything will fit.
Still not sure? Go one size bigger.
If you are in a situation where you believe you’re at the top end of a garage size and are wondering whether you should go up a size. It’s always better to go for the bigger size versus the smaller one.
This will give you some buffer room to add more items into the garage in the future and will reduce the chances of having to move between units when your storage needs increase.
We’ve found over the years, once people finally get a storage garage there are always a few more things that they want to store in there to get them out of the way.
We hope these tips have been helpful for you in your search for finding the right storage garage size for your needs.
If you’re looking for a storage unit in Christchurch - we’ve got plenty of storage garages to have your storage needs sorted.
Give us a call today on 0800 883 773, or submit your details through the contact form below and one of our team will be in touch to help you organise your storage.