My cousin sent me a picture yesterday that made me cringe. Opened his storage unit and found the bottom of his box spring covered in black spots. Mold. Two years he’s been paying for that unit, and now his mattress is trash.
I asked what he had it sitting on.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just on the floor.”
Yeah. There’s your problem.
If my own cousin doesn’t know this stuff, I figure plenty of other people probably don’t either. So here’s what I’ve learned from watching folks store things wrong for way too long.
That Floor Thing Again
I know I sound like a broken record about this, but concrete is tricky. It stays cold. Warm air holds moisture. When those two meet, that moisture ends up somewhere – usually in whatever’s sitting on the ground.
Your mattress. Your boxes. That wooden dresser your grandmother gave you.
I remember this one guy who’d stacked old National Geographic magazines right on the floor. Bottom three layers were wrecked. Pages stuck together like they were glued. He kept saying “but the roof doesn’t leak” and couldn’t figure it out. The floor got him. Plain and simple.
So get stuff up. Pallets work. Cinder blocks. Those plastic shelving units from Home Depot. Anything that creates air space underneath.
About Boxes
Look, I use cardboard for moving too. We all do. But if you’re storing stuff for months, especially through winter or rainy season, cardboard’s rough.
It acts like a sponge. Gets soft. Starts bending. Next thing you know, whatever’s inside feels damp too.
Those plastic bins cost money, I know. But walk through the storage aisle at Lowe’s sometime and check out what they’ve got. The clear ones are handy because you can see inside without opening everything. Those black ones with yellow lids? Tough as nails. My sister’s had the same ones for her Christmas stuff going on ten years now. Still look new.
Air Flow Sounds Dumb But Trust Me
My dad keeps an old Mustang in a garage. Not a storage unit, but same idea. He always leaves the windows cracked just a hair. Says the car needs to breathe.
Same goes for your stuff.
Pack a unit so tight you can’t slide a piece of paper between boxes and air doesn’t move. Air doesn’t move, moisture hangs around. Moisture hangs around, you get that musty smell. Then comes the mold.
Leave some breathing room. Don’t stack to the ceiling if you can help it. Put bigger stuff around the edges, leave a path down the middle. Lets air do its job.
The DampRid Thing
I mentioned this before but seriously – grab a bucket. Ten bucks, maybe twelve. Set it in there. Come back in a month.
If there’s water in it, that water came out of your air. And that water would’ve ended up in your stuff instead.
I put one in my own unit last year. Forgot about it for two months. Came back and found two inches of water in the bottom. Two inches. Crazy when you think about it.
What I’d Watch Out For
Wood furniture’s the biggest heartbreaker. Gets damp, starts swelling, drawers stick, doors won’t close right. Keep it off the floor and don’t shove it flat against the wall.
Papers and photos kill me. People store boxes of old pictures and letters, then act surprised when they’re ruined. Those go in plastic bins with tight lids. Toss in some of those silica packs – you know, the little ones that come in shoe boxes. Start saving them now.
Fabric stuff – blankets, clothes, curtains – they soak up moisture smells and never quite lose them. Vacuum seal bags work great for this. Squeeze all the air out and they take up way less space too.
What We Do At Our Place
We run Main Street Storage over on – you guessed it – Main. Got good buildings, good roofs. Walk them after every big storm to make sure nothing’s leaking.
But I tell people straight up: the building only does so much. What happens inside your unit is between you and your stuff.
Had a lady in here last month storing her son’s things while he’s overseas with the army. She asked me twenty questions. Bought all plastic bins. Put everything on pallets. Even got one of those little battery-powered dehumidifiers.
That kid’s stuff will be perfect when he gets back. She made sure of it.
Quick Tip Before You Go
Next time you’re at your unit, do this real quick:
Stand inside for a minute. Pull the door almost shut. Smell anything? Should smell like nothing. If it smells like basement, something’s damp. Go find it.
Look at the ceiling. Any stains? Drips? Spots where the paint looks different? That’s water finding a way in.
Check what’s on the floor. Anything touching concrete? Get it up.
Takes two minutes. Saves a ton of headache.
Anyway, that’s the deal. Rainy season comes every year. It’s not personal, just weather. But your stuff can make it through fine if you think about it a little.
We’re here if you need anything. Or if you want to check out our units, swing by. We’ll show you around. No pressure.
Stay dry.
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