Why You Shouldn't Put Food In A Self-Storage Unit
Self-storage facilities are useful for safeguarding most things, but there are things you should not store in these facilities. For example, keeping food in a self-storage unit is usually a recipe for disaster. Below are some reasons food and self-storage facilities don't mix.
Storage Restrictions
Storage facilities, just like other businesses, have terms and conditions for their clients. The terms and conditions protect both clients and the facilities. For example, most facilities have a list of items that they don't accept in their storage units — and food is common in these lists.
Even for storage facilities that do accept food, there are strict restrictions on which food items they accept. For example, some accept canned foods, grains, or dry foods. Contravening a facility's storage restrictions can attract legal problems.
Risk of Spoilage and Contamination
Even if you put aside facilities' restrictions for a minute, you still have to worry about the risk of spoilage. Many storage facilities have not equipped their units for food preservation. For one, storage facilities accept all manner of objects, including some that can contaminate food.
Secondly, unless you are dealing with climate-controlled storage, you also have to worry about the issue of spoilage. Spoilage will cause you a double loss — you lose your food but still have to pay storage fees.
Bad Smell
Keeping food in a storage unit can also foul up the facility with a bad smell. Your unit can smell terrible if some of your food spoils or leaks. Some foods smell bad even if they are still fresh — think of fish and meat. Neither the facility's management nor their clients would want to operate in such a smelly environment.
Pest Infestation
Lastly, keeping food in a storage unit can also encourage pest infestation. The inherent odor of food will attract some pests. Small pests, such as insects, feeding on the food may attract bigger pests, such as rodents. The pests can swarm your storage unit and spread to nearby units, leaving a trail of damage in their wake. Users of nearby storage units may hold you liable for their losses if they can prove your negligence triggered the pest infestation.
Obey all rules and regulations when storing things in self-storage units. If you have some special needs or special items to store, talk to the facilities in your area for specialized units. Hopefully, you will always find the right storage unit for any of your items.
To learn more, contact a storage facility.
Do you have a space for everything? Chance are, like many homeowners, you have more things than you have spaces. But if you try to narrow down your items, you may struggle to choose anything to get rid of. Here's a quick tip: you don't have to get rid of anything. For some items, the best space is a storage unit. These units allow you to hold onto items that you need, but that you really don't have room for at home. This is amazingly convenient. We love storage units, and we post about them here on this blog, which is all about storage.