Storage in Manchester
For the gap between two dates, the downsize you have not finished deciding, or the year you are away. Usually part of a move rather than a separate errand.
- Days, months or longer
- Collection and delivery included
- Priced on what you actually have
Storage is a solution, not a failure
The short version. Tell us roughly what is going in, how long you think you need it and whether we are moving it too. A written figure follows.
People tend to treat needing storage as a sign that something has gone wrong with their move. It almost never is. Two completion dates lining up perfectly is the exception rather than the rule, and the households that plan for the possibility have far easier weeks than the ones who assume it away.
Most of the storage we arrange is measured in weeks rather than months, and it exists to solve one specific problem. Your things need to be somewhere while a gap closes. That gap might be four days between a sale and a purchase, or three months while a house is being renovated, or a year while somebody works abroad.
The practical advantage of arranging it as part of the move is that your belongings are handled once at each end rather than repeatedly. We load, it goes into store, it comes out and goes into the new place. Arranging storage separately from the removal means paying for the same lifting twice.
When people need it
Six situations account for nearly all of it, and none of them means anything has gone wrong.
The dates will not meet
Far and away the most common reason. You complete on the sale before the purchase, or a tenancy ends before the next one begins. Storage turns an impossible week into an ordinary one.
The chain moved
A completion slips and suddenly two dates that lined up no longer do. Rather than losing a booking or forcing a move nobody has agreed, the load goes into store and comes out when the house is genuinely yours.
You are downsizing
The new place is smaller and not everything fits. Storage buys time to decide properly rather than making the wrong call in a hurry during the last week.
The new place is not ready
Building work, a floor being sanded, a kitchen going in. All of those are far easier in an empty house, and a fortnight in store usually costs less than moving everything twice.
You are going away
A posting abroad, a long contract, a year of travelling. A household worth of things needs somewhere dry and secure that is not a relative loft.
A business fit-out has overrun
Common enough that we plan for it. Equipment and furniture wait in store and come back in the order you want rather than all at once.
What we will ask you
Six things, and the more accurate you are about the third and fourth, the better the arrangement works.
- How long you expect to need it, even roughly, because a fortnight and a year are planned differently
- Whether it is a whole household, a part load or a few specific items
- Whether you will need to get to anything while it is in there, and if so what
- Whether we are collecting, delivering, or both ends of the job
- Who else needs access, and whether anybody other than you can collect
- Where it is coming from and going to, since that shapes the vehicle as much as the storage does
Tell us what you need
Roughly what is going in, how long for, and whether we are handling the move as well.
When a chain moves at short notice
The commonest reason a household needs storage at short notice is a chain that has shifted, and it is worth understanding how that plays out because it is far less dramatic than it feels at the time.
A chain moves when any link in it moves. Somebody four houses away cannot complete on the agreed day, and the effect travels along the chain to you. It is nobody fault and there is usually nothing to be done about it except adjust, which is exactly what storage is for.
What happens in practice is that we load on the day you have to be out, the load goes into store, and it comes out when the new house is genuinely yours. You are not homeless with a van full of furniture, and you are not forced into a completion date that has not been agreed.
The useful thing is to raise the possibility early rather than at the point it becomes necessary. Mention at the quote stage that the chain is long, or that the two dates are tight, and the storage option gets priced alongside the move. If it is not needed, nothing is lost. If it is needed at three days notice, having already discussed it turns a crisis into a phone call.
One practical point. If there is a realistic chance of a gap, pack the things you will need during it separately and keep them with you rather than putting them into store. Clothes, documents, chargers, medication and anything for children. Those going into storage by accident is the part people find hardest.
Preparing things for storage
Packing for a van and packing for storage are not the same job. Things that will sit stacked for months need a bit more thought than things travelling for an hour.
- Decide what you might need
The single most useful thing you can do. Anything you may want during the storage period goes in last so it is at the front, not buried at the back behind a wardrobe.
- Empty and dry everything
Fridges, freezers, washing machines and anything that has held water. A sealed appliance with moisture in it does not improve over three months in store.
- Pack for stacking, not for carrying
Boxes that are full and square stack safely for months. Half-full boxes collapse under weight and bags do not stack at all.
- Label on the side and keep a list
Not on the top, because tops are invisible once things are stacked. One list of what went in, kept somewhere other than inside a box.
What the cost depends on
Five things, and the first two do most of the work.
Measured in what it occupies rather than in boxes. A one-bedroom flat, a part load or a full four-bedroom house are very different volumes and they are priced accordingly.
A few weeks between completions is a different arrangement from a year while you are abroad. Longer periods generally work out better per week, so it is worth being honest about the likely span.
Storage combined with the removal is usually more straightforward and more economical than arranging the two separately, because the load only gets handled once at each end.
Things you may want to reach are loaded differently from things going away untouched. Tell us at the start and it costs nothing. Tell us later and it may mean unstacking.
A fixed delivery date, a flexible one, or a staged return where things come back in a particular order. All are workable and they need agreeing rather than assuming.
What should not go into store
Some things do not belong in storage at all, and it is better to know that now than to find out in three months.
Anything perishable is the obvious category, and it extends further than food. Open bottles, anything in a fridge or freezer, and pot plants, which do not survive a dark unit however short the period.
Anything liquid is the second. Cleaning products, paint, garden chemicals and fuel of any kind. Mowers and strimmers need draining before they go anywhere near a store, and so do pressure washers and anything else that holds water in a tank.
Appliances need emptying and drying properly rather than superficially. A washing machine or a dishwasher that has been used in the last day still holds water in the pump and the hoses, and a sealed drum with moisture in it develops a smell that is extremely difficult to get rid of afterwards. Leave doors ajar rather than closed where you can.
Then there are the things that should stay with you rather than being stored, not because they would come to harm but because you will want them. Documents, passports, jewellery, anything irreplaceable and anything you would struggle to prove the value of. The rule of thumb is simple. If losing sight of it for three months would bother you, keep it in your own hands.
If you are unsure about something specific, ask before the collection day rather than presenting it on the morning. Most questions have an easy answer given a bit of notice.
Using storage to downsize without rushing
Downsizing is where storage earns its keep most clearly, and it is the use people are slowest to consider because it feels like putting off a decision.
The problem with downsizing is that it asks you to make dozens of decisions about your own belongings in the worst possible circumstances. You are under time pressure, you are usually tired, and quite often something difficult is going on in the background, whether that is a bereavement, a separation or somebody moving into care. Decisions made in that state are frequently regretted, in both directions. People part with things they wanted and keep things they never look at again.
Storage separates the move from the decisions. Everything that is definitely coming goes to the new house. Everything that is definitely not is dealt with. And everything genuinely undecided goes into store, where it can wait until you are living in the new place and can see honestly what fits and what you actually use.
A month later those decisions are far easier, because they are no longer hypothetical. You know which rooms have space, which furniture works and what you have not thought about once since you moved. Most people find the undecided pile shrinks considerably at that point, and the things that do come out of store come out because they are wanted rather than because there was no time to think.
It is worth raising at the quote stage rather than in the final week, so it is priced in as part of the move rather than arranged in a hurry.
Where we collect from
Across Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas, including Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Wigan, Trafford and Manchester itself. Storage is most often arranged as part of a home removal or a business move, though it does not have to be.
You might also need
Home removals
The move itself, with a period in store built into it.
Business removals
Commercial storage while premises are being fitted out.
Packing
Packing that will survive months in store rather than one afternoon in a van.
Dismantling and reassembly
Furniture taken apart to store compactly and rebuilt on the way out.
Common questions
How much does storage cost?
It depends on the volume and how long you need it, so we price it against what you actually have rather than quoting a rate per week that means nothing until somebody measures. Tell us roughly what is going in and for how long and you will get a written figure.
How long can I store things for?
From a few days to a year or more. Short gaps between completions are the most common use, but long periods while somebody is working abroad are entirely normal too. There is no requirement to know the exact end date at the start.
Can I get to my things while they are in storage?
Say so at the outset and we will load with that in mind, keeping anything you may want accessible rather than at the back. Access does need arranging rather than turning up, so it works best when we know in advance.
Do you collect and deliver, or do I bring things myself?
Either. Most people have us do both ends as part of the move, which is usually simpler and works out better because the load is only handled once. If you would rather bring things yourself, that is fine too.
What should not go into storage?
Anything perishable, anything liquid that could leak, and anything with fuel in it such as a mower or a strimmer. Appliances need draining and drying first. If you are unsure about something, ask before the day rather than after.
Can you store business equipment as well as household things?
Yes. Fit-outs overrun regularly, so office furniture and equipment waiting in store is common. Those loads are usually labelled and stacked so they can come back in a specific order rather than all at once.
What happens if my dates change while things are in store?
Very little, and that is rather the point of it. Storage exists precisely because dates move. Tell us when you know and we will arrange the delivery around the new date.
Do you cover the whole of Greater Manchester?
Yes, across all the boroughs and the surrounding areas, whether we are collecting from you, delivering to you, or handling a full move with a period in store in the middle.
Get it arranged
Send us the details and we will come back with a written figure covering the storage and, if you want it, the move at both ends.