Archive for May, 2008

20
May

Green Engery

Produce Energy

Can Self storage produce energy from the sun?

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20
May

Storage buildings come in all different shapes and sizes. They can range from the facilities that we commonly see as we are out and about in your city, to the structure that is in your back yard. They both essentially have the same role in your life. They both house your belongings for safe keeping.

Why does one need to store their belongings? There are many reasons why people use some form of space to put their items into. Some people even use their garages as a place to store their items. If you have the room you can save yourself some dollars and keep your belongings at home. Unfortunately, most Americans do not have the luxury of having space inside their homes for items that are not part of their everyday life. That is why they need to find some sort of space to place their belongings.

Storage buildings could be multiple spaces within one facility or it could be a stand alone structure. They can be made of all types of material and can be many different sizes. You have to know what you are looking to store and then determine what type of facility you need to use.

Within your home town or city, you can find storage buildings that are constructed just to have people come and place their items in there for months or years. Some facilities allow customers many types of spaces within the same facility. In most citites, there are many different varieties of these spaces. There are some zip codes which have twenty plus spaces. There might be similarities here and there between them all, but only you know if those differences make a difference in your lifestyle.

There are also companies out there they are involved in storage buildings that you can construct and place anywhere. These structures are made out of solid metal and are there for you to place on your property or on a set site. These structures usually are not hard to set up, but you have to make sure it is anchored well in the ground. These spaces are well receptive to the weather conditions that it might encounter. These structures can be just as sturdy as a facility that has been built brick by brick from the ground up.

As said before the reason people are in need of storage buildings is because they can not keep their items in their house for whatever reason. They have decide what option is better for them in terms of the type of structure will best fit them. You can use your garage as that space that you are in need of or if you can not use that space, you can buy one. Some companies bring out the structure to your house and help you erect it.

When you have the time you can get on line and make some decisions for yourself. If you need a space to store you tools or to put your lawn mower, then maybe you should consider building a structure on your property. You do not want to take that kind of stuff of site when you will need it often. As for winter clothes, tables, chairs and other furniture, you can put that in a facility that is designed for long term storing. There are all kinds of options out there for you to choose from, it is up to you on what type of space you choose.

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19
May

Simplifying Your Garage Space

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Imagine the television weatherman is saying that baseball sized hail is coming your way, and fast. You have about 15 minutes to get your family car into the garage. You quickly go out to your vehicle to pull it inside, but as you hit the opener button and the door rises slowly, you realize that it will take you at least half an hour to move all of the bikes, boxes, lawn tools, trash cans and the dismantled swimming pool out of the way enough to pull your car to safety. You panic. Sound familiar?

If you are like many people, having a garage means that you have a necessary storage space for Christmas ornaments, boxes of old outgrown clothes that you are planning to take to the donation organization, motorized mini cars for your kids that they never ride, tools and more. Your car is the last thing that you would be able to fit inside of your garage. But it does not have to be so.

With the advancement in organizing solutions, you, too, can organize your garage so that it will indeed house your car, as well as everything else. For starters, you can build or purchase very nice aluminum cabinetry to hang on the walls. These cabinets are the perfect storage space for all of your paints, thinners, insecticides, cleaners, oils and liquids of all kinds. There are also pegboard systems that you can create or buy that will allow you to organize and store all of your hang-able tools such as rakes, shovels, brooms, ladders, hammers and weed whackers. If it can be hung, chances are that there is a hook or a peg that can assist you in creating the ideal tool storage space.

If you are over run by nails, screws, nuts and bolts, consider a bin shelving system. Whether you need a two-inch nail or a flat head screwdriver, you will know exactly where to find it. If storage space for your bikes is a problem, you may want to test out a system that allows you to hang your bicycles upside down overhead from the ceiling. They are high enough for you to pull your car under them. If you have many bikes in your family, you will want to insure that you have a sturdy, reliable storage space for them.

For lawnmowers, large boxes and heavy bulky items, there is even an overhead lift storage space system available. It uses hydraulics and a lift attached to the ceiling of your garage. It works by lowering a sturdy platform to the ground, allowing you to stack all of the heavy items onto it. When you are finished, simply push the button. The lift raises the loaded platform up to the ceiling, allowing you to pull your car up underneath it.

Remember the weatherman? Now imagine he is saying that it is about to violently rain down hail onto the separate vehicles of not only you, but your wife as well. Terror ensues as you realize that you have only a one-car garage. How do you choose which car is spared? We all know that undoubtedly your wife will be the one driving a dent free car when push comes to shove, but why have to make that choice in the first place? Thanks to modern technology, you no longer have to. You can purchase a vehicle lift for your one car garage. This lift allows you to raise one car up onto a hydraulic lift high enough to pull a second car underneath. Extravagant? You bet. Costly? Absolutely. Not having to choose between your 1965 muscle car or the luxury sedan driven by your wife being pummeled by baseball sized hail? Priceless.

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16
May

Buying Versus Renting Storage

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The homeowner is frustrated, he has no more room in his 3 bedroom home for any more stuff. There was plenty of room in the house when it was only he and his wife, but add two kids, a dog and two cats and the house gets crowded. His home office is even getting cramped with paperwork and computer equipment. There is no attic space or basement room so he has to think of another way to make more room in his home. He has his whole family working on the project and they have even had a few yard sales to try to rid themselves of some of their junk. But at the end of the day he will still need to find someplace to put the extra stuff that just will not fit at home.

He decided he might need to rent or buy a storage building . Renting a building might work out, but there are a couple things to consider. Will the building be secure to hold his precious belongings? Will the building rental fit into his budget? How will he get his stuff to the place? When will he be able to get into the area to get things out of his building? These were all good questions that he was asking himself about renting a storage building .

What would happen if he bought a small storage building ? He could have it on his own property, inside his fenced yard and he could paint it to match the house. Did the total cost of laying a slab, erecting the building and painting it cost more than a rental? How long would the building last? Would it be secure? Could he do the work himself or would he have to hire someone to build it for him? These were also good questions to ask before making a decision about the building.

So, he made a list of the pros and cons of each. He went to the hardware store and checked out the models and did some price comparisons. He also called around and did a little rental price shopping to see what the price range was in his area. Ideally, he would love to not have to pay to have a space for his families extra things but he was going to have to do something.

He decided to buy a storage building and erect it on his property. He figured he could access it anytime he wanted and he felt more secure with his stuff being on his property. The total cost of the slab, the building and the paint would be about the same as a one-year rental so he would be able to keep this long term. Plus he thought if he had to look at the building each day he might be better about saving extra stuff in the first place. He even had a little extra room to put the mower and the kids bicycles in there and free up some of the room in the garage. And those items definitely needed to stay close to the house for accessibility.

Buying a storage building was the best option for this family but your family might decide that something would work better for you. It is all just a matter of preference and what will work best for you right now.

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15
May

Offsite RV Storage – Is It Safe?

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If you have ever driven down a road for very long, you may have found yourself wishing you had more room to stretch out a knee, or a place to hold your 64oz mug. If you do much traveling in the summer with the family, a little extra elbow room would go a long way for the kids in the back seat. In fact, you may have found yourself a little envious of your neighbors brand new Class A RV, with the slide out canopy and room for the whole family. You may have wondered why you could not get one yourself, and then looked over your shoulder at the small driveway and realized you have no room for such a luxury.

Fortunately, there is a way to have your cake and eat it too, as the saying goes. RV storage is a common obstacle for would-be RV owners. The practicality of parking the whale of a vehicle is sometimes less than accommodating. You can not just pull it into the garage for the winter and you can not very well leave your investment parked on the curb. Most city ordinances or homeowners associations would not allow that.

For some, with enough room to spare, a special shed or carport could be erected in the backyard to use as RV storage . However, it may become somewhat of an eyesore to The Missus and your neighbors. You may also be required to attain permits from your city in order to build the structure and it would have to meet building codes.

Insurance for your RV may also be a premium if you do not use adequate RV storage because it heightens the chance that the RV may be damaged.

One option that is becoming increasingly popular is offsite RV storage . Some RV owners may be reluctant to think about leaving their RV in the care of someone else. However, professional RV storage establishments are very safe and usually offer more security than your own driveway, garage and certainly your street side would offer.

Some of the most sought after features of offsite RV parking are :

Access Controlled Gate – This means that only tenants with their own RV parking spots can enter the premises. In most cases, each tenant has a unique pass code that unlocks the gate, so a property manager would know who is coming and going.
Fenced Perimeter – Along with a gate, comes a fenced perimeter. The fencing should be high and rolled over the top, aimed toward the outside, so that anyone thinking to climb it will think again. This will also keep wandering animals out of the area.
Video Surveillance – Every RV owner will appreciate an offsite RV parking spot that keeps a continuous eye on the property and records all activity with video cameras. Visible cameras are a great way to ward off possible vandals and hidden cameras are the perfect way to catch anyone in the act.
Covered Parking – RV owners may want their RV to be protected from heavy snowfalls or rain. Covered parking is much like using a carport and will provide some shelter for an RV.
ndoor Parking – This is just like parking an RV in a garage. An indoor parking space will house the RV and keep it completely isolated from any weather conditions.

Another perk of an indoor parking space is that the RV owner can put a lock on the door, as an added measure of security.

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14
May

Keys To Maximize Rentals – Customer Satisfaction

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There are many people that do a lot of research when looking for and ideal place to store their items. They make many phone calls and search endless websites looking for the best of what they desire. The question is though, what are the customers looking for in a space to store things? What are they looking for when they are looking for their special storage rental ? What do you think they are in need of? What will get them to rent at your facility?

Those are the questions that property managers ask themselves every day they are in to work. No one wants to fail and not sell storage rental spaces. It would be a dream for a manager want to say that they do not have any spaces available to rent because they are completely full. However, they could still say to the customer that they can take their name and number and let them know when one becomes available. There are some facilities that can say that to their customers. Now are they doing anything differently than the next facility with rooms for storing? Are they the pillar of excellent customer service? Are they giving their storage rental spaces away at pennies on the dollar? What is their secret?

Some people say that the secret to getting people to come down to a facility to get a storage rental space from them is customer service along with a great location, mixed with some great pricing. Some of you managers might wonder if you have all of that to offer the customer? You can never be too sure. The combination above is hard to have and hard to attempt to possess. You cannot pick up and move your location to where the customers are after you have already set up your property. Now, you can change the prices on your storage rental spaces and attempt to give outstanding customer service, but what is the definition of outstanding customer service and what is the best price for a rental space?

You as a property manager can stress yourself out trying to figure out what is going to get you more business. Every facility is different and has a different customer base. Not everyone is going to be able to win over every customer. What you can do is completely take care of the customers needs. The great thing about that is that every customers needs are different. This is why not one facility is able to take care of each customer, but not everyone is committed to take care of people uniquely.

As people are out their doing research looking for the best facility, what are they really looking for? It is different from one person to the next. What would happen if people had personalities on the phone instead of trying to read from a script? What would happen if one company thought outside of the box, came out, and asked customers what they need? Most companies spend tons of money thinking up ways to get customers into their buildings to store their belongings. The funny thing is that the simplest solution is right in front of them. Just ask the customer what they want. Just think, if we actually knew what the customer wanted and then we could satisfy their needs fully.

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13
May

Carbon Negative

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how to be carbon negative

Can you become carbon negative?

Warrior Protected Storage

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Ever wondered how storage units got started? Was it one day when a man had an empty garage thought, Oh, I am going to rent this to someone? Did a farmer have a big open field and thought, I will build some sheds on this and rent them out? However it got started it is a huge business and a very needed business.

Hawaii predates to the earlier settles between 600 A.D. and 750 A.D. and that is a long time ago. Since Hawaii was so isolated from any outside contact, it was very important for their survival to steward their supplies to ensure the survival and livelihood of their civilization. These types of storehouses were called hale papa a. They were used to store various treasured possessions such as food, crops, tools, weapons, and other important items for their survival.

We would call them storage units today but the storehouses built in Hawaii pre B.C. were built 2 feet or more above ground and guarded by elite and trusted warriors. The ruling chief was in charged of the hale papa a. The chief managed the distribution of the goods and picked the warrior guards. The better the job the chief did the higher his status was.

Today, Hawaiian storage units perpetuate the history and the values of their heritage. Their facilities are well protected maybe not with a warrior standing in front of the door. But their security is very important to them today as well as it was then. They want to give the best service they can and ensure their customers that their belongings are safe and well looked after.

Some earlier rental unit stories are:

There was a story from New York about a lot of homes that were built with unattached garages and since so many people took the subway and buses or walked that they did not have a car so they did not need their garage. So they would rent them to someone who had car and wanted to store it in a garage.

There was probably a farmer or someone with a lot of land that started building sheds and renting them out for storing farm equipment and things of that nature, after awhile they saw the demand for this and built them better and more secured. They poured blacktop drives and fenced the properties. They put up gates and made them to have access pin numbers for only the customers to get in and out. They put an office in have it managed and call it a business!

However the business started it is a big demand all over the country. Customers store all their treasures and valuables with a company. Customers will get storage units to store their household goods while relocating, they will get a unit to make room in their house for company who are coming in for the holidays. They will get a unit for their son or daughter who are away at college. Instead of moving it back home, the parents will pay to get a unit in the town where they go to college and keep it safe while he or she is home for the summer.

Anyone who might need information on storage units can just look around, companies are popping them up all over, and they are just not in fields they are in middle of towns now. It might be hard to find a warrior guard but you will find them secure.

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12
May

The Last Person Wanting Storage

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The last person wanting storage was looking to store her studio size downtown metro west coast apartment, because she could not stand being all alone. She thought she could handle living alone since her husband got deployed to Iraq serving in the United States Military. When he expressed his concern for her, she asked him how could he be worried about her. He was the one going to Iraq. How could he be worried about me, she said? She loved the way she felt about their first place together. She loved decorating the new apartment, how could she not be okay, she loved living there. He is the one going to Iraq. What a great guy. So concerned for her welfare. She was saying, oh my god, my hero is going to be in harms way, in Iraq for god sake. For god knows how long, that is how it is, she explained, when you are serving in the military. Those being deployed cannot say a lot about where they are going, and it has been two months and not a word from him. Anyway, being home alone, even in a great apartment in a fun city, is harder than she thought it was going to be. Now she understands his concern. She had not even considered how different it would be in that apartment when he was gone. She thought she was going to be fine. But now that she has been alone for two months she finds she is spending all her time waiting for that phone call or email.

What a way for nineteen-year-old newlyweds to start off a marriage, let alone a life. She spoke to her mother who lives upstate and her mother told her she should move home until her husband comes back. Her mom said she would be down in two weeks with her two brothers to help her move and that she should prepare by looking for storage to reserve and find a truck rental company.

She looked online and found lots of facilities with great amenities being offered. She found a climate controlled 5×15 unit available at a convenient location with a great introductory two-month special rate and competitively priced monthly rate and called the facility to rent it. It was reassuring to know there was security at the storage property offering controlled gate access and video surveillance. She booked the unit over the phone with a 10-dollar nonrefundable pre-payment on her credit card to hold the unit and was told it was good for three days. To her surprise, when she asked for a referral for a truck rental company, the facility offered free use of the truck to make her move in easy. She decided she would go to the storage place the next day to sign the month-to-month contract, get moving supplies, including a lock, and schedule the truck. Now she had something to keep her busy for the next two weeks and was ready to get packing. As her brothers were coming in two weeks with her mother, she put down the deposit for the truck on her credit card to reserve its use, and went ahead and rented her 5×15 unit and set up her account with a credit card for monthly billing. This way she could pay her storage bill every month from her moms house over the phone by charging the credit card on file at the store.

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10
May

Storing From the Begining

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The evolution of the storage unit is an idea that us modern day humans do not typically think about. When we want to store goods we have multiple choices on location and design. This was not always the case, the evolution in human development and technology played the key role in how we store our goods today.

The earliest forms of self storing are found in caves. Hominids used caves as a natural storage unit during the Lower Paleolithic period. The Lower Paleolithic period is one of the three classifications scientist has separated the Paleolithic period into. The Lower Paleolithic period extends from around 2.5 million years ago until around 200,000 years ago. The middle Paleolithic period extends from around 200,000 years ago until around 40,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic period extends from around 40,000 years ago until the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago. Even though storing began in the Paleolithic period with primitive technology using caves, it is a way of storing we as modern day humans still use today. In a crude way, the cavemen of the Paleolithic period can be credited with the advent of climate controlled storing, the most modern type of storage unit today.

As human civilization advanced from hunter gatherers to farmers the need for storing goods changed. With the development of communities of people living, working, and trading together storing has become more personalized. During this time the invention of clay pots became a great way to store goods. Using this new technology made it easier to transport goods from one location to another and allowed for new types if items to be stored. This allowed for the further advancement in community development as well as trade. As communities grew, technology grew with it, ancient Egypt is a great example. The discovery of new building materials and techniques has led to the large scale building of a community. Not only did this require the men for the construction, but supplies. These supplies needed to be stored, so we now see the first warehousing facility or storage unit being built. The housing of animals in stables, the storing of food for feeding the thousands of men, soldiers, and animals it takes to keep a community growing. If we take a look at the other side of the world we visit the ancient culture of Mayans. Mayans had the same need for storing as ancient Egypt, except for on major difference. The climate in Central America is much more humid than that of the deserts of Egypt. This created a need for more advanced storing technologies. Keeping food such as mesa dry when being stored was very important to the Mayan people. Not only was mesa a main staple of their diet, but also when mesa is stored wet it becomes flammable. Since keeping mesa dry when stored was almost impossible, new techniques in processing the corn and preparing it for storing had to be created. So drying of the corn in the sun to remove the moisture content had to be done first. This shows the correlation between the technology of how to store goods as well as how to process them.

The need for storing of goods has always been a priority of humans. It is the technology of what we store that dictates the evolution of how we store. In addition articles we will follow evolution of the storage unit from the ancient world to the Middle Ages on into modern times.

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