Frequently Asked Questions

When can I access my store ?

Once you have hired a store you can come and go as you please 24hrs a day 7 days a week, But we only work weekdays so you will have to meet us on site during working hrs to sign a hire agreement and collect your key.

What is the minimum hire period ?

One week is the minimum hire period, although we take 4 weeks payment in advance if you are finished with a store we will refund any fully unused prepaid weeks as long as the store is clean and empty and you have informed us that the hire is finished, and the key returned before the next week of your hire starts.

What can't I store in my store?

You cannot store quantities of dangerous materials or waste commonly combustible materials such as petrol, fuel, oil or solvents firearms or explosives chemicals or toxic waste, asbestos any items that omit any fumes smell or odour any illegal substances, compressed gas any animals or living creatures or foodstuff that are likely to attract vermin. If you have any doubt please ask us if what you want to store is allowed commonly household goods and most business use goods are all acceptable.

Is insurance required?

You are responsible for insuring your stored goods while on our site if you feel that this is necessary. If you Google "self-storage insurance" there are companies who specialise in this insurance, most customers feel that any risk is limited and don't bother but that is your choice.

Can I run a business from my store?

You cannot store quantities of dangerous materials or waste commonly combustible materials such as petrol, fuel, oil or solvents firearms or explosives chemicals or toxic waste, asbestos any items that omit any fumes smell or odour any illegal substances, compressed gas any animals or living creatures or foodstuff that are likely to attract vermin. If you have any doubt please ask us if what you want to store is allowed to be stored Our planning permission and your hire agreement expressly excludes running your business from a store, you can obviously store stock and tools on site but you cannot work at or in the store, or use the 123 self storage sites as your trading address.

You can come and go as you like collect your work tools drop of material and pick them up at your convenience , so business such a plumbers , electricians, gardeners etc. etc. can use the storage unit as a base without problems.

Only household goods and most business use goods are all acceptable.

What am I responsible for?

You are responsible for retuning the store to us as it was when you hired it namely clean, empty and undamaged internally.  And also that you don't leave any of your stored goods on site after the hire agreement ends, we will surcharge you if we need to clean out your store or remove your discarded items from site. It is you also your responsible for the safety of your store keys, if you can't return these to us you will forfeit your deposit and possibly incur additional cost to have the lock removed. It's all pretty basic stuff and will be fully explained when you hire a store.

Do you get any condensation in the stores and will my goods be dry?

Condensation is a for such a simple thing actually quite complex , its causes and reason are various but not always the same.

We know certain conditions make it much more likely, just as you cars  windows can mist up internally some days and not others a storage unit is just the same. This is not water leaking in , but the difference in temperature between inside and its content and out side temp causing condensation  

We have some Golden rules shown below and we would suggest that you follow these as a minimum  to limit any issues  

The thing to remember here is, if you put in items that are dry they will if you follow some basic rules come out dry.

All our stores are new when we install them  and are completely water tight Remember these things are deigned to ship goods around the world so by their very nature are secure and dry so anything put in will definitely not get wet from rain water and we have had several instances of people storing antique furniture for 3 or more years and tell us it came out as good as it went in.

Condensation can occur but usually only of you put wet or damp items in the store and we have period of warm weather,  that condenses that moisture or if you enter or leave your storage unit when there is a period of misty damp weather and the dew point is low., these are real issue and can generally be avoided.

For example if you moved house and put in the storage unit items that had been in your garden or damp a shed these will inherently have moisture in them so bear that in mind. Also if you let the floor or doors get wet when putting you goods in on wet day. A little common sense avoids this, Also if possible in cold damp weather especially on cold  misty days  allowing that cold damp air in can allow that air to condense inside the unit , it is rare but  if you access your storage unit on that  type day take a towel with you and if the doors /floor get wet just give them a wipe down before you lock up and try to come back in a day or two when it warms up to let that cold damp air out.

Moisture sticks that are a desiccant and will absorb moisture from the atmosphere inside a unit if you do use these its best to seal up the units vents with some duct tape ,  We very rarely find that customers need these with just a little bit thought, condensation is possible but is actually quite rare and particularly rare with new stores such as ours , However they do work very well but  PLEASE NOTE these are not fit and forget you must check , empty and or replace these as they fill with water they can store many liters of water in them and  on  hot day that water will evaporate back out  and be bigger issue than a small amount of condensation.   

Some golden rules that will limit moisture in your storage unit would be:

  • Thoroughly defrost and dry you fridge freezer
  • Tip your washer on its back with the outlet hose on the floor to get all the water out of it.
  • Take damp grass off the bottom of your lawn mower and let it dry.
  • Let motorbikes or cars cool down before closing the storage units doors.
  • Always leave a small gap (25mm)  between your goods or cardboard boxes and the sides and ends of the unit to allow air circulation so don't stack or lean furniture or place cardboard boxes against the sides and in particular the bottom corners and edges .
  • Try not (if possible) to access the unit on damp misty days , or in the evening or early morning particularly between late Sept and April when dew is much more prevalent   or if you do come back again as soon as the weather improves and open the doors and let that cold moist air out
  • If the floor or insides of the door get wet, just  dry them with a towel before you leave
  • Try not to store lots of metal items , stuff like Gym weights machines  and weights , metal car parts or tools tend to make moisture more prevalent as they take longer to heat up and cool down tend to be an initial source of added condensation , if you do need to store these items just be aware you may need to make additional measures such as are mentioned here to rectify any condensation issues. 
  • Similar to the above , building material such as wood , Bricks sand etc inherently have a large amount of moisture in them and it will evaporate out from them on warm day and condense into them on damp day .  
  • If in doubt on any day it is over 10o C windy and dry visit your storage unit open the doors  for at least 1/2 hr and allow the wind to circulate in and push out any damp cold air that is in there.

As all our stores are purpose built as stores they have small vents to let air circulate as long as these are not blocked it is highly unlikely you should experience any condensation.

Can you move my furniture or recommened someone who can ?

We don’t do any removals ourselves but we do work with a group of small businesses who specialize in removals. We know these guys they have moved dozens of customer’s possessions on and off site and have proved to be reliable and cost effective. They are all small business's not large removal companies but we know and trust them, and they know us and our business and our sites.

Customers have recommended them to us over the years so we pass there details on when asked and they recommend and use us for storage if they need it. 

Scottwell removals  Westerhope Newcastle based, has two large Luton vans and works in a 80mile radius of Newcastle http://www.scottwellremovals.co.uk/  0191 2146281 or 07891 403719

There are also number of local van hire companies where you can hire a van from to move your own possessions . Tyne Valley van hire and Enterprise Rent a Van seem quite popular with our customers   

Need storage? Contact us