Items You Should Never Place in an Outdoor Self-Storage Unit
A self-storage unit is a great place for keeping items that you don't need every day, and which can take up valuable storage space in the home or in your garage. Many self-storage units are outdoors, while some are indoors and offer climate control and thick insulation. The indoor units may be more expensive to rent, but note a few items you should never place in an outdoor self-storage unit, and why this can be so risky.
Food
You may shop in bulk and have lots of extra pet food, cereals and other dry goods, or canned goods. It can be difficult to keep these in a small kitchen or your own garage, but they should also never be kept in an outdoor self-storage unit. Rats, roaches, ants, and other pests can easily make their way into these units and chew through packaging. The more hot and humid it gets inside such a unit, the stronger the smell from your food items, and the more likely it is that pests will find them. If you must store foods away from home, opt for an indoor unit and ensure the items are in thick rubber totes with locking lids that are difficult for pests to get through.
Paintings
Oil paintings can get damaged when exposed to uncontrolled heat and humidity, and the canvas can easily be chewed on by rats and other rodents. Cardboard boxes may not offer enough protection from either the temperature, or invading pests. If you have artwork you want to store in a storage unit, wrap it in acid-free paper and store it in plastic or rubber totes, and invest in an indoor unit with temperature control for maximum protection.
Flammable liquids and gasses
Many storage centres will have restrictions on flammable items you can put in their units, but if you have old cleaning or painting supplies, propane, welding gasses, and other such items, you don't want to store them in an outdoor unit, allowable or not. Those units can capture and trap heat, and this can sometimes ignite those materials or cause them to break down and become dangerous. Those materials may also leak fumes, which easily get trapped in a small unit with poor ventilation, making it dangerous for you the next time you access the unit. If you have materials you need to dispose of, check online for local dump sites or for how to get rid of them legally and safely; if they are items you'll need to use again, store them indoors in a climate controlled unit.
