How To Keep Winter Pests Out of Your Storage Unit
Finding the perfect self storage facility for you is stressful enough. Learning that pests found their way inside your unit after you’ve moved in is a whole other disaster. The risk of this is especially high in the winter months, as when you’re sitting inside your comfortably heated home, pests are outside looking for somewhere warm to go too.
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to protect your belongings from dangerous invasive critters year-round. In addition to simply maintaining a clean space, you can cover your furniture and large items, prep your things for long-term storage, and more. And if you have the chance to rent from a climate-controlled storage facility, you’ll gain additional protection against damage caused by outside weather.
Freedom Storage Management’s wide network of storage facilities provides top-tier self storage options across the country. Together, we can work to ensure your stuff is protected from pests and other dangers no matter what the conditions are like outside.
Clean Out Any Trash and Food
When faced with the question of how to keep pests out of your storage unit, the easiest answer is to just keep it clean. It’s no secret that pests are attracted to food and trash, so ensuring that your property is sitting in tidy surroundings is key. Pick up any garbage or food inside and throw it away in a waste bin outside of your unit. However, bugs and rodents don’t only seek out dirty areas, so more steps need to be taken to prep your property for long-term storage.
Store Your Stuff Properly
Most of the pests that want to creep into your storage unit like to stay low to the ground, such as mice, rats, other rodents, and bugs. Naturally, an easy winter pest control strategy you can enact in your unit is to keep any boxes or containers elevated.
You should also make sure your storage containers are made of an airtight, protective material like strong plastic or metal. Cardboard boxes are easy to move stuff around in, but it’s best to transfer your belongings into something sturdier if you plan on leaving it in your storage unit long term.
Cover Up Larger Items
For the things that are too big to fit in plastic tubs like furniture, paintings, or gardening supplies, take action to cover them with a protective material like plastic. This will keep them safe from invasive bugs, mice, and other rodents that want to sneak in and gnaw on the material that makes up your property.
If you have things like clothes or blankets that are susceptible to other problems like moths, you should opt for plastic bins rather than bags or cardboard boxes, as those can let in moisture and pests. You can also add things like cedar blocks to your unit to prevent clothes moths and utilize other bug-repellent methods for maximum protection.
Check In Periodically
In general, the best way to protect your storage unit year-round is to stay diligent. Making regular trips to your local winter storage facility to check for any damage or signs of an infestation is critical to maintaining a clean unit. It’s also important to check and replace any bait traps or other repellents as necessary.
Rent Climate-Controlled Storage
Whether you’re worried about pests or intense weather, renting from a climate-controlled storage center is maybe the top way to protect your storage unit in the winter. Finding a facility with climate-controlled storage will allow the contents of your unit to be sitting in a comfortable range of temperatures at all times, protecting against any weather-related damage. It’ll also protect against unwanted invasive pests, as climate-controlled storage units are sealed from the outside in order to maintain temperatures.
Find the Storage You Need With Freedom Storage Management
With convenient, affordable, climate-controlled storage solutions across the United States, Freedom Storage Management has the space you need, when you need it. We have a wide range of unit sizes available at affordable rates, making us an easy pick for anyone looking for a home for their belongings in the winter. New to self storage and not sure what size unit will work best for your items? Our storage calculator provides assistance in choosing the best size unit based on what you plan to store. Find the nearest storage facility to you today to begin the process of securely storing your stuff!