Containerised Storage
- Packing & Wrapping
- Loading Containers
- Inventory
- Security Of Goods
- Guidance
- Retrieval From Storage
- Payment
There are many reasons why you may need extra storage, ranging from decorators requiring some furniture cleared to free up work space, through to you just not having enough space in the property. Whatever the reason, we can store single items to whole house contents for a few days, months or indefinitely.
If you are buying and selling, it can be very difficult to combine the sale of your property and the purchase of a new property as this generally involves different parties within a chain who all have varied agendas. Today it is very common to store the contents of an entire house so as not to lose the sale of a property. This puts you in a good position as a purchaser due to the fact that you will be able to move very quickly and not depend on others below you in the chain. More importantly, it may give you better bargaining power when making an offer on a property.
The first step in getting a free quotation for storage is to request a surveyor to come round to view the goods that you would like to store. The surveyor can give you a fixed weekly storage price based on what he/she sees.
Removal quotations will also be given for the moving of goods into and out of store (out of store charges depend on a final destination address being given, otherwise some assumptions may have to me made). As our warehouse is predominately made up of containerised storage, costs will all be based on the quantity of containers required.
Packing & Wrapping
Packing services are available. Please see Local and UK Removals for information.
Loading of Storage Containers
Our specially equipped vehicles and warehouse offers safe, dry and secure storage. The storage containers will be brought to your property on our customised vehicles.
These vehicles have side loading doors, through which all goods will be loaded into the containers and inventoried.
Occasionally, however, it may not be possible to use the side loading doors on-site, in which case the goods will be loaded onto the vehicle as per a normal removal and the containers will be loaded back at our warehouse. Under these circumstances, the inventory will be taken at the warehouse.
As the goods are loaded into the containers they are well protected by blankets where required.
Inventory
The inventory that is taken at the time of loading the container(s) will document a detailed description of the goods and their condition at time of loading. Most household items will fit into the containers but on the odd occasion that an item will not, it will be wrapped, labelled and stored loose within a designated area of our warehouse. Some examples of these items are carpets, ladders and large sofas.
Once loading is complete, the container door will be replaced and a security seal will be fitted to the door with its unique number being recorded on the inventory. The foreman will ask you to sign the inventory as agreement that all goods are correctly listed and he/she will give you a copy of this document for your records. The vehicle will leave for our warehouse, where the container(s) will be fork lifted from the vehicle and placed into their designated row(s). This is where your goods will stay until you notify us that you require them.
Security of Goods whilst in store
The safety and security of your goods is taken very seriously at F SMITH & SON and this is why a seal is added to all containers. This provides reassurance that the container has not been opened during the time that the goods have been in store. The seal will only be broken once you have confirmed that the number on the inventory and the seal is a match. Access to any container is only authorised with the client's approval and unless otherwise agreed in advance, the client should be present to check the old seal and witness the new one in replacement.
Our warehouse is fully alarmed and monitored by BT Redcare.
All customers are welcome to visit us to inspect the premises, vehicles, goods and meet our friendly staff. An inspection of stored goods is by appointment only.
Guidance
Items that should not be put into store are:-
- Perishable goods (i.e.- foods)
- Paints and oils
- Inflammable items - i.e. White spirits, Gas cylinders and Petrol cans etc.
- Plants
- Precious items, such as jewellery, money, deeds and other important documents (these items are not covered by our insurance policy).
Any items that use petrol / gas, such as petrol lawn mowers, strimmers and motor bikes will need to be fully emptied of oils and fuels before they can be stored.
It is essential that all white goods are fully disconnected and switched off a couple of days prior to them being stored so that they can be drained and thoroughly dried. This will ensure that they do not soil any of your other goods by leaking on them.
It is also advisable that outdoor items (bikes, chairs, tables, tools etc.) are clean and dry as this will help to avoid any soiling of other items in the container.
Retrieval of selected items from Storage
It can be expensive to retrieve individual items from store, as this will involve moving the stored items until the required piece is found, and then re-stacking of the items that were removed. If it is known that you will need access to particular items, you should make this clear to the removal crew who will try and keep these items accessible. There is no charge for retrieving the container should more than 24hrs notice be given, otherwise there will be a charge of £15.00 + VAT per container.
There is a charge of £15.00 +VAT/man/hour for hand out of the goods from a container, minimum charge of 1hr. Please note that the handing out of goods may be necessary for us to maintain continuity of our standard liability insurance. Hand-out charges do not apply if we are delivering the goods out of store.
Payment
Storage is charged four weeks in advance, with a minimum of two weeks storage, except if agreed in advance with the estimator. All outstanding storage charges must be settled before goods will be delivered from store.
