Moving out of a storage unit

• The storage facility address and your home address, or the ZIP codes.
• The unit size, and roughly how full it is.
• Whether it is a drive-up unit or inside the building.
• Stairs or an elevator at your home.
• Your preferred date.

For a repeat move where we loaded the unit originally, we can often estimate from that job; let us know.

• Confirm gate hours for your move date.
• Get the gate code and unit key.
• Check elevator or loading-area rules.
• Re-tape weak boxes; box any bagged items.
• Clear a path in the new home for the big pieces.

Storage units fill up during life changes: between homes, after a remodel, after a family member's move. Sooner or later everything has to come out. Moving from a self-storage unit to a home is a normal local move, but the pickup works differently from a house, and a little preparation keeps the hours down.

Before move day, check three things with the storage facility: its gate and access hours, whether the truck can drive up to your unit or must park at a loading area, and whether your unit is on an upper floor served by an elevator or freight lift. Long walks down corridors and waits for a shared elevator all count as job time on an hourly move. Make sure you, or the person meeting the crew, has the gate code and the key to the unit lock.

Someone has to open the unit. If you will be waiting at the house, a friend can meet the crew at the facility, or you can meet them there and drive ahead. Share the phone number of whoever will meet the crew; they call 30 minutes before arrival.

Local moves are hourly: $175 per hour for 3 movers, $235 for 4, every day, with a 3-hour minimum and 15-minute increments. There is no charge for our drive to the facility. If the facility and your home are more than 10 minutes apart, the drive between them is billed as double drive time under California rules. Blankets, tape and furniture reassembly are included. No deposit; payment at the end.

Boxes that sat in a unit for a long time can soften, especially at the bottom of a stack. If you can, visit before move day and re-tape or replace any boxes that are crushed or damp. We do not move items in plastic bags, so loose items stored in bags need to go into boxes first. Our crew carries extra boxes on the truck, charged as used.

Sometimes the unit is only part of the move: the rest is in an apartment or a garage. One job can pick up at both places and deliver to your new home; local extra stops have no fee, only the added time. Tell us where everything is, and the foreman will plan the order of the pickups with you.