Okay, real talk time. That rainstorm last night? It was awesome for sleeping, but I was lying there thinking about my storage unit. And you should be, too.

I made this mistake myself a few years back. I threw all my stuff into a cheap unit—a wooden desk, some boxes of books, my old winter coats. I didn’t think twice about it. When I opened that door six months later, the smell hit me first. That sour, damp, “oh-crap” smell of mildew. My favorite leather jacket was ruined. The desk legs were warped.

It was a stupid, expensive lesson. But you don’t have to learn it the hard way like I did. Let’s get your unit sorted.

Forget the Fancy Brochure, Ask These Questions Instead

When you’re looking at a storage place, everyone shows you the shiny lock and the clean hallway. Whoop-de-doo. You need to get nosy.

Next time you’re there, ask the manager these exact questions:

• “Can I see where the water drains go when it rains?” If they look at you like you have three heads, that’s a red flag. They should be able to point out the drainage ditches or pipes that whisk water away from the building.
• “What’s directly above my unit?” You want to hear something like “another unit” or “a reinforced roof.” You do NOT want to hear “the parking lot” or “a giant flat roof with drains we sometimes clean.”
• “How often do you check the door seals?” The big rubber seal around the roll-up door is your main defense. If it’s brittle or cracked, water is getting in.

Here’s the thing: at 3D Self Storage, we expect these questions. Heck, we appreciate them. It shows you care. We built our facilities with drainage that would make a civil engineer proud, and we’re obsessive about maintenance. We want you to ask.

The One Thing You Absolutely MUST Do Inside

Listen to me. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT put a single box directly on the concrete floor.

That floor is cold. When warm, humid air gets inside, it turns into condensation on that cold surface. Your stuff is basically sitting in a puddle you can’t even see.

Here’s your fix. It’s cheap and it works:

• Go find some pallets. I’m serious. Drive to your local hardware store or garden center. Walk to the back and ask someone loading the shelves, “Hey, you guys have any broken or extra pallets I could take?” 9 times out of 10, they’ll point you to a stack and tell you to take as many as you want. For free.
• Lay those pallets down. Boom. Instant floor. Now there’s a cushion of air between your precious things and the cold, sweating concrete.

Your Boxes are Probably Wrong

That cardboard box from your last Amazon delivery? It’s an enemy in disguise. Cardboard absorbs moisture from the air like a sponge. It will then hold that dampness right against your photo albums and clothes.

• Spend $7 on a plastic tote. Just one. Put your most sensitive stuff in it—your yearbooks, your important files, that wedding dress. You’ll sleep so much better.
• Whatever you do, don’t use a plastic tarp. Throwing a blue tarp over your furniture is the worst thing you can do. It traps any humidity underneath it and creates a perfect little mold incubator. If you need to cover a couch, use an old cotton bedsheet. It lets the air move.

My Weirdest (But Best) Tip

Go buy a product called DampRid. It’s a bucket of crystals that sucks moisture right out of the air. It’s like twenty bucks.

Toss one of these in the corner of your unit. Check it every few months. You’ll be horrified (and then thrilled) to see how much water it pulls out of the air. It’s the easiest insurance you’ll ever buy.

Look, we’re not just a place to dump your stuff. At 3D Self Storage, we’ve seen what rain can do. We’re here to help you beat it. If you’re ever unsure, just flag down one of our managers. We’d rather you ask a “dumb” question than have you lose your stuff.

Now go enjoy the rain. I mean it. Your unit’s got this.