Welcome to the Easistore Self Storage Blog

You may not think that Self Storage and car washing go together! However, many of our recent customers at Easistore have benefited from the new car washing facility’s that are present in the car park area’s of the Tunbridge Wells and Crawley store’s.

So when your next driving by, pop in for a tea or coffee in either our reception or outside seating area and relax while you car is hand cleaned by the experts.

Chris the Manager at Tunbridge Wells says ” My car has never been so clean, the guys do a fantastic job inside and out. The removal of this chore means I have got my Sunday afternoon’s back to spend time with my daughter and its always nice when a special car turns up to be cleaned like the Maserati here today”.

For those of us who’ve experienced it, moving house can cause a whole array of feelings. You feel that thrill of a new start and change of scenery, combined with uncontrollable stress of planning a seamless transition.

At Easistore we help thousands of people each year with their big move, and although reliable storage solutions are an essential part of the moving process, we also appreciate that there a numerous factors you need to consider and prepare before even packing a box.

The key to a stress-free move is organisation, and your ‘moving calendar’ needs to be mapped out at least two month before the move. By following our simple but fundamental tips, you can be confident that your move will be straightforward – and maybe even enjoyable!

Two months before your move

1) Legal assistance – Ensure that you a reputable surveyor has done a full inventory of your new property, as well as appointing a solicitor to manage all conveyancing issues.
2) Explore – Thoroughly investigate the area you’re moving to. For example, check out the local schools, doctors, dentists and retail outlets to familiarise yourself.
3) Out with the old – By planning where your possessions can go in your new home, moving house is a great opportunity to get rid of any old items or junk, or use reliable storage solutions to look after excess items.

One month before your move:

1) This way up – In order to avoid tears on the day, make sure you separate and label valuable or essential items ready for removal.
2) Streets ahead – It would be sensible to find out whether you and the removals van can park for long periods outside or near your property.
3) Make the call – We strongly recommend booking your removals in advance. Surprisingly people leave it to the last minute and have to find alternate ways to transport their belongings.

One to two weeks before your move:

1) Food for thought – Pack all food items that have longevity, and in particular empty and defrost your freezer.
2) Bills, bills, bills – Contact your bank, building society, insurance companies, TV licence and council tax to notify them of the change of address. Also, all utilities will need to be consolidated ready for the new owners.
3) Reduce the load – If you have children or animals, you may wish to arrange for them to be looked after for the day.

Finally it’s here! The day of the move:

1) One last check – Inspect the house again to see whether you’ve got everything, and gather your essential items ready for transit.
2) Have the energy to read- So many people forget to take final meter readings for gas, electricity and water on the day, so don’t forget!
3) Goodbye – It’s time to say farewell to your home, but try to remember all the good times and look forward to a new, exciting beginning.
For a more detailed moving checklist – look at our guide to moving house want your next move to go according to plan, so why not see how Easistore Self Storage can help you.

Now here’s an interesting fact for you: according to a recent report, there are now as many storage facilities in the UK as there are McDonald’s restaurants. Fact.

The research highlighted that 1189 self storage businesses currently operate in the UK, versus the 1200 or so of the fast food giant’s restaurants. However, this figure could potentially be higher as some storage companies don’t have a website or online presence.

The industry body for UK self storage, The Self Storage Association (SSA), had previously estimated that approx 800 self storage facilities existed across the UK. The majority of the 400 supplementary businesses are small-scale container storage units that do not belong to the SSA, although there are a small number of independent warehouse set-ups that don’t either.

The SSA also states that an average storage unit is approximately 80 sq ft in area, and an average independent facility will have 311 of them. If these figures are accurate, then the additional companies unearthed by the research should add over nine and half million square feet to the total amount of rentable storage space in this country. In McDonald’s terms, that’s a lot of burgers.

However, here at Easistore we acknowledge that storage space has an undoubtedly different appeal to that of a Big Mac and fries. In fact, the attraction is pretty much incomparable. The positive point worth highlighting is that self storage has clearly progressed and expanded as an industry over the last twenty years. We’ve helped thousands of customers during our time in business, all with something different to store and often with an interesting or personal story attached to their treasured belongings.

We have also noticed that the reasons why people now use self storage have changed. For example; modern home owners, particularly in major cities or built up areas, don’t have a great deal of storage space within their properties, so there is more reliance on “creating space” today. Fluctuating divorce rates, as well as consumers buying more and more since the turn of the millennia, ultimately makes our market more fruitful and competitive. And along the way we’ve seen our customers bring anything from rare and expensive oil paintings, to a full size operational Dalek.

So, for all you storage geeks out there (yes, we are a little bit too) collectively our industry offers over 40 million sq feet of storage space, or in other words; 0.66 sq ft per person! Plenty to go around and not a greasy burger in sight….

If you want to find out more about our self storage solutions, with over 60 different room sizes and open 7 days a week, or fancy popping in on the off chance that our resident Dalek is around, then please do get in touch.

How to: make a stool from cardboard

Every now and then we stumble across some fun and inventive ways to make the most out of cardboard. On this occasion we found a great website by the name of dangerouslyfun.com that showed you how to make a stool out of cardboard. We loved the concept and execution so much that we just had to feature it on our blog. This exercise is certainly for adults only, but is a great hands-on task for all the family.

You will need:
Three pieces of cardboard, 1) 3/8″ cardboard, 30″ x 40″, 2) 3/8″ cardboard, 23.5″ x 48″, 3) 3/8″ cardboard, 24″ x 72″, white glue, compass, straight edge and a box cutter.

Follow these steps:

1. Cut and fold part A, which will form the seat. It is made of multiple 11.5″ diameter circles folded over each other to make a strong sitting surface. The narrow strip is folded around the circumference of all of the circles to hide the edges.
2. Cut and fold part B, which is the weight-bearing element in the stool. It is just a large sheet that is rolled into a tight cylinder. You can make folding easier and more precise by using a straight edge and a blunt instrument to score parallel lines into one side of the cardboard. The cardboard will then fold nicely along these lines.
3. Cut and fold part C, which is mainly decorative. This piece has thin diamonds cut out of it, allowing the middle to be pressed in when it is rolled up. The result is an hour glass shape.
4. Fit the all parts and then begin gluing things together. It will look even more impressive if none of the glue is visible.
5. Let the glue dry fully before you sit on the stool. If you have built the stool well it will be quite sturdy, but you should sit fairly still. Here’s the finished article… Roll on your next dinner party!

Check out our vast range of packing supplies including cardboard boxes, tape and bubble wrap, to help make your move even more seamless and durable.

Visit www.dangerouslyfun.com for even more inspirational, creative ideas!

I will be cycling the Southdown’s Way on Sat 29th May hoping to complete it in 1 day.

13,600 feet, 3x Mount Snowdon!

We will start from Winchester at 2am and will hope to finish at Eastbourne about 10pm before pubs shut!!!. Many people such as myself think you climb up onto the Southdowns at Winchester then come down in Eastbourne in fact there are over 100 miles to cover with 13600ft in climbs that’s equivalent to 3 times up Mount Snowdon from sea level!

Myself, Phil Robbins and Tony Theophane will make up the 3 man crew.

We did this last year in 2 days and it took 19 hours to complete so should be ok!!! (That was with a stop over in Washington a few pints, evening meal, nights sleep and huge man stopper breakfast).

Why? I hear you say, well partly due to us still thinking were twenty somthing’s but mainly because we are trying to raise money for the new Cothorne Sports Pavilion in our local village.

After this I will be putting my bike away in storage for a while but not for long as were also going to do the London to Brighton race in June.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Adam lacey

Every student looks forward to their holidays. It’s a time when you can momentarily switch off from learning (and partying!), visit family and friends and the opportunity to really cleanse your mind of demanding academic life.

What requires your attention, however, before embarking on your journey home, are the contents of your house. Naturally you can’t feasibly carry all of your worldly possessions on your back – you wouldn’t even make it on the train anyway – and equally you’d be reluctant to leave everything unattended for weeks on end. Plus, imagine what state your furniture and kitchen appliances would be in after perpetual partying by your beloved housemates?

Here at Easistore we like helping students with their storage issues, mainly because we want you to relax during your time off, but we also offer affordable prices to make the process even more stress-free. But, before we get to the storage stage, we wanted to impart some tips on what you should ask yourself when considering making that transition.

How much stuff do I have?
This may be an obvious question, but you’ll be surprised how easy it is to underestimate how much you actually own. The best thing to do is start organising items into specific groups, for example, appliances, dry foods, clothes, etc, to visualise everything. You can then determine how much, but more importantly, which items have the most value or are fragile.

What will I put it all in?
Once you’ve worked out how much you have you can then decide what will need to be placed in either cardboard boxes, bags or more robust containers. We provide a variety of plastic boxes, cardboard boxes, jumbo utility bags and even a queen mattress bag!

How will I get it to storage?
If you can’t rely on family or friends to collect your belongings, you can use one of our vans completely free of charge. And, when you arrive at one of our storage facilities, our friendly team will be waiting to help you unload and store.

How long can I need to store it for?
Often you’re not exactly sure how long you need to store your possessions for, but don’t panic, we offer short and long term solutions for students.

Will my possessions be safe?
Absolutely. Every one of our storage facilities are monitored by digital CCTV, 24/7 heat and smoke sensitive alarm systems, as well as regulated ventilation. We even provide specialist Comprehensive Storage Insurance as well as swipe card entry, so you’ll certainly sleep well at night.

How much will it cost me?
Our renowned Price Match Guarantee means that we are adamant about not getting beaten on price. If you find a lower quotation, bring it to us and we’ll promise to beat it!

See how our safe and affordable Student Storage can make your move just that little bit easier – and cheaper!

For those of you who appreciate a fine bottle of wine, it’s the age as well as the taste you want to savour. That means you need a suitable environment to store you collection, big or small, as good wine is very sensitive.

Not all of us have the luxury of a cavernous wine cellar to accommodate our top tipple (we wish), however here at Easistore we do have that space. Here are our top tips and suggestions to help ensure your wine is well looked after.

One of the key factors in ensuring your wine is stored in perfect conditions is temperature. There is a very thin line between an atmosphere being too cold and too warm, as over chilled causes the cork to shrink and too humid means the wine will age a lot quicker than it should.

As much as the actual temperature is integral to wine preservation, the rate of temperature change is equally as important. For example, a 10 degree drop during seasons is fine, but regular and significant changes can ruin your wine permanently. If you’re fortunate enough to have a wine cellar that regulates the climate, then you don’t have to worry about external temperature shifts, however small collectors often don’t have the facilities or technology to provide this strict balance.

Easistore wine cellar storage

You may never have even thought about storing your wine with us, but we understand that you need the peace of mind your wine is safe, matures naturally and is accessible at all times. Seeing as the right temperature is so crucial, we use computerised climate control with our wine cellar storage is maintained at 15oC (+/-1°C), and climate control which ensures humidity is kept high enough to stop the cork from drying out but low enough to prevent mould or case and label decay. Our wine storage humidity is kept at 67% (+/- 8%).

So, once your collection is comfortable and stable, we then want to make sure it’s protected. Not only does our unprecedented security system provide coded access control, we have 24/7 monitored smoke detection and intruder alarms.

We love quality wine as much as you do, so let us look after it in the best and safest possible environment, all with competitive prices too.

See how Easistore’s Wine Cellar Storage can conserve your collection today!

Warm weather was welcomed by the 51 boys and 6 staff from Tonbridge School sleeping out on a Saturday night in april with just storage boxes for shelter from the elements. The Sleep Out is an annual one, organised to raise funds for the Bridge Trust, a local charity, and to give the boys some awareness of what it is like to be homeless and sleeping rough. The boys were certainly appreciative on Sunday morning of the fact that they could return to their houses for a cooked breakfast and hot shower and with the knowledge that they, unlike many of the homeless, would be sleeping in a comfortable bed that night.

The Sleep Out was supported by Easistore self storage who provided the storage boxes and Resolve who ensured that the boxes were recycled.

From the outside it would appear that Easistore Tunbridge Wells has got a bad case of spots! This was no April fools joke it was our way of supporting the Demelza Hospice Care for Children.

With the dots supplied from the staff at The Demelza team Chris and the team set about putting them up in the free space of the windows.

There were many other organizations and businesses supporting the day please visit there web site to see how you can help.

Http://www.demelza.org.uk/

After heavy overnight snow falls the Easistore team had to clear about 6″  of snow so the customers could use the carpark at Crawley, putting the fork truck to good use with some empty pallets proved the most effective way.

The finshed product