Storage in Northwood

In a district where houses are frequently extended, rewired or refurbished before anyone moves in properly, storage is less an emergency measure than a normal part of the plan.

How it works

The crew that packs your house loads the containers. Everything is wrapped as if for transit, listed on an inventory you keep a copy of, and sealed in. Containers are racked indoors, and when the house is ready the same inventory comes back out and is delivered room by room.

• One handling at each end rather than a shuffle between units
• A written inventory, with valuable pieces listed individually
• Furniture wrapped before it goes in, not after it has been scuffed
• Collection and redelivery quoted as part of the move

When people use it

During building work

The commonest reason here. Two or three rooms in store while a floor comes up or a wall goes costs less than repairing what the dust and traffic would have done.

Between completions

Chains slip. Goods go from the load straight onto the racking without a second lift.

Downsizing

Moving into something smaller rarely works in one step. Storing what you have not decided about buys time without filling the new hall.

Before a move abroad

A European move rarely lines up with a sale — see European removals. The same inventory later becomes the customs packing list.

What we need to know

Roughly what is going in, whether you will want access, and when you expect the house to be ready. Quoted with the move rather than after it.