Storage in Dallas: Climate-Controlled, Short-Term and Long-Term

A self-storage unit is a room you rent and fill yourself. With warehouse storage, Element’s crew moves your things into your own storage containers inside Element’s warehouse. Here is how the two compare on the questions worth asking any storage company.

• Who does the lifting. Self-storage: you rent the truck, load it, unload it at the facility, and do it all again on the way out. Element: the crew packs, loads, drives and unloads at both ends.
• Space. Self-storage: you pick a fixed unit size before you know what will fit. Element: space is sized to your load, from a closet’s worth of boxes to a whole house, and it adjusts if you need more room or less.
• Climate. Self-storage: climate control often costs extra. Element: the facility keeps temperature and humidity consistent.
• Getting things out. Self-storage: you come and go during the facility’s access hours. Element: you tell the team what you need, and when.
• What you pay for. Self-storage: monthly rent for the room, with the truck, the fuel and the lock on you. Element: one quote for the storage plus the crew’s packing and handling, set out in full further down this page.
• Protection. Ask any storage company, Element included, what covers your things while they are stored and what it costs.

A self-storage unit is the better fit if you will be back every week, or if it is a few boxes and you own a truck. For a houseful, or for pieces that are heavy, fragile or bothered by heat, warehouse storage saves you two moving days. For Dallas self-storage rents and what climate control adds to them, see how a self-storage unit compares with a portable container.

Climate-controlled storage keeps temperature and humidity regulated, unlike a garage, an attic or a storage unit with no heating or cooling. Element’s facility keeps temperature and humidity levels consistent year-round.

Dallas is hard on anything stored without it. The National Weather Service normals for DFW put the normal high at 95.6°F in July and 95.8°F in August, and early-morning relative humidity at 87 percent in May and 86 percent in June. DFW also sees an average of 20.2 days a year at 100°F or hotter. For papers and photographs, the National Archives advises keeping them below 75°F and below 65 percent relative humidity to prevent mold, and out of “damp basements, garages, and hot attics.”

What needs it most:

• Wood furniture and antiques: warping and cracking
• Paper, books, documents and photographs: mold and fading
• Leather, clothing, shoes, bedding and mattresses: mold and musty odors
• Electronics: moisture damage
• Musical instruments: damage from temperature swings
• Artwork: flaking and cracking
• Sports and camping gear: cracking and flaking
• Wine: kept in its own climate zones, covered below

A simple rule: don’t put anything in a space without climate control that you would not leave in a Dallas garage in August.

Security. Your containers sit inside Element’s facility on Denton Dr, under constant video surveillance, with cameras, motion alarms, controlled access and full office staff during business hours, and the facility gets regular inspections and maintenance. Each container holds only your things, and every item is tagged with your customer information, so nothing gets mixed with another customer’s goods.

Access. Your things are not locked away until the end of your stay. If you need something before then, tell the team and it is arranged with you.

Protection. Protection options for stored goods are part of the quote. Whichever storage company you choose, get the coverage in writing before your things go in.

There is no single monthly rate. Storage is priced for your items and your timeline after the walkthrough, and the quote covers:

• Your own containers, never shared warehouse space
• Packing and handling by the crew
• Climate control and security monitoring
• Protection options for what you store

With a self-storage unit, the rent covers the room and the lifting is yours. Request a free quote and, after the walkthrough, you get a written price for what you want to store.

Some things need more than the standard setup, and each of these has its own page.

• Wine: collections are kept in their own climate zones. See wine storage.
• Fine art and antiques: antique furniture gets custom protective measures, and paintings and other fine art are covered on their own page, fine art storage.
• Business storage: commercial moves can run long, and the furniture, files and stock have to wait somewhere. That covers office relocations with extended timelines, document archives, inventory overflow in dedicated containers, and furniture during an office renovation. See commercial storage.