Short-Term Vault & Trailer Storage

Short-Term Storage to Facilitate the Move

Walsh offers short-term vault and trailer storage to:

• Customers who have recently moved or are about to move and are staying in temporary accommodations.
• Businesses renovating their office spaces.
• People who are remodeling their homes.
• Travelers who are renting out their homes while they’re away.

Vault and trailer storage differ from conventional self-storage.

They’re meant for people in transition, and not so much for people who’ve accumulated too much stuff. They’re also more secure than conventional storage.

Short-Term Storage Is Part of the Move, Not Separate

If you need short-term storage, we factor it into your total moving cost. It’s included in your moving estimate and not promoted as a separate service.

Warehouse Vault Storage at Walsh Moving

The standard industry unit for secure storage is the vault, a large, sturdy, wooden crate. We pack these storage vaults for you, mark them with tracking codes, unload them at one of our warehouses, and stack them in neat rows. A forklift, not human muscle, does the lifting.

• The standard vault is 8x7x5 ft, capable of holding up to 1,500 lbs. It’s large enough for most bulky items, excluding sofas and grand pianos.
• If you own a couch or piano, you’re still in luck. We have other storage options for them.
• Smaller vaults can hold up to 1,000 lbs.
• At Walsh Moving & Storage, vaults come in two sizes: large and small.
• We also supply wardrobe boxes for clothes.
• Don’t worry about the calculations: how many vaults you need, what size they should be, etc. We’ll figure it out and help you determine the best approach for your moving and storage.

Here’s how it works.

During or after our phone interview with you, we plan the details of your move, including temporary storage.

• We drive to your home or place of business.
• We wrap and pad your belongings, then pack them tight in large wooden crates or vaults.
• We seal the crates and transport them to one of our warehouses.
• We stack them for safekeeping until you’re ready to unpack in your new digs.

Moving & Storage Rates

We charge flat hourly rates for moving services and flat monthly fees for storage.

• The fee for packing and transporting your vault(s) is $130 an hour. This fee includes two professional movers and one truck.
• If necessary, we can add a third mover to the crew for $50 an hour.
• There’s a minimum commitment of two and a half hours per trip, calculated from the time we leave the warehouse until we return to the warehouse with your property.
• We charge $90 per month for standard vault rental and $70 a month for smaller vaults.
• Added to these baseline costs is a one-time $25 handling fee for each vault.
  You can store a sofa for $25 a month.
• Piano storage is $20-$30 a month. It may be cheaper to store a Baldwin upright than a Steinway grand. But if you hope for a good showing at the Chopin competition, go with the Steinway.
• We charge $35 per hour for each visit to our secure warehouse. Included in this fee is an hour of professional assistance from a Walsh staff member. You can arrange for more time at an additional cost.
• Our basic storage rental charge includes packing blankets and other materials to protect your property.

If needed, we include storage in your total moving estimate. Once we’ve packed your vault or trailer, it doesn’t cost much more to hold them for a while. The greatest portion of the cost is in the move itself.

Large Furniture Storage: Sofas, Pianos & More

Our warehouses are equipped with specially designed sofa racks and storage facilities for pianos and antiques. Here especially, professional storage versus a standard storage unit is a no-brainer.

Your valuables will be packed and handled by professional movers and placed in a secure, fully insured warehouse.

The only access is by appointment, and we don’t make appointments with vault thieves and vandals.

Office Furniture Storage

For offices that are moving or undergoing renovation, we offer short-term storage in trailers and vaults.

In both cases, we collect the furniture at your place of business, load it into the vaults or trailer for you, and haul the furniture to our secure warehouse or lot (trailer storage remains on the lot).

When the time comes to return to the office, give us a call. We’ll deliver the furniture and even help with office set-up if you want us to.

Vault Storage vs Conventional Storage Units

Pros of Vault Storage:

• You move only once. With conventional storage, you’re moving at least twice: out of your home or business and into the storage unit, then out of the storage unit and into your permanent space.
• Since we pack the vaults, all contents are safe and legal. Local, state, and federal laws forbid the storage of some items. Our packers know what belongs in a vault and what doesn’t.
• Vault storage is often cheaper than conventional storage. It’s more efficient, too. You’re renting only as much space as it takes to store your possessions.
• Vault storage is more secure. There’s no risk of theft or pest damage. Vaults are stacked in a warehouse with limited access.
• There are no long-term contracts. Vault storage is a temporary solution — only for a few days, weeks, or months until you’re ready to settle into permanent living or business accommodations.

Cons of Vault Storage:

• You can’t store certain items like food or explosives.
• Once your vault is packed and racked, you no longer have easy access to its contents until you unpack it. Don’t store anything you need right away (like your driver’s license or medication)!
• You can’t host a tailgate party in a vault. Sorry.

Vault Self-Storage

Self-storage in vaults is yet another option at Walsh. The obvious advantage is price. It’s much cheaper to do your own packing and hauling than to pay someone else.

• To arrange for vault self-storage, call us to schedule a time for your visit.
• When you arrive, a Walsh crew member will escort you to the warehouse packing location.
• You can pack as many vaults as you need. Just be aware that with each vault comes an additional storage cost.
• All self-storage customers must pay a monthly storage fee and a smaller one-time fee for access to the facility.
• These fees cover the cost of packing blankets and one hour of professional packing assistance.

Trailer Storage: Better Than Pods

Some companies rent out mobile pods that you load on your own and store on a designated lot.

We believe that trailer storage is a better approach. And it’s something we offer at Walsh. We pack a tractor-trailer at your home or office, lock it, and park it on a secure lot next to our storage warehouse.

Trailer storage is ideal for:

• Long-distance moves, where a trailer may contain the goods of an entire household or multi-room apartment.
• Office moves or renovations, where a large volume of furniture and equipment must be stowed.
• Shortest-term storage, where it doesn’t make sense to unpack a trailer at the warehouse, even by forklift.
• As with vault storage, a big difference between Walsh’s trailer storage and the self-storage of pods is that moving professionals do the packing. The storage unit, the trailer, is never left unsecured.

Who Uses Short-Term Storage?

Scenario 1: The Household Move Where the New House Isn’t Ready

You’ve sold your house in Long Beach and are retiring to Sedona, AZ. But the new home you purchased is still occupied, plus you’d like to replace the flooring, upgrade the electrical, and repaint the house.

You’re a perfect candidate for trailer storage.

We’ll keep your things safe at our Long Beach yard while you monitor the makeover in Sedona. When it’s time to move in, call us and we’ll ship your trailer.

Scenario 2: The Office Move & Upgrade

Your business in Torrance is relocating 10 miles away to a larger building. Your lease on the old space is expiring at month’s end. But cubicles and offices have yet to be configured in the new space, and it’s tough to find labor and expertise to complete the job.

Complicating the problem, you’ve ordered new equipment, desks, and office chairs and have nowhere to put them.

You might consider short-term storage until you get things squared away. Your workers can telecommute in the meantime. At the end of two months with the family 24-7, they’ll be grateful to return to the comfortable, completely refurbished office space you’ve prepared for them.

Scenario 3: The Business Downsizing or Liquidation

Sadly, not every business thrives or even survives, and the time may come when you’re forced to downsize or even liquidate. What do you do with all that valuable equipment?

We can pick it up for you and place it in vaults or trailers until you’re able to find a buyer or arrange a liquidation sale.

Scenario 4: The Extended Vacation or Sabbatical

You’re taking a one-year sabbatical abroad and will rent out your home for the year that you’re away.

Most of your furniture will remain in the house, but what about personal belongings, valuables, and family heirlooms like antiques? You may not want to leave those exposed, even with a friend renting.

Secure vault storage with Walsh will give you peace of mind.

Scenario 5: The College Student on Internship

You’ve earned a 6-month internship with an influential member of Congress. But in your 3 years of college, you’ve accumulated more belongings than you realized.

You can’t leave them with your parents. Remember scenario 1? They’re retiring and on their way to Sedona. And your roommate insists on subletting your room.

Call us at Walsh. We’ll store your things in a vault, deliver them to your new address when you return from Washington, and you won’t miss a beat on your way to that poli sci degree. Magna cum laude, no less!