• 5×5 Unit (25 sq. ft.): Roughly the size of a home closet.  Ideal for storing extra items such as boxes, twin-size mattresses, books, records/files, and other small miscellaneous items.
• 5×10 Unit (50 sq. ft.): Ideal for storing the contents of a studio apartment, including a number of boxes, kitchen appliances, small mattress set, chairs, or even a motorcycle.
• 10×5 Unit (50 sq. ft.): Identical to a 5×10 unit just with a wider door and shallower storage-depth.  Tends to make accessing your items slightly easier than a 5×10.
• 5×15 Unit (75 sq. ft.): Great for storing the contents of a 1 bedroom apartment.  Ideal for furniture including a couch, chair and small dining set, sporting equipment, bicycles, business merchandise, seasonal items, and sporting equipment.
• 10×10 Unit (100 sq. ft.): Ideal for storing the contents of a 2 bedroom space.  Perfect for holding an entertainment center, king-size mattresses, larger appliances, dining room, furniture, and other various items you’d find in a 2 bedroom space.
• 10×15 Unit (150 sq. ft.): Perfect for holding the contents of a 3 bedroom space.  Great for storing large screen t.v.’s, bikes and other sporting equipment, large furniture, full dining room set, or even music equipment like a C-3 piano, drum set, or all the equipment needed for a several-month long tour. 
• 10×20 Unit (200 sq. ft.): Now we’re getting to sizes ideal for cars, boats, and other vehicles.  A 10×20 unit is ideal for a small car with some extra room to spare or a 3 to 4 bedroom set. Fill remaining space with sports equipment, small furniture set, boxes, or other small to medium personal items.
• 10×25 Unit (250 sq. ft.): Great for storing a small boat with trailer with some room to spare.  Fill the rest of your space with a couch, small chairs, small bedroom furniture set, and other miscellaneous items. 
• 10×25 Unit (300 sq. ft.): A 10×25 unit is great for storing a large vehicle, small boat, and other large items with room to spare.  Moving across country?  This size unit is ideal for storing the contents of a large home while you settle in. 

Here is a handy list of things you are not allowed to keep in a self-storage unit, including the very reasons why they are not permitted. Some of these restricted items are obvious, but there are also those items that you may not automatically consider unfit to be stored in your rented space:

1) Food
This is one of the most frequently overlooked safety rules when using self-storage! Food, including pet food, should never be kept in a storage unit. Think about it – you leave food in the enclosed space for a long time, it will rot and its smell will attract insects and rodents alike. In turn, those little intruders will probably damage the rest of your stored items by chewing on them and even nesting in them.

Want bigger problems? Infestation is quite possible for the entire self-storage facility. And if, miraculously, no rodents enter your unit for the food, mold and bacteria will appear from the rotting food.

2) Live Animals / Pets
This one is crazy, yet, there are those who have done it! Leaving a live animal (for example, your poor pet) in a self-storage unit is not only against the public storage restrictions, but it is also against the law. Don’t ever do it!

3) Plants
Plants need light, water and fresh air to grow, and these three essentials cannot be found inside in a storage unit. 

4) Stolen Items
One of the things you should never put into a storage unit is… stolen items! You’re not allowed to keep items in your self-storage unit if you don’t legally own them or if you don’t have the explicit permission to keep them there by their true owner. Why? Because it is illegal. If the facility manager senses or suspects that something illegal is going on, then they won’t hesitate to call the police for further investigation.

5) Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials classify as restricted items in a storage unit. By definition, anything that has the potential to create substantial damage if opened or spilled is considered a hazardous material. Corrosive, flammable or explosive materials are strictly forbidden to be put in storage as they pose serious health risks and can cause damage property in seconds!

Examples of such materials include chemicals, aerosol cans, acids, gases, gasoline, propane tanks, lamp or motor oils, pains, paint thinners, cleaners, pesticides, weed killers, car batteries, fireworks, liquor, charcoal, and more. Also, do not store yard equipment containing fuel. You can store a lawn mower in your unit but only after you have drained all the fuel and oil from the machine.

You are definitely not allowed to store firearms of any type, ammunition and explosives – look for suitable storage for your weapon at your local gun shop or shooting range.

6) Scented or Wet Items
As mentioned, strong scents can easily attract pests, insects, rodents or vermin to investigate the source of the overwhelming odors. You don’t want any living things crawling or flying around in your rental unit.

Also, any items that are wet or damp will start producing mold, mildew and spread bacteria in your self-storage unit, and that will likely damage some, most or all of your prized possessions placed in temporary storage. First and foremost, make sure that every single item you plan to store in there is perfectly dry before you pack it up and leave it in your storage unit.

7) Valuables
This safety rule is simple: don’t store any items that have high value for you. Value is measured differently for different people. An expensive piece of jewelry is valuable because it has high monetary value, but a piece of inexpensive clothing or an ordinary painting can have extremely high sentimental value for you.

The security of the whole storage facility can be exceptional but always keep your valuables safe with you.

SOS has several convenient locations.  Our on-site Office Managers are professional, friendly, and ready to assist you with all of your storage needs.  And when renting from one of our Southern Oregon locations, customers have the added convenience of using the SOS moving truck for free! 

Whether you need a safe, secure storage unit, or a large pull through space to store your boat or RV, we’ve got what you’re looking for. You can access your unit 365 days a year! 

We are locally owned and operated. We live and work in this community and we care that your treasures are safe and secure.