This is primarily an information site offering storage building and storage shed information. We also offer information about carports, garages, pole barns and other utility buildings. We present information from time to time about other outdoor structures such as play sets, swing sets, patio covers, gazebos, and other, back yard related issues.

The type of information we offer:

We offer insights into the practical side of outdoor structures. This includes informative posts on such topics as choosing  and buying a utility building, the proper placement of utility buildings to get the most benefit from them with the least hassle, and the fewest problems, and what to look for when buying one of these structures. We also cover storage shed and storage building maintenance.

We will be offering information on where to find storage buildings and storage sheds by phone and email in North Texas and East Texas, and by email for other parts of the country.

New storage building information E-book

We are also putting the final touches on an “E-book” with practical guidelines for choosing, placing, using, and maintaining utility buildings. When it is done, we will offer it free of charge to our readers who want to leave an email address in the form to the right of this post. This E-book will be in a pdf format.

If you want, you can also send us an email: james@storagebuildingblog.com to let us know.

We will be making a few changes in the structure and navigation of this blog, so please be patient, any questions can be forwarded at the email address above, or through the form to the right.

We hope that you can benefit from the information on the pages of this site, and look forward to serving you with more practical ideas in the future.

Call: 903.504.3938

Call: 903.504.3938

How to Buy A Carport Or Garage in Texas (or anywhere else)

There are a lot of places in the world where protecting your vehicles and equipment from the weather are important, but probably none have a wider variety of damaging weather conditions than right hear in North Texas and East Texas, where our summertime temperatures regularly exceed the century mark, and hail and damaging wind are a moment to moment fact of life throughout the year.

This blog is mostly about storage buildings, that usually means portable utility buildings of the type that are built at a facility, and then shipped to you, where they are leveled and blocked up, and ready for use. They are not all used for storage, some are used for shops, or offices, or game rooms, or just about anything you can think of.

What about those times when you have something bigger to store, like a car, or a tractor, or a motor home? What if your problem isn’t storing something, but protecting something from the sun and the wind and the hail? Sometimes you might just need a building that’s a little larger than a standard size storage building. Maybe you need something like a place to park your boat. A carport, or a full scale garage might be just the thing to keep your vehicle from an extra trip or two to the body shop each year.

Steel buildings

Solid steel buildings like carports and garages can be manufactured very efficiently, and surprisingly inexpensively due to the advent of modern modular building systems. They can be cut and welded to the right size and shape before hand, based on your specific requirements, and then put together on your property in a very short time, for a very affordable price.

How to buy a carport or garage

It works something like this. You decide what width and length you want the building to be. Set down with your local dealer, and he will guide you through a process on paper. Essentially, you will be designing the building with the help of an individual who is trained to help you through.  With the basic information about the buildings size, you will be given a price for the basic carport like structure. Then, you decide whether that is suitable, or whether more might need to be added.

Accessories

There are:

• Leg extension

• Braces

• Gable ends

• Enclosed Sides

• Enclosed ends

• Roll up doors

• Walk in doors

• Windows

• Storm anchors

And even a few other things.

If you want longer legs on the building, they can be added for a small cost. If you want the sides completely enclosed, simply say so, and the cost of adding sides can be added in. If you want to add ends, to completely, or partially enclose the structure, the cost of those can be added in as well.

Of course, if you close all four walls, you will have to have a door to get into the structure. You will then choose the type and size of the door, or doors, add any windows you want, and at some point you will be asked about such things as extra bracing, storm anchors and other accessories. Just have them add what you want.

What you will have

In the end, you will have your customized, personalized building designed and ready to be built on your property. When you are asked about the ends of the buildings, don’t be too surprised at the cost. It costs more to enclose an end than a side, because the ends add extra framing that the sides already have. Most modern modular systems are built with steel. These will be galvanized steel rails, with galvanized steel sheeting which is given a very meticulous paint job and usually carries a “rust through” warranty for 20 years or more.

Call: 903.504.3938

Storing Memories Storing At Home

There are just some things you have trouble letting go of. Maybe it is Grandma’s grandfather clock, or perhaps Grandpa’s collection of antique tools. You know that you may not ever use them, but you keep them for their sentimental value, and with the hope that sometime in the future, you might come up with a pleasant way to display them, or pass them on to the next generation. You are storing memories of childhood, memories that connect you to your past, and past experiences, and you just can’t see selling those memories at a garage sale. In the meantime though, they clash with the decor of your home.

The closets and garage are full to the brim already, and you have been storing these sentimental reminders in public storage, and frankly, storing memories, and sentimental connections just shouldn’t cost so much!

We are almost all in the same boat at some point in our lives. We have a few things that we want to keep, but the cost of keeping them seems to be a black hole for our money long into the foreseeable future. What can we do? Well, since we are committed to keeping these pieces of our ancestral past until our conditions change, we might consider buying a storage building.

If you buy a storage building, you will be able to store your unique and personal things without the problems associated with public storage, like rental fees, and traveling back and forth between the self storage facility and your home. Even if you find a way to use the grandfather clock, and a place to display the tools, without having to store your memories, you will still have the building for other purposes, like cleaning out the garage so your wife can park inside on those cold, windy, and rainy days. Oh, and about the garage, if you have more cars and boats than you have garage, we can help you with that too!

How To Buy Storage Buildings

In today’s economic climate, everyone wants to get the best bang for their buck. Renting storage space in a public storage facility is not going to provide that bang! Money spent on renting storage space is money you will never see again, and you have nothing to look forward to but more rent, and nothing to show for it in the end. If you have reached that point in your thinking, it is time to use that mental energy on deciding what size and type of building you need to buy, where to buy it, where to place it, and how to finance it. The following information will help you through the process.

The purpose of your storage building

Decide exactly what the purpose of the building will be. Will it be a workshop, an office, a play room, or just used for storage? Will it serve multiple purposes? Knowing what your long term plans are will help with the decisions you will need to make throughout the selection process.

The size of your storage building

Decide how much space you will need in order to reach your goal. If your goal is to store a certain number of boxes for a certain amount of time, and then use the building for a tool shed, you should figure the number of cubic feet of space you will need, and base your decision on that figure. Remember to add aisle space into the equation so that you can get from front to back.  A note to the wise, always add 10 to 20 percent, you will be glad you did.

If your goal is long term storage, of course, the same things apply about the number of cubic feet. If your goal is to have a workshop, the number and type of tools and equipment, and the space to safely use them should be considered. Again, adding 10 to 20 percent for expansion is a good idea. I have never known anyone to say, I wish I had gotten less space!

The placement of your storage building

Decide where you want to place your building. If you already know the size you need, available placement space may help you to determine the buildings configuration. What I mean is this: If you have decided that you need 200 square feet of floor space, but a 10 x 20 building is too long for the space you have available, perhaps a 14 x 16 building would fit into the available space more readily.  There is always a solution. Have the building placed in a position so that it will not interfere with normal lawn maintenance activities. You will want to give some thought to how this new addition to your lawn will effect, and be effected by your irrigation system, and make the needed adjustments. You wouldn’t want your building placed on top of your irrigation heads. This should not be a major problem if the building can be placed between the irrigation rows. The heads adjacent to the building can be adjusted to compensate for the new addition after the building is in place.

Accessories for your storage building

Decide what extras you will need. This is a function of the buildings purpose. Do you need to add a workbench to the building? If you plan to work in the building during the heat of summer, or the cold of winter will you need insulation to moderate the temperature? How about ventilation, or a cutout for an air conditioning unit? Will you need extra space above floor level such as a loft? How about extra shelves? Planning on storing and maintaining power mowers or all terrain vehicles, you might need a roll up door, and a ramp. Tailor these things to suit your needs, and you will be able to make a better decision.

Your storage building type

Decide the type of building you will need. This is also a function of the purpose of the building. If your goal is a small tea room for your Japanese garden, you might want to get a small wooden structure that will weather naturally. For almost all other applications, the more weather resistant the materials, the better.

Storage building materials

Composite shingled roofs look great, for a while, but they will need to be replaced regularly over the years. The same is true of wood siding. Steel clad buildings seem to weather more gracefully, and as a result, stay functional for a longer period of time.

When choosing a building the longevity should be taken into account as a part of the value. Maintenance costs should also be considered. If the building is going to last half as long, before needing to be replaced, and during that short life, add to the over all cost per year by $500.00, the value has decreased. If that cheap wooden structure with the shingled roof you picked up for $1500.00 dollars costs you $500.00 per year to maintain, and only lasts for a quarter of the time that the $3000.00 building, your bargain is not really a bargain. Materials matter!

Shopping for your storage building electronically

Go shopping. You don’t have to climb into the car and drive all over town to start this. You can do it from the comfort of your own home. Search the Internet for buildings like the one you know you will need. Search locally by adding the name of your location. For instance, if you live in a town known as “Example”, search for “storage buildings Example My State”. Don’t add commas between the words. that will cause the search engine to serve up results for storage buildings, and results for Example, and results for My State, all separately. Look through the results of your search. There should be at least some results for businesses close to your area. click on the results, and see if they have what you are looking for. Continue to click on the results until you have the results you are looking for, even if it takes several pages of results to find what you need. Collect the phone numbers and addresses of the most promising dealers. If at first you don’t succeed, try a different search for a different group of words.

There is also the good old fashioned phone book. Use it to find local dealers, and call about details. You are already armed with the facts about what you need!

Shopping for your storage building in person

Now, hop in the car, and take a look at the buildings that you have discovered. There is a good chance that exactly what you are looking for, is setting somewhere on a local lot! If it is not, many dealers can have one custom made for you in short order. In most cases, you will not be charged much, if any, above what the
building would cost if it were already setting on a lot.

What if they don’t have the building I need?

Even if the building you need is not on a lot, one can be built to your specifications. Most dealers and suppliers will be happy to do this for you. They will have some questions, which you will already know the answers to. Tell them what you need, and they will probably go to a book which will start with a basic building in the size that you are looking for. Then they will start to add the accessories that you need. Just about anything you might want should be available, from ramps, to extra blocking, work benches, peg boards, shelves, lofts, insulation, extra windows, roll up doors, or standard doors should be available. Add the ones you want in whatever combination you desire, and you should be in business.

Financing your storage building

There are several options where financing your building is concerned. There is of course, cash. There is bank financing, either the financing that you work out, or the financing processed through the company you are dealing with through another financial institution. There is the option to rent to own offered by some companies, and even a few other options that vary a lot throughout the industry.

Rent to own

Rent to own is a viable option for those who want to own a building without all the hassles of regular financing. Rent to own payments are usually pretty close to the amount you would pay for an equivalent amount of space in a public storage facility, the major differences being that with rent to own, you will own the building, and you won’t have to take trips across town to get to your stored goodies, both of which save you money.

How to buy a storage building How to use a storage building. How to maintain a storage building Where to buy storage buildings

Call: 903.504.3938

Storage Buildings Rent Home Owners

If you have single family dwellings for lease, we have an income boosting idea for you. Buy a portable storage building to add to your rental property, and offer it to your future renters for a small fee. You will probably be more likely to get and keep the renters you want if you make life more convenient for them, you can charge a little more to cover the cost, and, if you ever decide to sell the property, the value will be higher.

When most people are choosing a place to rent, one of their major concerns is where to put the extra things they have, or how to store a few things during the unpacking process. Just imagine how much of an encouragement it would be to find that the place they are thinking of renting already has that available! It could make the difference between getting that great renter, or having them move on down the rental road.

While you are thinking about it, think about those things that are left behind after someone moves out. If you are having to pay for storage space in a public facility, wouldn’t it be smarter to have a facility of your own to hold those items?

Call: 903.504.3938

How to prepare for your storage building

Okay, you have shopped around, and found a great deal on a great product, and you have closed the deal. That is great! Congratulations! Now what? Well, there is not a lot that you need to do to prepare for the delivery, but there are a few things you should, and could do.

• Be certain of your location. Make sure that you let the delivery men know exactly where you want your building to be placed. Stepping off the area, and marking it would give you a better idea about the area.

• Be sure that there are no obstructions, such as low hanging limbs or communication wires which might get in the way.

• Make certain that you have an area laid out which will leave enough space for your mower to get around without hanging up.

• If your irrigation system leaves the area where you want your building off loaded a little wet, you might want to shut it down for a day or two prior to delivery just to be sure that no damage is done to your lawn.

If you have any other suggestions, we would love to hear from you in our comment section.

Public Storage or Private Storage? Beating the high cost of public storage.

Storage and financial crisis

In the wake of our recent financial disasters, an already enormous public storage industry has grown beyond imagination. Much of the overflow from down sizing after the mortgage fiasco ends up packed away somewhere inside a small mini storage facility, awaiting the time when the financial situation avails the public of new opportunities. the beneficiaries of this economic decline are those who have the capacity to provide space for self storage.

Boomers

Adding to the growing mini storage boom, are the original “boomers” themselves, “baby boomers” that is. Those of us who were born during that age of extreme population growth, are reaching an age where retirement is available, and to many of us, the thought of spending our new found free time and energy maintaining large homes and properties after our children are all moved out is not all that appealing. We were already a mobile generation, and being tied down was never one of our favorite pastimes. Lookout kids, grandma and grandpa will be hitting the streets! The content of all those large homes will have to be put somewhere, and much of it will end up in a storage building.

Our Stuff

There are a lot of other reasons why storage business is booming these days. A decade or so of relatively strong economic growth has caused and allowed for strong production. We have more stuff! We have so much stuff in fact, that we don’t have a place to put it all! Last years gadgets are outdated, heck, last months gadgets are outdated, and we don’t always want to let go of them.

We are spending more yearly on storage than many countries produce in a year! The problem is, that outside of preserving the things we store, we are not gaining anything in the process, and all of those products that we store are losing value the longer they are stored. It is pretty easy to store a thousand dollars worth of goods in a place that will end up costing us a thousand dollars every year.

The answer

What then is the answer? well, for one thing, we could stop renting and start buying our storage space. At least when it is paid for, we will still have something to show for the money spent. Buying your own building as opposed to renting self storage or mini storage from a public storage facility is a much more rational choice. Most storage building suppliers offer financing through lending agencies and banks, as well as rent to own programs which will give you as much, or more space for storage as the public storage units, at about the same monthly cost, and in the end, you own your own private storage, and will not have to pay for storage space again!

If you rent your home, or apartment, there are still better options than the perpetual self storage offered by the public storage industry. You can read about them on this site.

If you are considering renting storage space, or the purchase of a storage building in East Texas, email us at james@storagebuildingblog.com.

Read these related posts for more information:

• Public Storage or Private Storage?
• Mini Storage Maxi Cost | The Large Cost of Small Storage
• Storage Buildings For Home and Apartment Renters
• Thinking Outside the Box | The Self Storage Rental Box
• Self Storage East Texas | Why You Should Buy

Storage Building Accessories

Blocks and load distribution

If you use your storage building to store a large number of heavy items, it is a good idea to spread the load evenly throughout the building. Most storage building companies offer extra blocking for a small fee if you think that your load will not always be distributed evenly through the building. Some settling occurs naturally on most types of soil, and the extra blocking wil help to assure a more evenly distributed load especially if you warehouse equipment such as large riding mowers in one side of the building.

Ramps

If you have equipment that requires driving into the building, such as all terrain vehicles, or riding mowers, you may need a ramp to get them inside. Again, most companies that sell storage buildings should be able to supply these at a reasonable cost.

Other amenities

Shelves and lofts

To increase the usable space in your portable building, shelves and lofts can be added. This will allow you to store more items, without having to do so much stacking.

Work Space

Work benches and peg boards can be installed if you use your storage building as a shop. A nice sturdy work bench built across the end or down the length of a wall of the building will add space for small to moderate sized work, and will also serve to add strength to the structure.

Windows, vents, and insulation

For added light, venting, and the ability to see what’s going on outdoors, windows can be added. Many manufacturers supply storage buildings with these installed in a variety of configurations, and most will build one to meet your specific needs.

For venting heat, vents may be needed in the upper area of the buildings ends. Again, most builders and manufacturers have a variety of different models, or can build to suit your needs.

To maintain constant temperatures where needed, roofs and walls can be insulated. If you plan to work in your building during hot summer days, or cold winter days, or have items in your storage building that need to stay at a relatively constant temperature, insulation can be a huge help. Once again, your manufacturer, builder, or supplier should be able to help.