DC is a decidedly different kind of college town, and that means it’s a decidedly different place for university storage. With its growing number of young professionals, large local network of connected alumni and trendy nightlife offerings (where you just might meet your future boss), DC is more than just a great place to go to school; it’s a great place to build a life after graduation. If your idea of name dropping at brunch is a little more Clinton and a lot less Kardashian, DC is the right place for you. Here’s what you need to know about storage.
Storage for Students in Campus Housing
One thing that really sets DC apart from other cities with a lot of colleges in them is the large number of students who live on campus. We blame this one on the high cost of rent. Some schools, like
Howard University and
Gallaudet University host over half of the student population on campus. That’s a pretty big number when you compare it to universities across the country which often see on campus housing numbers well below 25%. Whether you’re planning on it or not, there’s a pretty big chance that you’ll be in student housing well past the traditional freshman year experience. However, this doesn’t mean a tiny dorm for four years. Most schools in DC offer university owned apartment style housing in addition to dorms, so if you think that living in student housing throughout college means that you have to leave furniture, extra clothing or other items behind, you might be mistaken. We suggest opting for a 5x5 unit during your time in the dorms so that you have those extra belongings available when the time comes to move to a university owned apartment or a regular apartment in DC. Moving between dorms, apartments and fraternity/sorority housing will invariably affect your storage needs. Fortunately, unlike the binding lease required by your landlord, a storage facility contract is actually very flexible. Most leases are month to month and allow for you to switch unit sizes as your storage needs changes.
Summer Storage and Scary Humidity
Most students typically need storage in the summer more than any other time. This makes sense as it’s expensive to ship your stuff home and it’s worrisome to trust your friends who are staying on campus with your beer pong table. Ideally, you’ll be able to lock your stuff up and forget about it while you go back to your parents, study abroad or chill on a beach somewhere. Make this a reality by opting for
climate controlled storage. DC summers are not only hot; they’re super humid. While the heat alone can be detrimental to sensitive items, the humidity is what really does some serious damage. When moisture enters your storage unit, whether it’s through humidity in the air or through rainwater seeping in on the floor (Familiar with DC’s
summer heat storms?), it can wreak havoc on your belongings. If you’re an art student storing paintings, drawings or photographs or just a typical college student with posters and books, you’ll want to take extra care of these vulnerable items. A stack of photographs might look great at the start of the summer, but if you leave it in a unit that isn’t climate-controlled, the water will have turned it into a solid brick. We get it; outdoor units are cheaper. If you decide to choose one, you can still store most items (though we’d caution you against the photographs) as long as you take a few steps to keep them safe. Pack items in plastic totes rather than cardboard boxes, as cardboard will absorb moisture and can also damage the pages of important books. Heavy duty garbage bags will help too. Also remember that you should never, ever place items like books directly on the ground as any water that seeps under the door can ruin them. Instead, place items that aren’t damaged by water (like those plastic totes) on the ground and put those delicate items on top of them.
