Crate hire for moving into storage
Putting things into storage is two moves with a gap in the middle, and the gap is where cardboard fails. A carton that was fine going into the unit has been holding a load for six months by the time you come back for it, and the bases go.
Crates solve the moving part of that brilliantly. They stack square, they do not sag, and one person can carry a full one down a storage corridor. Load in with crates, transfer to your own boxes as you go, and we take the crates away again.
Why crates rather than boxes
They stack properly in a unit
Storage is priced by the square metre, so stacking matters while you are loading in. Crates are identical, square and stable five high, which makes a unit easier to pack than a wall of mixed cartons.
Nothing sags under load
A cardboard box at the bottom of a stack gives way over months. Crates hold their shape whatever is above them.
Hire for each run
You need boxes going in and boxes coming out, months apart. Hiring for each trip costs less than cartons you buy, use twice and take to the tip.
We collect, so nothing is wasted
No flattening cartons in a corridor and no trip to the tip. Tell us where the crates ended up and we collect from there.
How many crates will you need?
Size by what is going in, not by the unit. A useful rule is that a crate holds about as much as a large removalist carton.
4 to 6 crates per bedroom
4 to 8 crates per room
8 to 12 crates per kitchen
4 to 10 crates per garage
2 to 3 crates per shelf metre
1 crate each
About 35 crates
Your answers come to 24 to 42 crates. We have rounded up to 35, because running short on the day costs more than a spare crate does.
$153
inc GST. Two weeks of hire, delivery and collection included.
Book 35 cratesBooks are the exception: a crate of books is heavy long before it is full, so count them separately and fill those crates halfway.
Crates are for the shift, not for the storing
This is the one thing worth being straight about. Crates are hired, not sold, and they are the right tool for getting a unit loaded and unloaded: they stack, they carry, they do not collapse under a full load on a trolley.
What goes into the unit for the long haul should go in your own boxes or onto shelving. Hire crates for the day you load in, transfer as you go, and we collect them the same fortnight. Then hire again when it is time to empty the unit.
Packing for a unit, not for a truck
Things stored for months want different treatment from things moved across town. Anything soft should be clean and dry before it goes in, because a damp towel in a sealed crate in January is a problem you will discover in June.
Label the ends rather than the lids, since you will be reading a wall of stacked crates rather than looking down at them. Leave an aisle. And keep a list of what is in which numbered crate, because you will not remember.
- Clean and fully dry before anything goes in
- Label the short end, not the lid
- Heaviest crates on the bottom, books half full
- Leave a walkway to the back of the unit
- Keep a numbered list on your phone
Packs that suit this job
Studio Stash
25 crates
$109
A studio, a one-bedroom flat or a small office
Two-Bedder
50 crates
$189
A two-bedroom home or a small office
Family Burrow
75 crates
$249
A three-bedroom home or a mid-size office
Big Burrow
100 crates
$309
A four-bedroom home, or a whole office floor
Common questions
Can I hire crates to move into a storage unit?
Yes, and it is one of the better uses for them. They stack square and stable, which fits more into a unit priced by the square metre, and one person can carry a full crate down a corridor. We collect them afterwards so nothing has to be flattened or dumped.
Can the crates stay in the storage unit?
No, and you would not want them to. The hire runs a fortnight, which is for the loading in, not the storing. Put what is staying into your own boxes or onto shelving as you unload, and we collect the crates. Hire again when it is time to empty the unit.
How many crates fit in a storage unit?
A 3 square metre unit holds roughly 60 to 80 crates stacked five high with an aisle; a 6 square metre unit closer to 150. Stacking identical crates is the main reason a unit holds more than people expect.
Can you collect the crates from the storage unit?
Yes, as long as the facility is inside our service area between the Harbour Bridge and Palm Beach and you can get us access. Tell us the address and the access arrangements when you book the collection.
Are the crates waterproof?
They are weatherproof rather than waterproof: rain on the way from the door to the van will not get in, and they shrug off the damp far better than cardboard. They are not sealed, so do not treat a crate as protection against a flooded unit.
Crates for other jobs
- Office moves
Crates are how commercial moves are done. Weekday windows, two weeks included.
- Renovations
Pack the kitchen away and live around the trades, without dust in everything.
- Selling and downsizing
Box up the excess before the photographer arrives.
Crates from $25, delivered free
Two weeks included, no bond, seven days a week from the Harbour Bridge to Palm Beach.