What size storage unit do I need?

Most people need less space than they expect. At our Rolleston facility the four sizes are 7.5, 14, 21 and 48 square metres. A 7.5 covers a one bedroom flat or a garage clear-out. A 14 suits a two bedroom house. A 21 handles a three bedroom house with furniture. A 48 is for a large house or business stock. If you are between two sizes, take the larger one and pack it properly, because a unit you cannot walk into is a unit you cannot use.

Key takeaways

• Four sizes at Rolleston: 7.5, 14, 21 and 48 square metres.
• Measure by what you own, not by how many bedrooms you have. The two do not always match.
• Leave a walkway. A packed solid unit means unloading everything to reach one box.
• Stack up. Height is the space most people waste.
• If you are between sizes, go up. Swapping later is easy, living with too little is not.
• Not sure? Ring and talk it through. It takes two minutes and saves guessing.

Start with what you actually own

The usual way people size a unit is to count bedrooms. It is a reasonable starting point and it is often wrong, because two houses with the same number of bedrooms can hold wildly different amounts of stuff.

A better question is what is actually going in. A three bedroom house where the garage is empty and the kids have moved out needs far less space than a two bedroom house with a workshop, a home gym and fifteen years of accumulated boxes.

So before you look at sizes, walk through what is going into storage and be honest about it. The furniture, the appliances, the boxes, and the awkward things nobody thinks about until moving day: the lawnmower, the bikes, the Christmas tree, the box of cables.

The four sizes at Jones Road

Those house sizes are a guide rather than a rule. How you pack makes a real difference, and so does how much of the house is actually coming.

All units at Rolleston are indoor. There are 129 of them, the site has cameras and 24 hour access, and we will match a genuine local quote if you find one cheaper.

The small, 7.5 square metres

Three metres by two and a half. Think a single garage bay, roughly.

This is the one that surprises people. It comfortably takes the contents of a one bedroom flat: a bed, a sofa, a small dining set, a fridge and a decent stack of boxes. It is also the right answer for the most common storage job of all, which is emptying a garage so a car can go back in it.

Where it runs out is furniture with awkward shapes. A large corner sofa or a three seater plus a dining table starts eating the floor fast.

The medium, 14 square metres

Five point six by two and a half. Nearly double the small, and the size most household moves land on.

A two bedroom house fits here without much stress: two bed sets, a lounge suite, a washing machine and fridge, a dining table, and boxes stacked along one wall. There is usually room to leave a path down the middle, which matters more than people expect.

This is also the practical choice if you are storing during a build or a renovation and will need to get at things.

The large, 21 square metres

Five point six by three point eight. A three bedroom house with real furniture in it.

At this size the packing starts to matter as much as the floor area. Twenty one square metres packed badly holds less than fourteen packed well. Get the heavy flat things upright against the walls, build stable stacks, and keep an aisle.

Businesses often land here too: stock, equipment, records, seasonal gear.

The extra large, 48 square metres

Eight and a half by five and a half. This is a serious amount of space, more than double the large.

It suits a four or five bedroom household, or a business storing pallets, stock or equipment. If you are moving a whole house and you have a workshop or a garage full of tools, this is usually the honest answer.

The mistakes that cost people money

Packing solid to the door. The single most common one. Every square metre used, and no way to reach anything without emptying the unit onto the driveway. Leave a walkway down one side, even if it means going a size up. You will use it more than you think.

Forgetting to stack. People fill the floor and stop. The space above waist height is usually half the unit. Sturdy boxes, heaviest at the bottom, and it changes what fits.

Under-booking to save twenty dollars. Cramming a two bedroom house into a 7.5 to save money usually ends with a second unit or a stressful afternoon. The gap between sizes is smaller than the cost of getting it wrong.

Not measuring the big things. A fridge, a piano, a long sofa. Measure them. It takes five minutes and it is the difference between a plan and a hope.

When you are between two sizes

Go up.

It is the boring answer and it is the right one. The extra cost per week is modest, and what you get is room to walk in, room to stack properly, and room for the things you forgot about while you were packing.

If it turns out you took more than you needed, that is an easy problem. Ring us and swap to a smaller unit. Being stuck with too little space in the middle of a move is not an easy problem.

If you genuinely cannot tell

Ring and talk it through. Describe what is going in and we will tell you what usually fits, because we watch it happen every week.

That is not a sales line. Getting the size right first time is less work for everyone than moving someone between units a fortnight later.

FAQ

What size storage unit do I need for a two bedroom house?

The 14 square metre unit is usually right for a two bedroom house, including beds, a lounge suite, whiteware, a dining table and boxes. If you also have a full garage or workshop coming, look at the 21.

What is the smallest storage unit at LocknLeave Rolleston?

The smallest is 7.5 square metres, at 3.0m by 2.5m, which is about a single garage bay. It holds a one bedroom flat or a garage clear-out.

How much does a storage unit cost in Rolleston?

Units at our Rolleston facility run from $35 a week for the 7.5 square metre size up to $140 a week for the 48 square metre size. We will match a genuine local quote if you find one cheaper.

Can I change to a different size later?

Yes. If the unit turns out to be the wrong size, ring us and we will move you to one that fits, subject to availability.

Are the units at Rolleston indoor?

Yes. All 129 units at the Jones Road facility are indoor, with camera security and 24 hour access.

How do I fit more into a storage unit?

Stack upwards rather than filling the floor, keep the heaviest boxes at the bottom, put flat items upright against the walls, and leave a walkway so you can reach things without unpacking the whole unit.