What Should Go Into Storage Before a Michigan Winter?

September is the month to do this, and October is the month everyone actually does it, usually in the rain.

The winter swap is not about finding more room. It is about which things you can reach when it is dark at five and there is eight inches on the drive.

What has to be reachable by November?

Put these at the front of the garage and work backwards from there.

The snowblower, and it should be serviced before it is needed rather than the morning it is. Shovels, a roof rake if you use one, ice melt or salt, spare fuel stored properly, jump leads, a snow brush for each vehicle, and a bag of sand or grit.

If your garage currently has a lawnmower in front of the snowblower, that is the whole problem in one sentence.

What is worth moving out entirely?

Anything that is finished for the year and takes floor space.

Patio furniture, the grill, umbrellas and planters. Bikes, kayaks, paddleboards, camping gear, coolers, fishing kit and lawn games. Screens if you swap them for storm windows. Garden tools and the mower once it has had its last cut, drained of fuel.

Then the things that have nothing to do with the season but are in the way anyway. Boxes that came from the last move and never got opened, spare furniture, exercise equipment nobody uses in the room it is in.

Getting a car into a garage for a Michigan winter is worth more than most people credit. It is warmer starts, no scraping and no clearing the drive around a parked vehicle.

What should not go into a storage unit?

No fuel, no propane, no paint thinner, nothing combustible. Drain the mower, the trimmer and the generator before they go anywhere, or leave them at home.

No food, no plants, nothing living. A bag of birdseed or grass seed in a unit becomes a rodent problem, and it does not stay in your unit.

Our units here are drive-up and are not climate controlled, so use judgment on what goes in. Furniture, tools, outdoor gear, plastic bins and sports equipment all sit through a Michigan winter without complaint. Photographs, artwork, vinyl records, candles and anything that swells or cracks with cold and damp are better off inside the house.

When do you not need a unit?

If you have a dry basement with space in it, use the basement. If your garage empties out on its own once the summer things go on a shelf, you do not have a storage problem, you have a shelving problem, and shelving is cheaper.

This is worth renting when the vehicle is on the drive all winter because the garage is full, or when the boat, trailer or RV needs somewhere that is not the front yard.

Storing on the east side of Jackson?

East Jackson Self Storage is at 227 Hackett St on the east side of the city, with access from I-94 and US-127 and minutes from downtown Jackson. We are a short run from Blackman Township, Leoni Township, Spring Arbor and Napoleon.

Every unit is drive-up at ground level with a roll-up door, which is what you want in January. You park at the door, lift it, and load. Sizes run 10x10, 10x15, 10x20, 10x30, 20x30 and 24x40, and there are 13x40 gravel parking spaces for a boat, trailer or spare vehicle. The site has gated keypad entry, 24 hour security cameras and exterior LED lighting, and new tenants get a free lock at move in that is theirs to keep.

Rentals are month to month, so a unit taken for the winter is a unit you can hand back in April.

Call (517) 878-1070 and tell us what is coming out of the garage. We will tell you the size.