Let's talk about self storage.

With the storm forecast for Wednesday January  8  -  Friday January 10, 2025 i am curious how other facilities prepare?   Do you close your 7 day 24 hour facility?  Email tenants about the chance of ice and snow and possible power outages?  Spread rock salt before the storm?  Gate issues in ice or snow?  I would really appreciate any advice as this is my first winter storm as an owner operator.

I am also very interested to hear about this. We live in and operate a few facilities in Colorado, but the upcoming potential storm at our North Texas facility has got me more uneasy than the larger events we receive in Colorado. 

There's obviously less snow clearing ability (generally) for cities and counties in Texas, as well as less preparedness from our tenants and employees. At what point is snowfall a big impact? Has anyone had to contract a plowing company to clear the lot? Or does it just melt in a few days? How reliable is the power grid after a somewhat decent snowfall event? 

In Colorado, significant snowfall is expected throughout the winter and prepared for. We like to lightly pre-salt our heavily trafficked walkways such as the office front to prevent snow from bonding/icing to the concrete (much easier to shovel). Use it sparingly and only on concrete that is 2+ years old. Salting is pretty useless unless you have someone there to clear the snow/ice after, as the salt is designed to break the bond between the ice and concrete. You'll still need to shovel it away from walkways after.

We do the basics when we arrive in the morning and hand shovel foot traffic areas. We then snowblow our sidewalks and north facing buildings/units. A few hours after snow stops falling, our snowplowing contractor will show up and plow all the drive aisles and parking lot. When we get A LOT of snow, we'll usually rent out a Bobcat and re-arrange some of the snow piles to clear up room for the next storm.

In order of priority, we try to minimize slip/fall hazards in trafficked areas, clear snow in shaded areas to areas that receive sunlight, and then have our contractor clear the snow for the convenience of our tenants. The sooner you can clear snow, the better, as the weight of vehicles quickly turns the fluffy snow into ice.

I'm unfamiliar with slide gates and how they're impacted by snow, but lift gates have a tendency to jamb up with snow in the "saddle" or the arms where the gate gets caught. In higher accumulations, it's a good idea to clear the concrete underneath the gate as well so that it doesn't get stuck open. Eventually the packed down snow will trigger the Miller's edge and keep the gate open if it isn't cleared. I would also use a broom to wipe off any snow attached to the gate to lessen strain on the motor.

We've only had to close the facility due to storms a couple of times in our 20+ year history. Bad ice storms are where we draw the line - it's too easy for tenants to slide into the gate, unit doors, or building.

Just my 2 cents!

With the storm forecast for Wednesday January  8  -  Friday January 10, 2025 i am curious how other facilities prepare?   Do you close your 7 day 24 hour facility?  Email tenants about the chance of ice and snow and possible power outages?  Spread rock salt before the storm?  Gate issues in ice or snow?  I would really appreciate any advice as this is my first winter storm as an owner operator.