Gone for a Year? How to Pack a Storage Unit in Graham You Won't Open for a While

Graham


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November 3rd, 2026


Some folks rent a unit and are back in it every Saturday. This post is for the other kind. You're shipping out, or you took a job that keeps you on the road for months, or you're spending the next year looking after a parent two states over. The house gets let go or rented out, and everything you want to keep has to sit somewhere until you come home.
That is a different job than weekend storage. Nobody is going to open the door and notice a problem in March. Whatever you do on loading day is what you get back.
Here's how to do it right at our N Victory Street location in Graham.

Why N Victory works for a long stay

305 N Victory St has a climate-controlled building with indoor 10x10 and 10x15 units off a lit hallway. The building holds a steady temperature through the whole year: the August afternoons, the wet spring, the January cold snaps. Over twelve months or more, that steadiness is what keeps a dresser from loosening at the joints and a stack of photo albums from curling.
A 10x15 has room for the furniture out of several rooms with a walkway left down the middle. A 10x10 suits a smaller household or a single person's things. If you're not sure which, call and tell us what's going in. We'll help you size it.

Before anything goes in the unit

Clean it and dry it. Wipe down furniture. Run the washer and fridge dry and leave their doors cracked once they're in the unit. A damp rag left in a drawer in November is a mildew problem by June.
Nothing that spoils. No food, no pet food, no birdseed, no candles. If it can rot, melt or draw a mouse, it stays out. And nothing flammable: no gas cans, propane tanks, paint thinner or fireworks.
Take apart what comes apart. Bed frames, table legs, shelving. Put the hardware in a zip bag and tape it to the piece it came off of. You will not remember which bolts go where a year from now.

Packing for the long haul

  • Use sturdy boxes of the same couple of sizes so they stack square. Grocery boxes collapse over time.
  • Heavy boxes on the bottom, books in small boxes, light stuff on top.
  • Cover furniture with old cotton sheets or moving blankets. Skip shrink wrap on wood and upholstery for long stays. It holds moisture against the surface.
  • Store mattresses flat in a mattress bag, not on their side against a wall.
  • Pictures, letters and keepsakes go in lidded plastic bins rather than cardboard.
  • Electronics ride best in their original boxes. Pull the batteries out of everything first.

Load it so you can find things

Label every box on two sides and the top. Then take a picture of each wall of the unit with your phone before you lock it, and keep a short list of what's in which corner. When you come home, or when you need that one box of winter clothes, you'll know where to dig.
Leave an aisle down the center and keep the things you might want soonest near the door.

While you're away

Rent is due on the 1st of every month, and you can pay it online from wherever you are. Before you leave, make sure the office has a phone number and email that will actually reach you. If your card changes or expires while you're gone, update it. That one step keeps a long stay from turning into a headache.
The unit is month to month with no lease. When you're back and ready to clear it out, give us ten days' notice before the month ends.

What's at N Victory

  • Climate-controlled 10x10 and 10x15 units inside a lit building
  • Gate open 6 AM to 10 PM, seven days a week
  • 24-hour video surveillance
  • We don't keep a copy of your key
  • Locks at the office if you need one
  • Rent online any hour and move in the same day
See what's open on the N Victory page, or call (940) 289-8959. There's no office at Victory itself. The office is at 215 N Ohio Ave, open Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 3 PM, and a local team there handles every question about the Victory units.
Bigfoot Storage is part of Legacy Self Storage, a Texas family business.