The Self-Storage Door

One of your most major investments

By Dan Curtis

For aself-storage owner, choosing the right door and getting the most value for themoney is a decision that will be lived with as long as a facility is owned.Before making such an important decision, the buyer must take time to researchthe market, learning what makes one self-storage door more valuable thananother. With increased competition, care is required in selecting doors, aswell as choosing the right company to supply and install them.

Generally, there are five stages of self-storage ownership:

Investigating the Market

Inconsidering self-storage, don't be fooled into thinking of it as a passiveinvestment. Owners must be familiar with the operation of their projects, and beable to share their knowledge with managers and others involved. Early on,owners need to be involved in the selection of all construction materials. Thereis no need to start from scratch, as all the necessary resources are availablefor the asking.

Potential buyers can see the products of the major manufacturers at industrytradeshows. Try the doors, investigating the benefits and features of each one.Be wary of manufacturers who have no product to show. Talk to present owners andask what company they use or recommend. Ask if the manufacturer is able tosupply and erect hallways and partitions for interiors. Visit competitivefacilities and talk to owners and operators. Learn how they run their facilitiesand what construction products they use. This could save you considerable timeand money down the line.

Buying or Building

Inbuying or building self-storage facilities, the difficult decisions are thoseregarding important construction features: maintenance, appearance, cost,service, life expectancy and options. These will strongly affect the fourth andfifth phases of ownership. Listen to contractors, but be careful about usinginformation acquired at tradeshows or from personal discussion with doorrepresentatives. Contractors are most often concerned with price over long-termvalue.

During the '60s and '70s, many projects were built with sectional doors.These are upward-acting, sliding back into the building and taking up valuablestorage space. They were chosen instead of roll-up doors because they werebelieved to be less expensive. Now, many owners would love to replace them, butcontinue to struggle with sectionals for fear of expensive replacement costs.But if they replaced the doors a few at a time, the change could be possiblewithout a great deal of immediate expense. At some point, those doors should bereplaced regardless. Sectional doors get old and their springs wear out. Theyare susceptible to breaking and slamming.

Whenbuying or building self-storage, always keep value as a priority. Doors are nowoffered by most companies with a 20-year, no-fade warranty. Anyone with12-year-old doors can report just how important this is to them. Repainting cancost from $25 to $35 for each door (which will likely require painting yet againin the not-too-distant future).

Many door manufacturers offer an easy tension-adjusting feature. One personcan easily and safely adjust the spring tension on a door. This feature wasfirst offered three years ago, and has been extremely well accepted by ownersand customers. Doors that operate smoothly keep customers and encourage them totell their friends about the facility. Doors that are difficult to operatediscourage customers and, worse, may cause an injury to a tenant's or manager'sback. Doors without enough tension can also fall unexpectedly, presentinganother hazard.

New Operator Startup

Alldoors should be checked for proper adjustment. Each one should be pulled halfwayup, then let go. If the door falls, it needs more tension. If it rises rapidly,it needs tension taken off the springs. Usually, most door problems will becomeevident within the first two months following installation, and mostmanufacturers are eager to take care of installation problems. The overwhelmingmajority of difficulties involve either spring adjustments or clearances insetting the width of the guides. All manufacturers give clearance requirementsin their installation instructions. Because the door company supplies andinstalls the hallways for interior climate-controlled units, these need to bechecked for stength and alignment before acceptance. All doors and partitionsshould be cleaned and free from defects upon completion.

Operating a Successful Facility

Normally, very little maintenance is required on doors, hallways andpartitions. After the first year, it should be very easy to follow this simpleprocedure:

Thesethree simple steps should be repeated every time the unit is re-rented.Improvement in the door's operation will be immediately evident. Newer doorswith a tension-adjustment feature can be adjusted with a 3/8-inch rod. The onlyother maintenance job required is a yearly cleaning of all exterior doors with asteam cleaner (but be careful not to spray inside a unit). Also as part of ayearly spring cleaning, interior hallways should be dusted and the floorcleaned.

Always remember that once people decide to store with you, there are fourneeds they expect to have satisfied:

These four issues may explain why some projects have high occupancy andrental rates while nearby competitors must offer lower rates.

Components Supplied by Door Companies

It is important to be knowledgeable about all of the items supplied by doormanufacturers:

Paint Finishes

Mostof the quality manufacturers use a siliconized polyester paint system. Themetal-building industry has used this paint system for years, but it has onlybeen available for doors over the past three years. It is the paint manufacturerwho guarantees the paint, and the majority of the 20 or so colors offered areguaranteed against fading for 20 years. White and other lighter colors generallycarry the 20-year guarantee. Darker colors have a shorter no-fade life. Doormanufacturers should be happy to transfer this guarantee to their customers, asKynar and Floropon paints are soft by composition and do not withstand theabrasion roll-up doors endure.

Purchasing

Mostdoor suppliers offer installation and a complete line of products. Ten yearsago, a magazine article was published concerning the bad experiences that can beinvolved in purchasing self-storage doors, but it was written about amanufacturer who is no longer in business. Today, manufacturers are senstive tocustomer needs and attitudes. As a group, they do their best to supply goodproducts and service.

Ifyou follow the suggestions provided in this article, your experience withpurchasing and maintaining doors can be satisfying and your investment a soundone. When the time comes to operate or sell your facility, you can expect a veryrespectable profit.

Dan B. Curtis is the president of Altanta-based Storage Consulting &Marketing, which provides feasibility, unit-mix, layout and marketing ideas toprofessionals of the self-storage industry. For more information, call77.432.2417; e-mail [email protected].