Storage Containers in Hartford

Hartford is an insurance town, and the habit of asking what happens if something goes wrong carries over. Ask that about a storage container and you get a useful list: what if the truck cannot set it, what if it leaks, what if the town says no.

Rules first, in a town-by-town state

Connecticut leaves most land-use decisions to individual towns, and the Hartford area has many of them in a small space. Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, New Britain, Bristol, Meriden and Middletown each have their own zoning and their own view on containers. In some, a container on a residential driveway for a short renovation is routine. In others, it needs a permit or a time limit, and sometimes a setback from the lot line. Ask your town hall, and ask your landlord or HOA too. On commercial sites the contractor normally files for it.

Who uses them here

Insurers and the large downtown offices use containers during renovations and office moves, particularly for records. A floor of file rooms does not empty into a closet. It goes into steel on a truck, and then back again, so the box has to be dry and lockable for however many months the project takes. The state government, which has many buildings in Hartford, does the same. Hospitals and clinics rent them for records and equipment during expansions, and UConn Health in Farmington and the university campuses around the region follow the same pattern.

Manufacturing is part of the story too. Aerospace companies in East Hartford and the suppliers throughout central Connecticut, plus the tool and hardware makers around New Britain, rent boxes for tooling and overflow stock. Contractors rebuilding in Middletown and Meriden, where older mill buildings are turning into housing, use containers as site storage. Homeowners in West Hartford and Glastonbury rent them for renovations.

Freeze, thaw and your floor

Inland Connecticut gets cold winters and humid summers. The result is a lot of freeze-thaw and condensation. Water gets into door gaskets, freezes and breaks the seal. The inside of the roof drips on a cold morning after a warm day. Vents are the quick fix. For records, wood or electronics, an insulated box is worth the extra.

For a records move, ask for the box to arrive swept out with a working lock, and plan to be on site when it lands. Keep the files on shelving or pallets, because a floor that sweats in April will ruin the bottom row of banker boxes.

Frost heave can tilt a box that sits on bare ground, and a tilted box has doors that jam. Check the doors after the first hard freeze. Put it on gravel or timbers, and make sure the pad drains. Snow is a problem for the doors and the roof. Leave room to plow, and keep the doors out of the drift line.

Sizes people actually pick

For a house project, a 10 or 20 foot box is almost always enough. A 20 holds the contents of a few rooms plus the appliances you pulled out of the kitchen. Offices storing records in banker boxes should figure on a 20 for a mid-size floor, with shelving so the boxes are not stacked three high against the doors. A 40 foot box or a high cube suits retail overflow, event gear and manufacturers with pallets, but it needs a long, straight driveway, roughly eighty feet of it, and a clear approach.

If you hesitate between two, ask the provider what their other customers in your situation choose. They have seen it before. Most will also say that a container with a second door on the long side is a good idea for offices, because you can reach boxes without pulling everything out.

Delivery in older cities

Hartford, New Britain and Meriden were built before trucks got long. Streets are narrow, driveways are short, and overhead wires cross everything. A 10 or 20 foot box on a roll-off truck may fit where a tilt-bed truck cannot. Send photos with your request, mention any wires or low branches, and be ready to move a car.

I-84 and I-91 meet downtown, and traffic can add an hour to a delivery during rush hour. Ask for a midday window. The I-84 viaduct is the usual choke point.

Coverage and where the boxes come from

Hartford is inland, and used containers are trucked in from the New York and New Jersey terminals or from New Haven. Because of the distance, prices run above the coast. A provider with a yard near Hartford can usually reach Bristol, New Britain and Meriden without much trouble. Middletown is a short drive down Route 9, and sometimes counts as a separate zone. I-91 runs the length of the river valley, so a yard on that corridor serves both ends of the region. Ask for the delivery area in writing. Also ask about the pickup date. Winter storms can push it back, and some providers keep charging rent until the truck arrives.

• Delivery and pickup, listed separately
• Grade and age of the box
• Door lock and lock box options
• Rental minimum

A used box keeps most of its value. Rent paid over several winters does not come back, so if the box will sit on your property for more than a year, buy it.

Looking for a different city? Here are some nearby.

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