Contractor Storage Yards Near Me: What to Check Before You Sign

Most guys find a yard the same way. The truck is full, the driveway is full, the HOA sent a letter, and a job starts Monday. So you search for the closest place and call whoever picks up.

That gets you a space. It does not always get you a space that works. Here is what to check, in about the order it will cost you money if you skip it.

Gate hours

Ask what time you can get in. Not "are you open 24 hours," because plenty of places say yes and mean the office phone. Ask whether you can pull a loaded trailer through the gate at 5:45 on a Tuesday without calling anybody first. Then ask if the gate code works on Sunday.

A yard you can only reach from 9 to 5 is a yard you visit on your own time instead of billing time.

Turning radius

Walk the drive aisle before you sign anything. If you run a 24 foot dump trailer or a skid steer on a tilt deck, back it in once while somebody watches. A space that measures fine on paper turns into a twelve point maneuver in real life because of where one fence post sits.

Our aisles in Arvada and Wheat Ridge look wasteful until you are the one backing in at the end of a long day. That was on purpose.

What the ground is made of

Gravel drains. Dirt becomes a problem in March. Asphalt is nice and you pay for it. You should know which one you are renting, because it decides whether your trailer jacks sink after a wet week and whether you track mud onto every site you leave from.

Whether the yard also sells containers

This is where people get surprised. Some facilities rent you a container. Some rent you ground. Those are different products, and if you only get one of them you end up driving between two places every morning.

What you probably want is both in the same spot behind the same gate. A 20 or 40 foot container for tools and material, and enough ground next to it to park the truck and a trailer. All three of our Colorado yards do that. A 20 foot container is $200 a month, a 40 foot is $330, and yard space starts at $530 for 800 square feet.

The lease

Month to month, or a year, or three? Industrial landlords want three to five years plus a personal guarantee. Storage yards usually do not. If you cannot say how big your crew will be in eighteen months, do not sign something that assumes you can. We put the two side by side in contractor storage yard versus industrial lease and the gap is wider than most people expect.

Who else is in there

Look at the other tenants while you walk it. A yard full of plumbing vans and framing trailers means the owner understands your schedule. A yard full of boats means you will be having a conversation about noise the first time you load at six in the morning.

A real address

Smaller thing that matters more than it should. If you are putting your house address on bids and business cards, a street address at the yard looks better to a general contractor and keeps your home off the internet. A mailbox at the Arvada yard is $45 a month and you can grab packages when you grab your tools.

What it should cost in the Denver metro

Right now, roughly: a 20 foot container runs $180 to $250 a month. A 40 foot runs $300 to $400. Yard space big enough for a truck and two trailers, call it 800 square feet, lands around $500 to $600. Bigger spaces at 1,200 and 1,600 square feet go up from there.

If somebody quotes you well under those numbers, go back and ask about the gate hours.

Where we are

Arvada at 5430 W 56th Ave, and two yards in Wheat Ridge, one on Van Gordon and one on Tabor. What is open this week is on the availability page. Call 720-266-0400 or fill out the application and we will tell you straight whether we have your size.