Heirloom furniture is not just something that is potentially worth a lot of money. It's also something that holds emotional value in many families.

If you're responsible for storing some old furniture pieces that have been passed down through generations in your family, you may be concerned that conditions in a typical storage unit might cause damage to your fragile items. However, your heirloom furniture pieces should be fine if you avoid these four storage hazards:

Moisture

Moisture could potentially harm heirloom furniture pieces constructed from wood. Moisture is especially damaging if it is allowed to soak in to furniture pieces in a dark environment, because this situation will likely result in mold growth. 

Pay attention to detail. You might assume that your furniture pieces will easily avoid moisture in your storage unit, but a chance occurrence like rain on the day you're transporting your items can be disastrous. 

Dry off furniture pieces carefully before you leave them in your storage unit. You might even want to cover furniture pieces in protective plastic covers if possible to protect them in the rare event that a leak exposes them to moisture during storage. 

Don't assume that metal heirloom furniture pieces are immune to the damaging effects of moisture. While moisture may not cause mold or mildew growth in metal parts and furniture pieces, it can be destructive by causing corrosion. 

Temperature fluctuations

Materials expand and contract when the temperature fluctuates, but the extent of this expansion and contraction varies by material. For example, wood and metal will expand and contract at different rates.

Temperature fluctuations could cause parts in your heirloom furniture that are constructed from different materials to loosen or warp. A storage unit with climate control is important if you're storing sensitive items like delicate heirloom furniture pieces.  

Humidity

Humidity in the air can expose your furniture pieces to moisture. Humidity is especially damaging to wooden furniture, because wood is porous and will allow humid air to penetrate into the furniture piece and cause water damage.

Yet moisture in the air isn't the only culprit when it comes to wooden furniture and humidity levels. Excessively dry air can also cause damage by causing wood to shrink. Wooden furniture pieces can become warped in dry air and may develop cracks or distorted inlay or veneer insets. 

Sunlight

Prolonged exposure to sunlight can distort the coloring of your furniture pieces. In particular, wood finishes are susceptible to being distorted by sunlight.

You need to store your heirloom furniture pieces in a place that's shaded from sunlight. Don't assume that your furniture will be fine if exposure to sunlight will only be short term. Old wood stains and finishes can fade very quickly under bright light. 

For more tips on storing heirloom furniture, contact a storage company like All American Mini Storage.