The van’s booked, the sale completes in three weeks, and the purchase on the other side hasn’t caught up yet. Everything in the house, three or four bedrooms of it, has to be somewhere on moving day, and “somewhere” can’t mean the in-laws’ garage or a hallway stacked to head height. That’s the exact moment this page is written for, before the guessing starts.
In a hurry? Start here:
- Chain has broken or completion has slipped: skip to how a chain-break move works, in practice.
- Renovating and need the house out for weeks: skip to the size ladder.
- Downsizing and storing what won’t fit in the new place: start with the size ladder, then what happens if your completion date moves.
Will one storage unit take a whole house?
Usually not one of the small ones, no. A full household’s worth of sofas, beds, wardrobes and boxes needs more room than most people picture when they think “storage unit.” Wigwam Self Storage Marlow runs units right up to the largest sizes on site, built so a whole house fits without a second unit turning up as an afterthought halfway through moving day.
What actually has to fit
Think in rooms, not boxes: three or four bedrooms’ worth of beds and wardrobes, a full lounge and dining suite, white goods, and however many boxes a family accumulates over a decade in one house. That’s the real yardstick.
Why guessing small costs you twice
Under-size the first time and you end up either booking a second unit mid-move, more admin, more trips, more calls on a day you didn’t have spare time in, or leaving things with family, in the garden, or stacked in a hallway.
The size ladder, and where most whole-house moves land
Wigwam’s own naming runs three tiers: small (10 to 50 square feet), medium (75 to 100 square feet, described on the size guide as suited to a house move or storing business stock), and large (150 square feet and up), with units at this site running as far as 300 square feet. Most whole-house moves don’t land on a single named tier: they sit on the medium-to-large band.
Small, medium, large: what each one suits
| Tier | Size range | Typically suits |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 10-50 sq ft | A flat, a single room, or a seasonal clear-out |
| Medium | 75-100 sq ft | Most 2-3 bed households, or business stock |
| Large | 150+ sq ft, up to 300 sq ft on site | A 3-4 bed household, or a whole-house move |
Matching a tier to a 3-4 bedroom household
A three or four bedroom house rarely fits comfortably below the large tier once beds, sofas and white goods are accounted for, though what’s kept versus sold or donated before the move shifts that up or down. Availability by size varies with stock, so confirm what’s free when you get in touch rather than assuming a unit is waiting.
How a chain-break move works, in practice
When a sale and a purchase don’t land on the same day, the contents of the old house move into storage on completion day and come back out once the new house is ready. No separate “emergency” product, just a unit sized to the medium-to-large band above, loaded during a window wide enough for a removal crew’s day.
The three-week gap
Here’s how that typically plays out. A family’s sale on their Marlow house completes three weeks before their onward purchase does, with nowhere for the contents to go yet. The full contents of a three or four bedroom home go into a unit sized for the job, the removal crew loads it during the access window, and the family carries on their day without anything visible to sort out in front of buyers or neighbours.
What under-sizing by one tier costs you
The family in that example who guessed one tier too small ends up back on the phone mid-move, booking a second unit or leaving items with relatives: the exact visible scramble a discreet move is meant to avoid.
Check current large-unit availability for Marlow →
Access that fits a removal crew’s day, not the other way round
Marlow is open from 6:00am to 10:00pm, seven days a week: a window wide enough to fit a removal crew’s schedule around, rather than squeezing a whole house into a tight appointment slot.
What the hours mean for moving day
The crew can start early and finish late without racing a closing time, which matters more on a whole-house day than a small drop-off.
Who can get in, and who can’t
Sites are unmanned, with smart entry rather than a member of staff on the gate. A courier or removal firm can only be let in if someone from the account holder’s own side is physically present: the account holder themselves, or someone they’ve arranged to be there. An unaccompanied removal crew can’t be let in on your behalf.
What happens if your completion date moves
Three separate facts, not one blended statement: a refundable deposit when you take a unit, a 14-day notice period to end the agreement, and any unused days refunded. Together, that means no penalty for taking a unit slightly early or leaving slightly late if a completion date shifts underneath you.
Deposit, notice and refunds: the three separate facts
The deposit comes back when the unit is vacated and cleared; notice is 14 days; days paid for but unused are refunded. None of these are the same thing as “no deposit.”
Why this matters when a chain moves
A completion date that slips by a week doesn’t mean losing money on the storage side, or scrambling to adjust a booking under pressure. Sort the storage once, correctly sized, and the terms flex with the move rather than against it.
What Wigwam Marlow does not do, so you don’t plan around it
Two things worth knowing before you plan around them. Marlow doesn’t offer vehicle, motorcycle or caravan storage. Units are clean, dry and secure, not climate-controlled, so anything needing temperature or humidity control isn’t a fit here. Container storage exists within the Wigwam network, but only at Shipston-on-Stour, Chipping Norton and Warminster, not at Marlow.
The point of doing this quietly
A well-handled house move isn’t something anyone else needs to notice. The household from the three-week gap disappears into storage on moving day and reappears, in order, once the new house is ready, with nothing for buyers, agents or neighbours to see in between.
Capability, not volume
None of that needs adjectives. A size range built for a whole house, an access window that fits a crew’s day, and terms that flex with a moving date do the reassuring on their own, without anyone needing to call it “huge” or “unbeatable.”
Wigwam Self Storage Marlow, on the Thames
The site sits at Unit S, Thames Industrial Estate, Fieldhouse Lane, Marlow, SL7 1TB, one location within Wigwam’s wider UK network of market-town sites.
Where the site is and how to reach it
Thames Industrial Estate sits within easy reach of Marlow and the surrounding Buckinghamshire commuter belt, a practical drop-off point for a move that starts or ends anywhere near the town.
If a full-house move is somewhere on your horizon, the simplest next step is finding out what’s available right now.
Get a price for large-unit availability at Marlow →
Frequently Asked Questions
Most three or four bedroom households land in the medium-to-large band, commonly 100 to 150-plus square feet, depending on how much is being kept versus sold or donated before the move. Stock by size turns over, so get in touch to check what’s free before you rely on a specific unit being there.
Yes. Access runs 6:00am to 10:00pm, seven days a week, so a slipped completion date doesn’t mean waiting for a specific appointment slot to get back into your things.
Yes, there’s a refundable deposit, a 14-day notice period to end the agreement, and unused days are refunded. All three work together, so there’s no penalty for adjusting timing around a moving date that moves.
No. Sites are unmanned with smart entry, and a courier or removal firm can only be let in if someone from the account holder’s own side is physically present: the account holder or someone they’ve nominated, not an unaccompanied removal crew.
