Although there are many aspects to preparing for a move, we are going to avoid the peripheral topics here (things such as registering your kids for the new school, filling out change of address forms for the post office, stopping newspaper subscriptions, etc.). This blog will concentrate instead on how to prepare your goods and parking areas for moving day in order to be more efficient, therefore saving you time and money.
The first thing to do is to book the move as early as possible. This not only gives you a much better possibility of hiring the moving company that you want, but it also gives you and the company more time to coordinate. For instance, tricky things such as large chandeliers, pool tables, gun safes, baby grand or concert grand pianos, or hot tubs can be better prepared for when details are provided.
If it’s possible, reserve a parking area for the moving van as near as possible to the door(s) that the moving crew will be using. If you have a freight elevator, the parking area should be as close as possible to it. And if you have a choice between an approach that has a lot of steps and one that has few or no steps, choose the latter. Doing these things will make the move go much faster, and that means big savings for you.
Please don’t have things on your beds (often this takes the form of clothing) when the movers come. Professional movers like to put the largest items on the truck first, and beds are among these things. Moving companies have wardrobe boxes, tall boxes with metal bars on which to hang clothing, that are made expressly for the purpose of transporting clothing without having to fold or wrinkle items. And please don’t put clothing or anything in plastic bags. Everything on board a moving truck should be in a good quality, rigid box. Even plants must be put in boxes (tall plants will often fit into a lamp box). The reason for this is that everything loaded onto the truck must contribute to the common structural integrity of the load. Soft sided luggage and plastic bags provide little or no support, and the bumps and vibrations of even a short journey will cause them to slip and move, causing surrounding items to tumble, and that’s how things get damaged. So please keep clothing in your closets and the moving company will place them carefully into wardrobe boxes, or, if you like, you can box the items yourself, but please don’t have your clothes or anything else on your beds when the moving crew arrives.
Take high value items with you, unless they’re too large. For instance, money, jewelry, rare or valuable coins, gold, platinum, gems, etc., should accompany you in your personal vehicle.
Keep an inventory of expensive items, and take good quality pictures of them just before they’re moved to establish the quality of the finish and the condition of the items. This way, disputes may be avoided if items are scratched or otherwise damaged by the movers.
Hazardous materials cannot be transported by a moving company. This includes not only things such as gunpowder or black powder, but also items such as gasoline, kerosene, paint, or even liquid detergents. So things such as lawn mowers and weed whackers, etc., must be purged of gasoline before being transported. Usually people who are moving will run these items until they run out of gas in order to comply with this federal law. If you do this, be certain to do it outdoors and not in your garage or in an enclosed area, as it could be dangerous to do so, both from the standpoint of fire danger as well from the standpoint of the buildup of dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide.
If you follow these procedures, your move should be a smooth and efficient transition to your new home.
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