Packing & Moving Household Goods/Other Considerations

Sorting and disposing of goods

Most people are packrats to some degree. Nearly everyone's home has old junk in it that should no longer be there. Of course, what is categorized, as old junk is entirely subjective to your personal opinion. Only you know what you still want or need. So you should try to decide before move day just what all you want to be transported to the new residence and what all you want to dispose of.

Arrangements should be made well in advance for disposal of unwanted things. Agencies such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army can help with this but be aware that when they arrive to collect things from you they may turn down some things that you are counting on them to remove. So be sure to have alternative arrangements for disposal in place such as community garbage pickup service or dumps.

Packing and blanket wrapping

Once disposables have been identified, all goods that are being kept and that can be boxed should be properly and carefully boxed up and labeled. Goods that cannot be boxed such as furniture should be blanket wrapped if possible to protect them. Normally, moving blankets can be obtained from truck rental facilities in advance for pre-move wrapping of non-vital furniture. Blanket wrapping is very important for furniture protection and is not easy to do. The rest of your things will have to be moved unprotected, so just be very careful with them and try to carry some of the smaller things in your car. Small appliances such as toasters, mix masters, radios, toaster ovens, blenders, George Foreman type grills, etc. should all be carefully packed into boxes and moved as fragiles because they can be quite costly to replace. Remember, you're out to save money and each thing that you can fully preserve from damages during the move saves you repair or replacement money.

Truck rental

Rent a big enough truck to move your whole load in one trip unless you are moving very nearby in which case a smaller truck with multiple trips will be fine. Carefully inspect the truck for existing body damages and note them on your rental contract. Make sure the truck body is clean inside and if you have a lift gate – thoroughly test it. Study and learn good truck driving techniques and how to safely get in and out of the truck cab and the side or back of the truck. Be aware of bad weather truck driving considerations too. Always keep a big distance interval between your truck and other traffic. Make wide swings around corners so as not to have cut off accidents and watch your height restrictions on overpasses and viaducts.

Moving high value items

High value items include currency, coin, stamp collections, high value artwork, expensive small statuary, etc.

Do all of this kind of moving very carefully by yourself. If anything gets broken or disappears for some reason you only want yourself to blame. Don't trust anybody else with these kinds of light, valuable items because if anything goes wrong with them, it will become a nightmare for you. Breakage or loss of these kinds of valuables can lead to accusations, outbursts of anger, loss of friendship or close relationship, police involvement, law suits, etc., etc., etc.

Providing your moving and packing helpers with facilities

When relatives and / or friends are helping you to pack up and move your home it’s wise to make conditions for them as comfortable as possible. During working periods, just having tasty snacks and non-alcoholic drinks on hand can do that. Ordering pizzas, chicken, easy snack food food or other kinds of meals will also be appreciated. Remember, these folks are giving you their help and saving you the cost of employing costly packers and movers, so these relatively inexpensive, thoughtful gestures will help to make their work for you much more pleasant.

You can also let them pick their own radio stations or TV stations while they're packing your things up. Again this makes the work environment more pleasant for them. And be sure there is plenty of bathroom tissue, Kleenex and air freshening spray where it can be easily found in the bathroom so your people don't have to ask embarrassingly for it.

Never bring forth alcoholic beverages for your helpers until the day's work is completed. Alcohol makes people get prematurely tired and lazy so save it until everything to be done that day is actually finished. Then maybe go ahead and relax and unwind with a couple of drinks with them but make sure there's a designated driver who stays sober. Any DUI's issued that evening would be a terrible downer for the recipient, for you and for any of your folks who helped out.

Disassemble beds and desks, saving all hardware

Large furniture like beds and desks are typically shipped disassembled. This allows them to be moved into rooms either more easily, or in some cases, at all. When you move, you will want to disassemble your beds or desks prior to shipping. Not only will this help you move these items in and out of rooms, it drastically reduces the size they use in shipping by making them much easier to pack efficiently.

That said, the mover must ensure they keep, and track, every screw, panel, and rod removed during disassembly - You won't be able to do a good job doing the reassembly without them.

If assembly instructions are not available for your particular item, consider video recording yourself disassembling the object for later reference. This is by no means perfect, but it may help you work backwards when reassembling.

Remove mirrors from dressers or walls

Mirrors have a well earned reputation for being exceptionally fragile, breaking from even weak bumps and knocks. Removing mirrors from furniture prior to moving is thus a good idea - this way even if the mirror breaks, it at least will be contained and not compromise other items from moving.

Remove air conditioners from windows

Removing a window air conditioner unit can be difficult. These units are often heavy, hard to balance, and may leak drainage water onto you if you aren't careful during removal. Follow manufacturer instructions for removal, and ideally have another person on standby in case help is needed.