Moving services can be a real lifesaver. Even for a short move across town, it’s often not worth the frustration and the broken relationships to try to do it yourself with the help of friends and family. As you look into movers and hiring a moving company, also think about how to prepare for the arrival of your moving services.
- Toss all the chemicals. You might be tempted to pack up every half-used bottle of household cleanser, as well as that can of paint used for painting the back hallway last year. Most moving services will not take hazardous chemicals of any sort, so it’s time to leave that stuff behind.
- Separate out all your personal valuables. Maybe you trust your moving services completely: that’s good, and you shouldn’t hire a mover unless you do. But this isn’t just a matter of keeping your documents and valuables from being stolen. Many of these things, such as the family jewelry, are small and easy to lose. Your movers don’t want to be responsible for remembering that tiny box of extremely valuable stuff and making sure it gets to the right place. If it gets lost somewhere in the shuffle, you don’t want to deal with the stress of trying to find it, and they don’t want to deal with the stress of you thinking they might have stolen it. Save everyone some stress and separate out your jewelry, passports, cash, smaller electronic devices, and important documents and carry them on your person in your own vehicle.
- Ask in advance about certain items. Some moving services will take plants, while others will not. One moving service may take certain types of plants but not others. Make sure you ask about this in advance and show the plants to your movers as soon as they arrive. The same is true of major appliances. Be sure you let a moving company know what appliances you want to take and what they are before you make the final arrangements. That way you can find out whether it’s included in the cost you been quoted.
- Mark all your boxes carefully and clearly. This is not just something you’re doing for your moving service: it’s something you should be doing for yourself. Take it from people who have done it before: as you’re packing the boxes, you always think that you’ll remember what you put in there. By the time you go through the whole move and arrive in your new house, you won’t.
- Get your pets out of the way The people who come to move you may love animals. In fact, they may have animals of their own! But as much as we love our pets, the last thing that you need is to have something in your house broken, one of your pets injured, or one of your movers hurt because someone was scrambling to get out of the way of Fluffy or Fido.
- Unplug everything and take pictures. If you’ve got a complicated entertainment set up, please unplug it all before the moving service arrives. As you unplug everything, take pictures so that your moving company can see exactly how it all gets fit together again. That way it’ll all get set up quickly in your new home.
- Empty and secure your drawers. Your dressers and desks are heavy enough; don’t make them heavier by leaving them full of junk. Remove everything from your drawers and tape them down so they don’t go sliding about as they’re being moved.
- Prepare in advance for good service. Have some extra water, sodas, or energy drinks around to offer to the moving services and to any friends and family who might be helping you on the big day. It’s also customary to tip the individual movers if they do a good job, so be prepared in advance with some extra to give them.
Moving services are there to make one of the most stressful days of your life just a little bit easier. Do everything you can to make their job easy and everyone will go home happier at the end of the day.
