How to Prepare Your Home for Removalists

The single most common question that our moving consultants get asked by our clients is: how do I prepare for removalists? While our experienced removalists can provide an extensive range of moving services, there are still some important things you can do to help your moving day go as smoothly as possible. In this guide we’ve put together the top ten tips for preparing for an upcoming move. One of the most important tips for taking charge of your move is to start early, this will give you the maximum time to get everything ready without having to rush or stress. The earlier you get organised, the greater the chance you have of enjoying a seamless move. If you have any further questions about how you can prepare for removalists, simply get in touch with our friendly customer service team.

First thing to do is get yourself prepared for your move. When getting your belongings organised you will often find items that you no longer need, take up space, or simply do not want to take with you. Before your removalist creates an inventory of all the items being moved to your new destination, it is important to go through all of these items and sort so that only the items that you leave in the house will be what gets moved. For all other items, there are a few different options you may take. Any item you are wanting to keep but do not want moved to your new house initially, make sure that you pack them separately and clearly mark that they are to be put in storage, so that you do not get them mixed up. For all other items, don’t just throw them away - holding a garage sale, selling online, or donating are all fantastic ways of passing these items onto other people who can use them, instead of just throwing them in the rubbish.

Once you have a full inventory of all the items that will be moved, the next step is to get yourself some quality packing materials to put them in. The inventory will help you determine exactly how much packing material you will need, the size and style of the boxes. If you already have some boxes or have been given some by friends, ensure that they are high quality, sturdy and reliable. Using old or degraded packing materials can compromise the safety of your move and potentially put valuable items of yours at risk of being damaged or broken during transit. Speak with our team about the packing materials we can offer. For our packing and moving services we always use the highest quality boxes and moving supplies to ensure that your items are given the maximum protection during transit.

Before you start throwing everything into boxes, it’s important to create a plan to ensure you carry out the process in the most strategic way possible. This step will save you a lot of time and prevent you having to unpack boxes as you look for something you need everyday but buried under a pile of old clothes. When you draft your plan, outline the packing you will complete in the weeks leading up to your moving day. Start with the items you use least often and work your way towards your everyday essentials. Not only will this plan prevent you from needless unpacking, but it will also give you a simple to-do list that you can make your way through each day. The less you have to keep in your head, the less stressful your packing and moving experience will be. Also ensure that you group together similar sorts of items, this will make things easier when unpacking in your new home. Finally, make sure that heavy items are always being placed on the bottom of boxes as top-heavy boxes are more prone to toppling.

Now that you have an inventory of all your items, high quality packing materials and a plan for your packing process, it’s time to start packing. It is highly recommended that you start the packing as early as possible, even if that means you just do a little bit each day. As you pack, key things to consider are the amount of weight in each box and the amount of space for objects to move. Overloading your boxes can pose a risk of injury for movers and a higher chance of the box breaking, potentially breaking your valuable items inside. The second thing to keep in mind is how much free space there is in each box. The more space there is, the more chance of your items shifting during transit, knocking against each other and potentially causing damage to items inside. To reduce this risk, use plenty of bubble wrap, packing paper, newspaper or household items such as towels to fill these gaps and provide padding for fragile items.

As you pack, ensure that each and every box, bag or container that you use is clearly labelled. Labelling your items provides a number of useful advantages. It allows you to easily navigate your belongings if you have to search for something that you have already packed. Labels help guide the removalists for where to put items when unloading from the moving truck. Using labels can also identify when a box needs to be handled with extra care if the items inside are fragile. Labelling all of your items to be moved can also help keep track of everything on your inventory to ensure that everything is accounted for and nothing has gone missing during the move. You should consider including the following information on the labels that you use: contents of the box, location to be unloaded, whether or not it is fragile.

In order to prepare your home for the removalists to make moving day as simple and efficient as possible, ensure you have dismantled any large pieces of furniture or equipment. This includes bed frames, furniture legs, dining tables, outdoor play equipment and anything else that can be easily taken apart. While your removalists are able to do this for you, by doing it yourself you can save time and ultimately money for your move. Anything that you are able to do on your own before the professionals arrive is going to speed up the process and if you are paying by the hour, may reduce the total cost of the removal.

An important step in preparing your items for the removalists is to secure all of your furniture doors, cupboards and draws closed. This ensures that there are no accidents in the move as a result of doors or draws flying open, knocking things over or causing injury. It is important to remember to also first take out any items that are inside to prevent any items getting damaged or moving around in transit. By simply getting yourself a roll of masking tape and securing shut all of these movable parts, you can protect against the potential for unwanted accidents on moving day. It is important to first ask your removalists, as items such as a heavy chest of drawers, we would want to take the drawers out for transport, making it easier to move and also reducing the risk of damage.

In the day or so leading up to the arrival of the removalists, it’s a good idea to empty out your fridge and freezer. Try to use all of the food in your fridge in the week leading up to the move, then empty the remaining contents into eskies, or discard before you switch off the fridge and freezer. It can take a few hours for a freezer to completely defrost, so it is recommended that you do this process overnight before your move. Unplug your fridge and freezer, lay down towels for any leaking water and give the inside a clean before the removalists arrive.

Before the removalists arrive it is important to pack a bag of all the essential items that you need to keep on hand. This bag should include anything that you will need for your first night in your new home. Important medicine, toiletries, appliances, chargers, linen, towels and a change of clothes are all common things to include in your essentials bag. Instead of putting this bag in the moving truck with all of your other items, ensure you keep this with you so that you have everything that you need with you at all times.

When it comes to moving day and the arrival of the removalists, it’s highly recommended that you don’t have your children and any pets in the house for the removal process. With all of the moving objects, hustle and bustle, it can be dangerous for kids to be around and pets can get in the way of the movers, slowing down the move and costing you money in the process. If you have family or friends that can look after children and pets on moving day, this is strongly advised. If not, try to ensure that they are somewhere that won’t be in the way of the removalists.

If you’re starting to think about moving, or have a moving date fast approaching, get in touch today. You can speak with our experienced moving consultants to find out about the range of services we offer to make your day as simple and efficient as possible. We offer free quotes for all of our services. Simply fill out the ‘get started’ form on our website or the general enquiry form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.