Tips for Moving
 

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I actually packed everything and had the movers just move the boxes and furniture. The things that I took over where the things that I'd be upset if they broke or went missing. So jewelry, photo albums, things that had a certain significance to me, etc.

Most companies won't insure your stuff if they don't pack it themselves. My best friend and her husband found that out when they packed everything, then the moving company had to come and unpack and re-pack everything.

I'm sure they do mean the things that you wouldn't trust to someone else... Like yes, jewlery or expensive breakables.

You definitely made the right decision by hiring someone though.... I have moved WAY more times that I would like to think about, and it is much much less stressful to pay someone else to do it.

The company that moved my parents down here wouldn't insure what they didn't pack. I wouldn't go as far as packing up scrap books, but anything that would have value on the market (jewlery, etc...stuff that might get broken or stolen).

Try to pack as many of the boxes yourself as you can - that way you know where everything is when you get to your destination. Also, as was suggested, keep as many important/personal items with you as possible.

See if you can talk to people who have used the same company before; get some feedback on what they did well, and where problems arose.

I did the same as mu_agd. Also I made a master list of what was being moved, numbered the boxes and listed what was in them instead of on the box itself. It was easier to keep track of for me.

Check the condition of your furniture before and after move in case there's damage. Take photos of the more expensive pieces in case something does come up missing.

Don't forget to tip your movers.

I did this as well. It definitely made it a lot easier when it came to unpacking in my place.

I've always found it helpfull to make a scale model of the rooms in the house and the furniture on graph paper. The you can move the pieces of paper around instead of the furniture to see what fits where. When you find an arrangement that fits and you like, you tape down the furniture models onto the graph paper models of the rooms. Then when moving day comes you can provide a copy of the arrangement of each room as you want it to the movers. Saves a lot of hassle and re-arrangement.

Good luck !!

Take an inventory and pictures of things (the last moving company I used did this as well, and noted any damage before they packed it). I made a list of what was in each box, and each box had a number and a colored dot sticker. Not only did I know what was in each box, but the dot noted what room it needed to go into, and that saved a lot of time and energy as well.

Get insurance if your homeowners doesn't cover it. They company will usually offer it, and it is well worth it as some of my things were damaged (not by the movers, but in transit when it was on the barge or the truck, agents hired by the movers on the other end did it) and I received payment for them.

Empty your trash before the movers get there. When my dad hired a company, they came and packed the wastebasket into a box, with the trash still in it. Ick.

WTF??? That's nasty!!:eek: :eek:

Moving can be a pain but it means that you are moving on with your life. Congratulations! A new chapter in the books is always exciting.

When my husband and I bought a house we really did not have that much to move. We went from our tiny little college apartment to a 3 bedroom. Needless to say, we did not have much to move. His truck, my SUV and all of his sweet little KA brothers were more than helpful. :)

when we moved .. we hired movers to drive the stuff and the cars on a truck from NY to NV ... and as far as jewelry and stuff like that, we wore alot of our really expensive jewelry on the airplane, but mainly packed it all in a safe we have that you need a key and a combo for ..... so if you have a safe that'd be probably a very safe place for most of your stuff .. ?? ... and i dont know how far or long the drive is going to be, so ... but our stuff was all in once peice, and all there, when it got to nevada :D

We have been relocated a lot due to Mr. Alum's career. Thank goodness we never do it ourselves. I usually walk through the house with a video camera and circle the room so the condition of all furniture will be caught on tape.

Throw anything away that You have been thinking about! I moved "Stuff" 7 times in 7 Years!:rolleyes:

Mark Boxes what is in them or lose them.

If a moving company wont insure boxes You pack screw them. Pack very important items for safe keeping.

I have heard Horror Stories about some of them. Be there to help keep an eye out but dont be a pain in the rear. It really makes them pissed even more.

Be kind and act worried about Your Possetions, the older Movers know what You are going through.

Some of the helpers will go ovey, fragigle, how far will it go when I throw it.

Even though You have Insurance, then try to collect on it!:mad:

GOOD LUCK!

Don't skimp on bubblewrap or packing tape. Bubblewrap is cheap in comparison to the replacement value of a poorly packaged item.

If you're looking for a moving company, I just used Two Men and a Truck. They were great.

When I was moving once, I used a company called "One Man and a Dog" (chicago craigslist). I thought this would be a joke. This old guy shows up. He's got an old astrovan, a bad back, and a dog that's sweet but looks like G-d got angry at canines and this is how he'd get revenge. I felt so bad I helped him with the heavy lifting. Awesome time.

-Rudey

15 to 20%

Never ever use A. Arnold!!! They were awful

Don't let moving men out of your sight with open boxes or purses.. things tend to disappear, especially when moving an entire household like my parents did recently.

As for a tip, I don't know how much you are moving, but when my parents moved, they had me run to the bank for them and get out $400 for the men to split (I think there was 4-5 of them) BUT that money disappeared from my mother's purse before we had the chance to tip them. Some people..

We had a bad experience when I was in high school. The movers stole my grandfather's pocket watch and a number of other irreplaceable items. Based on that, my advice is to definitely pack your valuables yourself, and be sure to take them with you in your own vehicle. Also, I would advise not leaving the movers alone in the house at any time.

The only time I used a place from Craigslist, they showed up at 2 in the morning; my neighbors were not too happy about that. The guys looked around our place, said "You have a lot of stuff," and decided to come back in a few hours.

Our cross country move
 

You can't really say that one company is better than another, in diff parts of the country. When some friends moved to Miami using Bekins (paid for by the Univ. of Miami), their stuff was smashed, and the movers damaged the outside tiles of the building. These movers probably hired 1-2 guys "off the street" and who caused the damage.

When we moved from Miami to Seattle, it was paid for by Microsoft. The movers were United Vanlines (I think). But the packers were some local company...I'm guessing subcontracted by United.

First off, a rep from the local company came to survey our stuff. Next day or so, 2 guys came to pack everything. It took several hours. I think I tipped them $100 each. I also bought lunch (subs)& dinner (pizza). Though I was upset when they emptied the bureau drawers without telling me... as far as I can tell to this day, everything I had is still in my possession.

There's really no way to keep track of everything these guys pack in each box. They just label the box with the room name, and maybe what's in the box. (ie "OFFICE. Computer parts, office items")

Then, they numbered each box with stickers, and kept all this on a master sheet, listing the numbered with the contents. This is the hard part. We had over 500 boxes, and when it all arrived in Seattle, one or two were missing. Were the stickers just never there? Or did we lose the boxes forever? I don't know...but I don't seem to be missing anything of importance.

The next day or so, another team (from United VanLines) came over to load the boxes + furniture onto the moving truck.
There were about 3-4 guys loading the furniture, and a husband&wife who were the team leaders (and the truck drivers). I gave them an envelope with $50 for each of them. I had also bought plenty of pizza for all of us.

Like I said, I had no idea how much the total move was going to cost, and since I'd never moved like this before, I was clueless. (My husband had already moved to Seattle - I was on my own to pack up & sell the house. With all the help, of course ;)

Anyway, Besides the "missing" boxes, there was also some damaged furniture. I never file a claim, because a few weeks after we moved into our house, I had a baby. Believe me, I didn't care about a few hundred bucks of damage at that point!

Oh, one more thing: if you have any furniture (oh, what's that stuff called? The kind you get @ Office Depot & put together yourself? Not exactly strudy stuff?)... if you have any of this kind of stuff, the movers (I think it was the packer guys) have to disassemble it, because it can't fit on the truck. What no one tells you is you cannot reassemble this stuff (correct me if I"m wrong?). PLus, during disassemling, some of the pieces will break. So you might as well try to get rid of it before you move & just buy new stuff when you arrive.

BTW, I still have about 50 boxes in our storage room that I haven't unpacked. Mostly it's our china & crystal, which I can't really set out because of our now toddler-aged son! ;)

I'll be moving in May. I'm not looking forward to the move at all. If I had it my way, we'd hire people to pack and load and unpack and unload EVERYTHING. But, Mr. uksparkle will never go for it. :(

I am in the midst of tax season, so my advice is save your reciepts. You can file a 3903 and write off your taxes next year.

:-)

Yeah my suggestion would only help if you could see the bill. When my sister moved she tipped about $100, but she packed everything herself. They only carried her furniture and a few boxes. She had moved everything else herself in a car. She moved only a few miles.

Please don't use United. They moved me from ATL to Tampa and it was an absolute nightmare. My company finally had to get involved and they were taken off of our 'relocation list'. They broke items, were extremely difficult to deal with, charged more at the last minute but didn't tell me until 3:30 on Friday afternoon, and lost the claims when I submitted the damaged furniture.

Feel free to pm me if you want more details.

Good luck.

I just recently moved houses, and my experience is therefore fresh in my mind.

Make sure your valuables are safe. Keep your wallet or purse with you (or locked up in your car) while the movers are there. Same goes for your cash, jewelry, and important documents. If there's anything you'd be distraught over if it disappeared - move it yourself.

Keep your own inventory of your belongings, so that you can be sure the movers don't help themselves to something.

Be sure that your driveways and walkways on both ends are clear of snow.

Movers won't take live plants. If you have any, you will have to move them yourself or find people to "adopt" them.

Pack a box labeled "Open First / Load Last" (or, store such a box in your car). This box should contain all the things you're going to need right away: box cutters, flashlight with batteries, toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, maybe a hammer and nails and a screwdriver and screws, maybe a notepad and pen.

Good luck with the move.