How to properly move into a new home

When you move, it is important to keep the things you need, to save money and time. And it is also desirable not to turn the relocation into stress for the whole family. There are many options nowadays to make moving very easy like hiring a mobile storage pod so it can be hard to decide.

Let’s find out how to move correctly – without losses, unnecessary expenses and typical mistakes. All about preparations, important steps and documents. Pinnacle Hardware can help you with any garage shelving needs you may have.

Get rid of unnecessary things

Moving to a new home – an occasion to get rid of unnecessary things: dismantle closets, mezzanine, loggias, closets. Leave anything for the new tenants is accepted only after agreeing with them.

Old appliances can be sold by advertisement. Do the same with the working lights, good furniture, clean carpets, sets of dishes.

Clothes in excellent condition are given to charitable organizations. The shabby ones are recycled.

If you don’t do all this, you will have to overpay for transportation of not very necessary things, which then will probably be thrown away.

As an example, I had to throw away all my soccer gear because I can no longer play soccer because of an injury – check my profile of Gennady Yagupov here.

Measure the dimensions of the furniture and equipment selected for the move

Knowing the dimensions is necessary to understand whether the large furniture and equipment in the doorways, in advance to plan the arrangement.

More important dimensions for the moving company. During the calculations, its experts will ask to name the number of cargo places, geometric parameters and approximate weight of each object. This will affect the choice of packaging, the number of movers, the capacity of transport.

Make a plan of arrangement

It is important to clarify the parameters of large items even when moving independently – without a moving company. So it will be easier to arrange the furniture the first time, without moving heavy cabinets from place to place.

The layout plan is created taking into account several points:

• The location of switches and outlets;
• easy access to the window;
• angle of incidence of daylight when choosing a place for the desk;
• absence of sharp angles in high traffic areas.

In order to easily sit down and get up from the table behind a chair should be free space of 75-90 cm. And the extension of the drawers of the kitchen set should not interfere with the window sills and the edges of the dining table.

Plan the arrangement conveniently in special programs: RemPlanner, SketchUp, Sweet Home 3D and others. They have paid and free versions. But you can also do it with an ordinary piece of paper.

Find a car for transportation and hire movers

Arrange to rent transportation and hire movers at least 10-14 days before the move. Otherwise, the desired date may not be available for booking.

The firm usually chooses by reviews – it is better if their sources are friends, relatives, good friends who have made the move in the last six months.

When choosing on the Internet pay attention to several points:

• A set of services. For example, whether there is special equipment for moving non-standard and oversized items, whether specialized packaging is used, and whether there is temporary storage, if necessary.
• Payment methods. Large firms, taking care of customer loyalty, offer several options.
• The ability to sign a contract – a marker of conscientiousness of the executor, who can answer for his actions.
• Conditions of hiring movers. Those in the state, are usually more punctual and neat.

Among the tips for choosing often falls to check the presence of the company logo on the transport of the cargo firm. This is correct, since it indicates the level of organization. But even without a logo the company can faithfully perform its duties.

Deal with receipts and invoices to the old address

At the same stage, you should also check the absence of arrears on the bills of the management company, Internet service provider, the organization that provides wire telephone services. If you pay them two weeks in advance, by the time you move in all payments will be gone and you won’t have any debts.

Many people advise you to leave your phone number with the new tenants and former neighbors, just in case there are any questions, letters, or notices.

You should also cancel your service contracts (e.g. with an Internet service provider) or have them reissued to the new address.

Pack and pack

Clothes, books, shoes, and children’s toys are transported in boxes – it is better to find them in advance. New ones can be bought from a mover. Used ones are given away free of charge by appliance stores and bookstores.

The volume of boxes is selected as follows:

• 30-40 liters – dishes, books, children’s toys;
• 50-70 liters – clothes, shoes;
• 80-150 liters – pillows, blankets, plaids, tall indoor flowers in pots.

Bed linen, blankets, pillows are convenient to transport in vacuum bags – after evacuating the air they greatly decrease in volume.

From the packaging also come in handy:

• Polypropylene bags of 50-120 liters. They hold bulky things without sharp corners that can be tamped down. Sold in hardware and construction stores.
• Air bubble wrap. It wraps fragile tableware, vases, chandeliers, and lamps.
• Sheets of corrugated cardboard – to protect door panels, table tops, doors and sides of cabinets, sofas, beds.
• Excellent for fixing mirrors, glass shelves, doors, flower pots. Used in combination with cardboard sheets, boxes.
• Scotch tape, twine – for gluing boxes, strengthening bags and handles, holding cardboard sheets. Heavy items are more securely fastened with reinforced tape.
• Silicone pads for furniture corners, appliances. Sold in sets, they can be further used to protect children from bumps.
• L-shaped profiles of polyethylene foam. They serve as an overlay on the edges of kitchen cabinets, shelves, cabinet frames, and household appliances.
• Stretch film is a universal wrapping material. The film wrapped shampoos, conditioners, liquid detergents, bottles of vegetable oil, so they do not leak.

Stacking things in boxes, do not forget about the weight – it must be a lifting weight. To do this, put heavy things on the bottom and voluminous and light things on top. For example, on the bottom – books or plates, on top – knitted things, tulle.

Make an inscription – at least briefly indicate the contents of each box. This will allow you to quickly orient yourself and find everything you need. You can also use a bright marker to number all containers, bags, and boxes, and make lists by number. It is also useful to make notes for the movers: “Fragile”, “Do not turn over”, “Do not put anything on top”.

When folding things, it’s convenient to stick to the logic of use. For example, put the powder in the washing machine, the fittings of the disassembled closet – in one of its drawers, the wires from the TV – in a box with it.

Tidying up your old house

The most important thing to do in the house or apartment after collecting your belongings is to clean up: take out the trash, wash the floors, the plumbing. In this case, there will be no problems in the transfer of housing, signing the act by the new owner.

It is also worth doing minor cosmetic repairs: paste up the loose wallpaper, put back in place the loose baseboards, fix the loose outlets. You can do all this yourself or hire helpers.

Gather the minimum necessary

On the day of the move will be a useful change of clothes, shoes, hygiene products, a light snack – better if it will be a dry meal that does not require heating. From documents you may need a passport, a contract with a moving company.

It is best to put it all in a separate bag that can be easily taken out. Also, it is recommended to put a laptop, a charger for your smartphone, a first aid kit with a minimum set of medications, the keys to the new apartment.

Do not forget to leave the new tenants the keys from your old apartment, mailbox, gate, garage, yard gate.

Supervise loading and unloading

Keeping an eye on the actions of the movers is not only to make them more accurate, but also to follow the order of loading. For example, if you start loading boxes and bags of essentials first, they will unload them last.

If you have not labeled boxes with fragile items, prompt the movers in the process.

Closets, beds, sofas are better to put them in their permanent place, checking with a pre-prepared plan.

Unpack your belongings

You should start with the necessities: kitchen utensils, home medicine cabinet, home appliances, bedding, seasonal clothing, shoes. Unpacking what is not useful in the first days, you can postpone for later. But the place for unpacked boxes should be determined in advance: they should not interfere with the passage or create a danger to children and animals.

Useful tip: Unpacked boxes, where there is nothing fragile, can be used as stands and nightstands.