The moving process, boxes etc

MovingForwards

I grabbed thick boxes from work and the supermarket for the solid items be it kitchen equipment, toiletries, cupboard item food, random things.

Books went into banana boxes as they're perfect for that.

Clothes I had some giant bags from IKEA, but also used bin bags, my cuddly toys and bedding were also put in a bin bag.

TV was securely wrapped with the duvets.

Furniture wasn't wrapped, but covered and secured when loaded into the van.

IT equipment, camera gear, other electronics and sentimental items were moved in my car.

ChilliBob

The last part chimes in with my thoughts, not having my camera gear and record deck in a moving lorry!
I used to work in an office that would regularly get Dell boxes, they were awesome! 

Jaybee_16

Agree with those advising against plastic crates. Moved a couple of months ago and now have 20 crates stacked in the garage as there's nothing to be done with them unless they're just waiting for me to fill them with junk.

Getting_greyer

ChilliBob said:

Thanks for the tips guys, way more feedback that I expected on a Saturday morning! Seems a combo is the way forward.

The geek in me had visions of non standard boxes getting crushed when stacked and causing a right nightmare! 

Not necessarily get crushed but watching your other half pack delicate items in a bag for life then place them next to your own orderly uniformed stacks of boxes is bad for your health.

ChilliBob

Getting_greyer said:

ChilliBob said:

Thanks for the tips guys, way more feedback that I expected on a Saturday morning! Seems a combo is the way forward.

The geek in me had visions of non standard boxes getting crushed when stacked and causing a right nightmare! 

Not necessarily get crushed but watching your other half pack delicate items in a bag for life then place them next to your own orderly uniformed stacks of boxes is bad for your health.

Yeah, that's me! I'd probably pack ocd style, super organised, tessellation etc! A bit like the differences in how we load the dishwasher! 

Skiddaw1

For all our previous house moves we did our own packing but our removers supplied the cardboard boxes and packing materials (including tape, wrapping paper, etc). Well worth doing in my opinion, on presumption you'll be using a removal company.

ChilliBob

Skiddaw1 said:

For all our previous house moves we did our own packing but our removers supplied the cardboard boxes and packing materials (including tape, wrapping paper, etc). Well worth doing in my opinion, on presumption you'll be using a removal company.

We will be yes, I did wonder if they would include, and if so what sort of markup. Need to do my research

pinkteapot

Removals firms will include all the boxes you need in the price (and it won’t be split out separately). They want to make sure you’re using decent boxes.

Man and van / if you hire a van - you’ll need to supply your own. 

Are you buying and selling in a chain? If so, you need to move in one trip as you can’t go back and forth, and a full family home of ‘stuff’ is probably more than you can move in a hired van (unless you’ve got a truck licence). 

Ally_E.

I don't know how people can fit 3 bed house in one luton lorry, we needed one plus a 4x4 packed to the top to just move from 1 bed flat into 3 bed house. Now we'll be moving to another 3 bed and I'm sure we will need 2 luton lorries with the new bed from the spare room, the extra wardrobe and dining room set.

md258

We (my wife) got our boxes from FB marketplace and did the packing our (my)self. A few things I'd advise:
- Start early. Winter coats, books, ski clothes etc can be packed now.
- Label each box with what room it is going to and briefly what is in it
- Mark any boxes that need to be unpacked quickly so that you're not rummaging around for them. Plates, cutlery, saucepan, wooden spoon, next days clothes etc. Then you know that you need to unpack those and can leave the rest until the next day
- get rid of everything you won't need in your new house (FB marketplace is good for this)
- think about your 3 1/2 year old. We had an 18 month old who was very disturbed by all the boxes appearing (and slept awfully for 2 nights before we moved). She spent the day with Grandma and her toys were unpacked when she arrived at our house so she could come straight in and play.
- on move day, my wife took a chair and sat in the front garden directing the furniture while I unpacked the "immediate" boxes. We had spoken about what went in each room prior to this.
- keep important stuff with you- photo albums, jewellery, bank statements, IT equipment
- keep cleaning stuff with you. It's amazing how much dirt there is behind a bed and you may want to clean it for the new owners (if you're nice) or do your new house before you start unpacking
- We put all the fragile boxes in 1 room and made it clear this was the case. It meant all the other boxes could be stacked however they wanted. Only mark the genuinely fragile boxes as such- too many and the removals will ignore it
- order a supermarket delivery for that evening or the next morning so you don't have to go to the shops