The best way to protect and prepare furniture for a move is to spend enough time wrapping everything correctly. Bubble wrap is best to protect delicate pieces, such as glass table tops, lamps and ceramics. Plastic wrap is perfect for upholstered items like couches and mattresses.
For wooden furniture, avoid using bubble wrap or any kind of plastic wrap as they can damage the furniture’s surface. Instead, use a moving blanket or furniture pads in between so the plastic wrap doesn’t directly contact the wood.
Now that your furniture is prepared to move, it’s time to set your home for moving day. Having a moving day plan will help you move large furniture pieces safely.
When moving furniture, having a plan will help you save time and effort. While you can dismantle certain pieces, sofas, cabinets and dressers are still large furniture pieces. Measure all your furniture pieces and your doorways and hallways to determine how you will move them.
Determine whether you will have to remove the door frame or any wall base moldings to help the furniture go through more efficiently.
Clear Doorways and Hallways
A few days before your moving date, clear every path to the front door. Clear doorways and entryways of all clutter. Prop the doors wide open and use a door stopper to keep them open throughout the move. This will make it easy to move furniture out of the home and will protect the furniture from hitting any items while being moved.
Small furniture pieces are easy to move without equipment and tools. However, larger furniture pieces like heavy chairs, sofas, cabinets and dressers may require special moving equipment. Consider renting a dolly or hand truck to make it easier (and safer) to move these pieces. Other moving tools that can be helpful include moving straps and a skid board.
If you have hardwood or tile flooring, place gliders under the furniture to prevent scratching the floor. Besides furniture gliders, things like towels and cardboard can help move furniture easier and still protect your floors.
When you’re planning to move by yourself, it’s important to find the right moving truck. Look for trucks or moving containers with tie-downs and a ramp. The tie-downs will help you hold down your furniture while traveling to prevent it from falling in transit. Having a ramp will also make loading and unloading heavy items easier.
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Tips to Remember When Preparing and Moving Furniture
Attempting a move by yourself can be overwhelming—the more planning you can do ahead of time, the better. If you have the right materials, break down oversized items before packing and take care of fragile items with extra protection layers, moving your furniture will be an easier task altogether.
Some tips to consider when getting everything ready for your move:
Don’t move heavy furniture by yourself. It might sound obvious, but most people will still attempt to lift heavy furniture by themselves. Ask friends or family members for assistance. Or, consider hiring labor-only movers to help you move heavy pieces.
Consider getting moving insurance. When you’re doing the move by yourself, you don’t have the traditional protection moving companies offer. As you know, accidents happen. Look at different valuation coverage and moving insurance to protect your belongings.
Load heavy furniture first. Start by placing the heaviest items on the moving truck first. This will help distribute the weight evenly to make the truck easier to drive. Also, place the heavier items against the wall to leave easier access for loading and unloading the truck.
It doesn’t matter if you are moving to a new neighborhood or a new state, moving a home or moving a business. The consensus is: It’s a very stressful experience. The more people you have to move, the more difficult it is to coordinate all of their different needs.
As storage experts for nearly 20 years, we know a bit about the process. That’s why we’ve put together a plan of attack, starting the moment you find out you are moving to settling down into your new place. This list assumes you have already found a new place and provides a two-month moving period that can be adjusted to your own needs.
Moving Companies CalgaryResearch your new neighborhood, find out where the closest grocery stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores are located.
If you intend to hire a moving company, do the same with them. Many moving companies will charge you for the time it takes to travel from their location to yours, so try to find something that is close to your current residence or your new place.
Items can get damaged in the move, so appraise your most expensive pieces and have them insured.
Start going through all of your things to figure out what’s going with you. Reserve items for self storage, sale, donation, and trash. This is a great time to get your unit rented, as well.
Depending on when you’re moving, it might be good to set up a garage sale to help get rid of as much as possible in one or two days.
When you call your insurance company to get moving insurance, make sure you set the date to transfer your policies to your new area on your auto, home and any other policies.
Update your address with all active accounts, like bank, schools, doctors, etc. If you’re moving out of the area, get a copy of all of those records to take with you, as many require written consent to print records. Save them in a folder inside a locked filing cabinet.
Set up last visits to the vet and doctors for pets and family; this is also a great time to get those records.
Make sure you have enough medications to cover the transition period until finding a new doctor, if necessary, and set your new pharmacy to one close to your new place.
Start setting up travel plans for family and pets. That means scheduling flights, setting up car rentals, or reserving hotel rooms where necessary.
Since moving expenses are tax deductible, make sure to save all of your related receipts over the coming weeks.
Start collecting as much moving supplies as possible. Boxes, tape, scissors, labels, bubble wrap, and more. Keep it consolidated in one place so things don’t start getting lost.
Begin packing nonessential items. Seasonal clothing, décor, sports equipment, and items in the basement and garage are some examples. Label everything based on items in the boxes and rooms they will go into. If the item is fragile or needs to be loaded first or last, include that on the label.
Call utility companies, internet and cable services, home phone, and any other services and set the date for transfer.
Determine where kids and pets are going the day of the move, and make any necessary arrangements.
Do you know where all your furniture will go in the new house? Now’s a great time to figure this out, because you may find that you are lacking pieces, or need to find new furniture options. Plus, the movers will not move anything around for you so knowing what goes where ahead of time will save the headache (and back ache) later.
