- Do we provide wardrobe boxes for hanging clothing?
Clothing Wardrobe Box
Yes, they are always in the truck, plenty of them, free for use on moving day? We do NOT provide them before the move. You (or one of our men-your choice) can take the five or ten minutes to load them with the hanging clothing when the move is happening. We normally find it best first to have us load the beds and clear out some of the clutter from the bedrooms before setting up the wardrobes so that there is a comfortable and safe amount of floor space to function in. At the new dwelling, the clothing goes off into the new closets (by you or us-your choice), and we then take back the empty wardrobe boxes.
- May we leave clothing inside of dressers? Generally yes…Furniture may need to be up-ended to be moved. Also we need the freedom to be able to flip a piece of furniture upside-down on another blanket-wrapped piece of furniture inside the jigsaw puzzle of the moving truck. For this reason, any fragile wear(i.e. perfume drawers, remote controls) should be pre-packed, also rickety furniture, thin legged, or long legged dressers are better empty. But otherwise if you wish to leave clothing in a reasonably hardy dresser that’s up to you-we’ll deal with it either empty or full.
- How do we pack books? Simple answer: smaller boxes, please. Professional book boxes, also known as 1.5 cubic foot boxes, are 12″ x 12″ x 18″. Liquor store or xerox boxes work fine too if your self-packing. We can move a 500 pound piano without getting hurt because of the piano’s handles, and the technical moving equipment we have. However, if you pack super-heavy, huge, book boxes, we have no such equipment to pick this up with. So it gets quite difficult and frustrating at times. The worst I remember was the home we moved where the client had only one book box needing to go upstairs – It was an empty washing machine box she filled with books – SERIOUSLY!. So we’d be most grateful if you would help us to protect our health by packing the books with some sensitivity as described. Thank You.
- DO WE MOVE PLANTS?
All the Time. We move plants at the back end of the truck at the end of loading your other things. The intent is to keep the dirt and branches isolated from your furniture and boxes. When the ceramic and terra cotta pots were bought they did not have the weight of the dirt, water, and plants inside them. And when the plants were bought they did not have the weight of the dirt, water, and increased height and diameter weight likely. And when the plants were bought they were likely not brought home by you in a truck with TONS of other things. So although we do have an excellent track record with moving plants, we cant guarantee the final condition of the pots or the plants themselves. On rare occasion we do get a broken pot or water catching dish under it. On regular occasion we sweep out some leaves, and now and then branches after the plants are unloaded. However I would estimate that the number of plants that have gotten killed from the move is probably about one out of 7000. So, although we cant guarantee the condition of the plants or pots, we do exercise a fine level of sensitivity to their unique quirks. So even major plant lovers usually defer plant moving to us. If we will be moving your plants here are some suggestions:- Try, if possible, to give them some dry days before the move. In this way, we’re not trying to keep water from getting on your other things. Also moving a cumbersome 300 pound plant will be safer to transport by not having a lot more weight added from watering it before the move.
- A number of small “hand carry size” plants transport well in open top boxes with some paper bunched up between the pots.
- HOW DO WE PACK YARD TOOLS, SKIS, GOLF CLUBS, BARBEqUES, ETC.?
You don’t need to. We take them loose. Do dump out the old coals from barbeques, and close their vents. In this way we’re not contending with getting the dirty coals and their air born clouds of dust on your other clean things and on my clean equipment. If you forget or don’t have time, we’ll want to do this before we move it. Remember to NOT leave the charcoal lighter fluid for us to move. - CAN WE BE LAX ABOUT HOW TO PACK THINGS WE DON’T CARE ABOUT?
If you want to. Unlike some moving companies, the nice thing about our service is that we don’t have a list of codified rules about how we need you to prepare. We are there to serve your needs, not the other way around. So rather than mandates, we do have suggestions to help the move go more seamlessly such as:
The problem with throwing the glassware in a box unpacked may not be the safe moving of the cheap bottle of soy sauce. I’m concerned with the consequential damage that may occur when that bottle breaks, and gets its stain on your other things. So although we do at times, hear the sounds of unpacked glass in boxes, and if you like we will move them in this format, we love to see things packed properly. We can do our job quicker and easier in this way. So ideally, check the bottle and jar tops first, tighten if need be, and then after protecting them with packing paper (or your other choice of packing material) put them in the box right side up. The key to safe transport is also that the internal contents of the boxes are tight and not rattling around. It is also important to avoid bulbous top boxes. In fact when packing things like important china it helps to stop packing about two inches from the top of the box. And then bunch up some paper for the top layer. In this way there is a bit of forgiveness to the box. On the contrary, many open or bulbous top boxes with fragile goods or wine inside, create a risky scenario. So although I do not insist that every box has a totally flat top or even has a top at all, it certainly does help if they do, or at the least if the fragile goods do.
Another thing which people sometimes forget and makes our job quite difficult is not properly sealing the bottom of the boxes. Most packing boxes were designed to be taped on the bottom. If instead of taping the bottom of the box you simply fold the bottom flaps, it makes our job quite difficult. We then are then struggling to keep the internal contents from not falling out of the bottom of the boxes.Taping the bottoms of the boxes is quite important unless the box is specifically designed to be a fold up box - HOW DO WE PACK THE LAST MINUTE BEDDING?
Recently we started putting the last minute pillows and blankets in the single single size mattress bags we use. Then at the new home, when people use a bed skirt, they normally like us to properly place it on top of the box spring. Then we put the mattress on top. Then we throw the bedding on top of the bed and take our mattress bags back. So if you wish, you don’t need to box or bag the last minute bedding prior to the move. - WHEN DO WE MOVE THE RUGS?
Last thing into the truck after the boxes and furniture. Thereby we can lay the rugs, with your oversight onto the empty floors in the new home. It is always best to build the foundation of the house before the walls, so it really behooves you to make the painstaking efforts with us at the beginning of the unloading process to make sure the carpet underpad doesn’t protrude, and to work with us so that it is straight and balanced to your liking. If you instead, ask us to leave a large rug rolled up, you may later need to move the furniture out of the room, then lay and center the rug, and then move the furniture back in. I think its better to avoid that if possible. - Is Tipping Customary? None of us ever expect in any subtle or gross way that any type of tip is expected. We are grateful to be moving you and there is never an inference that anything further is desired. However, for those people we move who wish to express their gratitude to the crew in this way; such gestures are always appreciated and is one way of the crew seeing that our energy and efforts touched our clients, when the clients have both the means and desire to want to offer something extra. If you wish to express your appreciation in this way it is best to hand this to each person individually so that they may personally thank you. But once again the crew is grateful for the opportunity to move your home and nothing further is ever sought after or expected on our end. Such a gesture should only come from you, and only if it is heartfelt, and something that would make you happy!
- What do we not move? Directly flammable materials such as gasoline or kerosene cans. Movers are also prohibited from moving jewelry. It’s best to move laptop computers yourself too. I’d suggest that before we arrive (or immediately after) you move this type of thing-purses, and backpacks that you will hand carry too off into your car or wherever you’d like where they wont inadvertently get loaded into the moving truck.
- How should I label boxes?
- Your writing as to the internal contents of the boxes works best on the narrow sides of the boxes. Then we can stack the boxes in their respective rooms on walls which you plan on keeping clear of furniture. And we try to keep your handwriting facing out. Then in the days following the move, you can locate your things and unpack much easier. Compare this to putting your wording on the top of the boxes. This scenario will make your post-moving environment quite chaotic in trying to locate things inside the boxes.
- Also, I really like color-coding and encourage this if we’ll be moving many boxes; the adhesive back, colored circles or rectangles available at the office supply stores. I do NOT suggest the colored stickers on furniture, as they tend to pull the varnish off when removed. However on boxes they work great. And then it helps to make a one-page legend we can post at the egress of the truck at the new home. The legend might show for example…Blue Color=Baby Room, Red Color=Living Room, etc… In this way your desired destination is instantly clear to us. We can grab a couple of red boxes, see the legend at the egress of the truck and go directly to the red room, without trying to find you with a vaguely, worded box, and then after we found you, you think about where the box should go, then you decide, then you send us to the appropriate room. I find the color codes cut right to the chase and we can get the boxes to the desired destination room much easier. This is just a suggestion…pack as you see best.
- I also suggest getting out to your new dwelling beforehand, if possible, with a tape measure and being the visionary interior designer you wish to be before the move. No we don’t just dump everything in the living room; I’m still shocked at how often people ask me this question. I guess some moving companies do. I would suggest that if your having us out, you have us put your furniture not only in the correct room, but also, if possible, in it’s permanent place within each room. Sometimes, despite the best of planning, the proof is in the pudding, and you may need to see the furniture in the new home first to know where it will work best. We do have the patience to work with multiple changes if this works best for you. But I do believe it behooves you to start to get your mind around the floorplan of the new home, when possible, before moving day. Remember, if we’re not unpacking you, then when our work ends at your home, yours is about to begin.
