Managing Moving Day
Everything comes together on moving day, when a flood of last-minute details can seem overwhelming and the trip to your new home looms in front of you. Being prepared ahead of time for the little things and having a plan for surviving your trip can get you through this crucial event.
Confine your pets
If your dog is frenzied because of the moving day activity, confine it somewhere away from the action. Movers shouldn’t have to confront a snarling dog (or worse, trip over it) each time they return for another box.
Provide refreshments
If it’s a hot day, you should set out water and snacks for the movers. On cold days, offer them hot chocolate and coffee. If your friends are helping you move, be sure to provide food for lunch and dinner as well as refreshments during the day.
Be considerate to your neighbours, old and new
Make sure the moving truck doesn’t block a neighbour’s driveway. Don’t block the sidewalk with furniture waiting to be loaded. Make sure the movers don’t walk over your neighbour’s lawn or through their flowerbeds. Try to move during the daytime, but not too early or too late. Don’t leave trash, unwanted furniture or other debris on the sidewalk. Place it in proper containers, and if it begins to overflow, go to the local dump.
Finishing up
Be available to answer any questions your movers may have, which means staying around until they’re finished. Professional movers will ask you to sign a bill of lading and check an inventory sheet when they are done loading the truck.
Coordinating with the professional mover
Your goal is to get to your new home in time to greet the movers. Arrive late, and you’re likely to be charged for the movers’ wait. Before you depart, exchange cell phone numbers with the driver so you can stay in touch in case one of you is delayed. Plan for the unexpected by making backup plans, such as arranging for someone else to greet the movers.
If you’re rolling up your sleeves and doing some hands-on packing, start packing several cartons each day, a few weeks prior to your move. Be sure that the items you pack won’t be needed before your move, of course. By pacing yourself, you’ll be more organized and the job won’t be so overwhelming.
- Pack on a room-by-room basis and do one area of the room at a time. It's best not to mix items from different rooms in one box. To prevent small items from being lost or mistakenly thrown out with the packing paper, wrap miniature knickknacks and other small items in brightly-coloured tissue paper before placing them in the box.
- On the top and front of each carton, write a general description of the contents and indicate the room from which it came (or which it will go into in your new home). Use different coloured dot stickers for each box; then, at your new house, hang a balloon of a corresponding colour outside the room where you want the colour-coded boxes to be delivered.
- Use only unprinted newsprint paper to wrap items. Regular newspapers are messy and can soil your possessions.
- Use clean cartons designed for moving. Boxes obtained from grocery or liquor stores are not always clean, and may not withstand the weight of the items that you'll be putting in them. Also, their odd sizes tend to make loading more difficult.
- Unpack breakables over the box you're taking them out of; that way, if you happen to drop an item, it will land on some packing material, thereby reducing its chance of breakage.
- Some common household items cannot be included in your shipment because they are hazardous materials. Examples of these materials include flammables such as paint, varnish and thinners, gasoline, kerosene and oil, bottled gas, aerosol cans, nail polish and remover, ammunition and explosives, corrosives, and cleaning fluids and detergents.
You should personally transport irreplaceable photos, financial papers and assets (bank checks, insurance policies, stock certificates, etc.), legal documents (wills, passports. etc.), valuables, jewellery, coin and stamp collections, etc.), and medical and family history records.