NGC-- household moving advice?

[lucydad]

All,

So our big move dates are coming up.  Folding the tent in this house, and moving to a new camp 5 miles down the trail.  We have the local moving company lined up.  New house is pretty much ready.  I am borrowing a small Toyota truck from a buddy for some pre and post move of miscellaneous items movers won't touch:  plants, liquids, perishables, and variety of personal stuff. I just spent 3 hours in my garage sorting and labeling with colored painters tape 1) no move, 2) to garage, or 3) to upstairs storage. 

Anyway, I know this is a bunch of really smart guys.  May I ask for advice please?  It has been 15 years since we moved. At 61 I am pretty careful about hauling heavy/bulky stuff myself.  I do not want to be injured. 

Both motorcycles will be ridden down and put in their private garage after the movers are done and we are living there.

thanks!

[normzone]

My perspective is not the same as yours (intermittent nomad, renter), but I'll tell you my tactics.

I hire street labor, usually south of the border fellows. I speak enough Spanish to get by, and most of them have good English.

I rent a U-haul.

I don't lift any more - I give direction, supervise loading, and drive.

You can map out the layout on graph paper in advance, and put tape numbers on your furniture, and numbers on the floor in the new place. The person(s) carrying the furniture in can put it exactly where you intend it to go with no supervision.

When packing, all items fall into one of the following categories:

Eat it
Throw it out
Put it in the truck

[charlie b]

After many moves for us and family (15 so far and another coming up in a few months), biggest advice I can give is let the movers do their thing.  It can be hard but stand back and let them do it.  Hold the clipboard, number the boxes and put them down on the inventory sheet.  I liked to include the room and if anything 'extra' was put in the box (like cereal in a bedroom box :) ).  I (and the wife) do watch when things like expensive tools, dishes, etc are being packed.  They have been known to dump a drawer of tools in a box and tape it up.  Or to put a bench vise in with the speakers.

Oh, and the movers will note that EVERYTHING is dented, scratched and marked.  If you have stuff that is important, note the condition in detail.

When doing it yourself it is much more work but you have total control over all the packing of stuff.  For a short distance like this there is a lot of stuff we would not even pack, just throw it in the truck and go.  For heavy stuff a furniture hand truck and a couple of floor dolly's are great.  The small dolly's are good for moving several boxes at a time through the house.

Heavy stuff you know about.  Use levers and wheels.  Sometimes come alongs are handy too.

The wife had a set routine when moving in.  Kitchen first, bedrooms second.  Everything else in a couple of days.

good luck, it is not much fun.

[Red07]

Free food and beverage usually brings a few helpers out of the woodwork!



Randy

[PJPR01]

Greg...I would add another category or 2 as the situation may dictate:

4. Donation pile (To Salvation army or Goodwill)
5. Trash...and if this is going to be a large amount, you can rent one of the disposal containers depending on how much stuff truly needs to be thrown away.

I've used 3 Man Movers...they will move EVERYTHING, down to the last crumb if you tell them...so the items you are doing yourself, they would do.  You hire them for $100 bucks an hour, use them for as long as you like, 3 dudes come over and can pack or not and then move everything where you want it.  Have used them a couple of times in the last few years as I moved houses as well.  Simply outstanding flexibility and service and saves your back and work.  Totally painless...money well spent!

Enjoy!!

[oldbike54]

 Greg , do you want an honest response ?

  Dusty

[canuguzzi]

Once you are mature, heavy lifting can easily cause injuries that don't heal well if at all, it simply isn't worth it. Hire the job out.

You can't monitor or supervise if you are also moving stuff yourself. Prep the work, get rid of the trash, the unwanted or the things you haven't unpacked from the last move. Tag everything. Then watch others move it.

[rocker59]

All,

So our big move dates are coming up.  Folding the tent in this house, and moving to a new camp 5 miles down the trail.  We have the local moving company lined up.  New house is pretty much ready.  I am borrowing a small Toyota truck from a buddy for some pre and post move of miscellaneous items movers won't touch:  plants, liquids, perishables, and variety of personal stuff. I just spent 3 hours in my garage sorting and labeling with colored painters tape 1) no move, 2) to garage, or 3) to upstairs storage. 

Anyway, I know this is a bunch of really smart guys.  May I ask for advice please?  It has been 15 years since we moved. At 61 I am pretty careful about hauling heavy/bulky stuff myself.  I do not want to be injured. 

Both motorcycles will be ridden down and put in their private garage after the movers are done and we are living there.

thanks!

You've hired people.  Let them handle it.

Me?  5-mile move?  I'd rent a big Ryder truck and move the house room by room.

Load each room into the truck at the old house.  Unload each room at the new house.

The big Ryder trucks can haul several rooms at a time.

Going only five miles, you don't really have to worry about packing tight, because you'll be making multiple runs.

You?  You've hired people.  Make it as easy and least complicated as possible.  Make sure everything they move is boxed and sealed.  Be careful about any loose valuables, or desireables, as those things have a way of disappearing if not securely packaged before the movers arrive.

[steamdriven NZ]

Have a member of your family at each place. That way your gear is secure while some of is in one house or in the other. It's easy to leave stuff and lock the place up, go to the new place to unload, come back, load up and find someone's helped themselves to the stuff you've just shifted and is unwatched in the new place.
Kev.

[tris]

If you end up co-opting some family & friends don't do what friends of ours did that we helped.

Basically, they didn't pack anything so we had to put everything into a Luton van (the Brits will know what that is  ) piecemeal

It reached its head after 2 wardrobes worth of clothes got thrown into the van at the end of the day. The female half decided to complain and got short shrift from me.

Plus my wife ended up cleaning their old house from to bottom

Needless to say - next time they move - we're busy!!

[Dean Rose]

Building a house and moving are two of the most stressful things you can do.


Dean

[ritratto]

Get some boxes, hire some guys, move.