Moving out of state

[GON]

A tip on boxes. I move every two-three years so have learned a thing about boxes.

Buy them, do not accept free boxes or miscellaneous sizes. Miscellaneous size boxes don't stack well and often take up a lot of space. Buy your boxes from Wal-mart in bulk. Return what you don't use, lot of time and effort to buy more boxes. Wal-marts smallest moving box, extra strength model is the way to go. Smaller boxes are also the easiest to load, unload, and move. My back is not so good. Smaller boxes are real back savers. Worth the extra boxes to save your back.

Tape is expensive and you will need a lot. Find a good quality tape in bulk at a discount. Box taping is critical, not just the center seem but all open seams. Boxes should always be full. A full box is stronger than a half full box. Spend a few hours building boxes all at once. Building a box as you need one is a distraction from the packing and a time killer.

Finally, the most time consuming item to pack is pictures/ artwork. If you have a lot of them, have a plan on how you will pack them. I pack about six pictures at a time, in blankets and cardboard, and secure them all together. Always a pain in the dupa.

Boxes should be segregated in advance into piles of heavy, medium, and light weights. Heavy boxes loaded on the bottom, medium in the middle, light boxes on top of the stack on boxes in the trailer/ truck.

Here is a picture of my loaded boxes from my move earlier this year from Utah to South Carolina.

 

[Sonic]

We’ve moved states 9 times. Hire professionals. At least they are insured properly. It’s expensive but there’s no real way around it unless the move isn’t that far and you’re a do it yourselfer. The moving company sends a rep to your house to inventory your belongings. Then sets a date to pack. Usually a 2 day event. 3 to 4 day total including the actual truck(s) arriving to load. I think the bill is usually assessed by weight and time, distance and crew. Did I mention it’s expensive? Lol. We’ve had moves go fantastic. We’ve had moves where things didn’t go perfectly and items got damaged. But with the reputable companies they take care of you without much hassle. Allied moving damaged my pickup on a move. It had to go straight to the body shop after arrival. I didn’t have to lift a finger or pay a cent. Yes it was inconvenient but they did it right. Once a washing machine got a small dent. Just a dent. They gave us $250. Anyway, I’d stay away from any rinkydink operation that you’ve never heard of.

 

[Donald]

We have hired American Van Lines. Nationwide moving company. Take the hassle out of moving.

We scheduled it for 12/22/2021. Plus or minus 1 day, so 21st to 23rd.

Twice they have called and said 12/19. We said we would not be ready. No moving date yet between 12/21 and 12/23.

I know, right before Christmas, but they agreed to the dates and took our 50% deposit.

They have managed to put the hassle back in moving.

Working on backup movers.

 

[97prizm]

When I worked for a grocery store a while back one of my co-workers would help a guy who owned a moving company. He'd make 3 times his regular wage over just the weekend. Part of the issue is it's back breaking work, and most people can't do it forever.