How to best be helpful to your professional movers

You’ve hired a moving crew with a great reputation and a great deal of experience in moving household goods. Now it’s time for your upcoming move and you want to be sure everything goes as well for you as it has for other moves. What can you do on your part to help ensure the move is a great one?

While your movers will be doing the heavy lifting and the stuff that isn’t so fun, you can do some things in preparation for the move to make sure they can do their job more efficiently. Start emptying out dresser drawers and getting some labels ready, along with these other tips, so that you can be extra helpful to your movers while they do their best to take care of you too.

Get beverages for the crew

One easy place to start is to have cold beverages ready for the team on moving day. Your movers are going to work hard and they are going to work up a sweat. Offering refreshments to your crew and anyone else you have helping you out will show appreciation for the hard work and keep everyone feeling good for the duration of the project. Having snacks like fruit and granola bars is also a great way to keep everyone fueled for the hard work taking place.

Make labels for the right rooms

If you are the one doing the packing, make sure to have everything packed and ready to go for moving day. Have a space set aside for anything you don’t want them to touch, such as an extra bedroom that they won’t go in.

If you have a packing crew, make sure to start making labels ahead of time for things like “kitchen,” “dishes,” “kid’s toys,” so that you can slap those on the boxes quickly and efficiently. If you are packing yourself, make sure everything is labeled with the items and rooms they go in before the movers arrive.

Empty desks and drawers

The movers aren’t going to move your dresser, desks, and armoires with stuff full in the drawers. Instead, you should empty them out ahead of time to ensure the furniture can be moved and nothing is damaged. Emptying any cabinets, desks, and other furniture and packing them into boxes with everything else will allow your movers to focus on the piece of furniture and the best protection for it without extra weight inside.

Disconnect electronics and appliances

One thing you may not have thought to do is to disconnect anything plugged into the wall. This means that you’ll want to unplug lamps, TVs, DVD players, hairdryers, air fresheners, and more. Have everything unplugged and wiped free of dust so that it’s easy and fast for the movers. Otherwise, you may be paying for extra time while your movers attempt to figure out how to detangle them.

Take everything off the walls

Your walls are full of art, photographs, shelves, mirrors, and more. This is the time to start taking everything down. Your movers can appropriately pack these fragile items in the right boxes, but having them down off the wall ahead of time will make it much more efficient. Anything on the wall can be taken down and set on the floor below where it was hanging including paintings, mirrors, clocks, and pictures. Then put all of the hanging hardware and nails in a bag for your new home.

Pack valuable items in your car

Another tip to help your movers is to put anything small, fragile, or very important in your own car. While it’s not required, your professional movers will appreciate not being responsible for your family heirlooms, jewelry, or small electronics. Then you can keep some of these extremely valuable items with you the whole day.

The most important thing to do to help your professional movers is to let them do what they do best. Taking steps to make the day smoother ahead of time will be appreciated, but trusting them to handle your goods with care is the best thing you can do.

How do moving companies safely move furniture in the rain?

Have you ever wondered what happens when you plan for a moving day, with everything that is involved in it (here’s a moving day checklist!), just to find out it’s going to be raining that day? It’s not like you can move the date when you’ve already made the arrangements with the schools, the office, your utility companies, and your moving crew.

The fact is that sometimes rainy days happen and the show must go on. That is why it’s important to be prepared ahead of time that in the event of rain, moving companies know how to safely move your furniture regardless. Take a look at what you can count on from the moving company when it comes to inclement weather.

Pack extra well

The good news is that you can move on a rainy moving day but you will have to be prepared for some additional steps in the process. You’ll need to not only ensure that all items are sealed in their containers, but you’ll have to be carefully prep both the home you are leaving and the home you are moving into in order to avoid accidents. The first step is to make sure everything is packed extra well.

For wood furniture, you can use heavy furniture blankets to protect it from getting wet. If you have large artwork, you’ll want to wrap it in plenty of plastic wrapping to avoid moisture getting to it. If you have bulky items that aren’t going into a container, make sure you cover them in a large trash bag to avoid rain getting to them.

Your local moving company should have everything from plastic covers to mattress pads for you to rent for the process. Everything going into cardboard boxes should be sealed well with packing tape and checked for any possible openings where rain could get access. You may want to avoid having anything outside of containers in order to avoid any possibility of the items getting rained on.

Prepping the moving space

The home you are moving out of was probably going to need some protection to avoid any issues on moving day, such as coverings on the edges where the walls meet in order to avoid damage or a room where the pets can stay in order to stay out of the way of the movers. When it comes to a rainy moving day, you’ll have to also consider how to avoid slip and falls, as well as tracking in mud and water.

The first step would be to line your entryway and porch with towels to help with tracking in water or mud since everyone would step on that before entering the house. Next, make sure everyone is in all-weather shoes or boots to avoid slips while carrying boxes. Lastly, have the movers show you that the moving truck has no leaks so that if small leaks are causing water dripping through, you can duct tape them to ensure your belongings will not be affected.

Your new home will need some attention to. Make sure to lay down rugs or towels in front of the front door to avoid tracking in anything that might cause a slip. Your utilities should be set up in advance which means that you’ll be able to warm up or cool off the space during the moving process.

They’ll work in an assembly line

Lastly, your moving team will likely work in an assembly line on a rainy day to help things get done a bit faster during this rainy day, as well as to help protect your floors. One person will stand on the inside and another will stay on the outside, avoiding any shoes tracking in through the house. This can also work well for moving into the new house so that moisture and mud can stay outside the home.

Tips for Overseeing a Move In or Move Out

When you're moving, you will likely be overseeing both a move in and a move-out. Hiring The Professional Moving Specialists will go a long way to making the move in and move out easier, but you will still need to be in charge of overseeing both. 

You want to do everything within your power to remain in control and ensure efficiency during your move. Proper planning will help and here are some of the best tips you can use for overseeing a move in or a move-out.

1. Arrive Early and Prepared

If you're not currently living in your old home, you want to arrive for the move out before the movers do. It's good to arrive prepared and ready to start the day when the movers arrive. 

You'll want to be there to start planning everything, help direct the mover to the correct parking spot, and avoid getting charged for movers waiting for you.

2. Know What You’re Taking With You

When moving out, you want to know what you'll be taking in your vehicle. Valuables, paperwork, and other items you don't want the movers packing should be separated to help you remember what you plan to move in your own vehicle.

You can block off a corner of a room or dedicate a specific room to the items you plan to move yourself. Make sure you pack these items ahead of time and you know what's going with you and what's going with the movers.

3. Have a Furniture Floor Plan Ready

During a move in, you want to have a furniture floor plan ready for the movers. This will help them bring in heavy furniture items, put them in the right place, and leave them there. If they have to rearrange furniture, you could get charged extra for their time. 

In fact, some moving companies will only arrange furniture once. If you want to avoid having to arrange the furniture yourself, create a floor plan ahead of time for the movers to follow.

4. Inform Movers of All Fragile Items

While fragile items should be well marked, it's also a good idea to separate these items and inform movers they are fragile. The more you communicate with the movers, the easier it will be for them to ensure your things are properly packed into their truck.

5. Be Prepared with Waters

Movers appreciate the small gesture of offering them water or sports drink. They work hard and need to stay hydrated. Especially in the summer, have a few bottles of water or sports drinks ready for the movers when they arrive. 

Let them know where they are and that they can help themselves when they are thirsty. This will help save a little bit of time, as well, as they won't have to ask or go to the truck in search of their own drink. 

When you're moving into a new home and/or out of an old home, you want to stay on top of the moving process. With these five tips, you'll be better prepared to oversee moving in and moving out when hiring movers for a residential move.