House moving where to start questions

[Destroyer]

All being well, we hope to move in the next month, but the current situation is making things very difficult and a lot has to be done while the property is vacant so I want to get it right.

1. If you choose the packing service, how does it work? Do you leave cupboards and drawers full and they empty them out. Aren’t they likely to miss things? Do you empty things out for them?
   

1. I love decluttering, but how do you bridge the gap between living and packing and not leaving things too late.
   

1. Were not taking a lot of old items - what charities might take items (like sofa?)
   

4 is there anything also I’ve not thought of?

[TeaStory]

1. They do everything, and FAST. Why would they miss things?
   

1. I did ruthless konmari-ing for 6 weeks before completion day. Packing service packed up my house 2 days before the move, so I just had a small case of things I needed for those two days.
   

1. No idea, I doubt anywhere is taking much now.
   

1. In what sense? Packing?

[Destroyer]

Thank you!

1. Not sure, just worried that I& o can’t be there to check that something will get missed!
   

1. It might be a case of getting a skip, then? It goes against everything to do that unnecessarily
   

1. Anything! I haven’t done this since everything I owned fitted into the back of a car!!

[Destroyer]

Bump

[Puddlesplasher]

1. The packers will generally turn up a day or two before moving day depending upon how much you have to pack. Pack anything you don't want them to touch i.e toiletries, confidential paperwork, jewellery, underwear and things for the first night in new house such as bedding, pyjamas, change of clothes etc. Put this box in your car or clearly mark "do not pack" and put on bed.

They will pack everything - even bins with rubbish in if you're not careful. You don't need to empty anything for them. They will go through your house like a plague of locusts at an unbelievable speed.

1. There is no gap between packing and living as they will come just a day or two before you move. Just go through your things now and get rid of anything you don't want to take to your new house.

1. Not sure of answer to this because of coronavirus at the moment.

1. There's not really much to think about when you have a packing service. You may want to keep out a set of cutlery for everyone and plate, bowl, mug etc so that you can eat before you've unpacked things. Also tell them not to pack your hoover and pack a separate box of cleaning supplies so you can hoover and clean at both ends.

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

I would have said that you need a tea box, to keep them supplied with tea and biscuits, but that’s probably not happening at the moment.

[DappledThings]

They won't miss anything. They are incredible packing machines!

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

They don't pack the things in drawers....

.... They pack the drawers full of things.

They are careful with fragile things.

They are bloody marvellous.

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

... sorry.

I cleared out a lot of stuff beforehand. A lot!

Then I cleared out more as we unpacked. It helped that they set a date to come get the boxes back

[missionalmostimpossible]

This sounds amazing. I'd like to use a packing service when we move, but DH is dead against it as he thinks the cost would be ridiculous. For those with the experience, roughly how much does it cost for packers to move the contents of a 3 bedroom house? I was thinking maybe about £3k.

[OneMoreLight]

Take photos of the gas and electric meters (in the house you're moving from and the house you move to) incase of any billing issues further down the line.

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

Have a really good clearout. Then clear out some more. I thought I'd had a good clearout but we put our stuff in storage for a couple of months, and when I was unpacking I got rid of more stuff.

The packers will pack absolutely everything. Including any bags of rubbish! I'd recommend making a list of things you might want to keep in the car on move day for ease of access when you get to new place - kettle, some mugs, toothbrushes, pj's etc.

Then book a packing service and leave them to it. Ours came the day before and packed up the whole house, leaving beds etc. and some kitchen/cleaning stuff we'd set aside.

On move day we went out for breakfast while they packed. Went in after them and mopped/hoovered everywhere.

I'll never move without using a packing service again. It made it so much easier.

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

Oh on price, ours includes storage so won't help, but adding the packing service on top of the removals that we needed anyway wasn't too much more, maybe around £250?

[Puddlesplasher]

Yes the cost to use the packing service only adds on a little bit more to the cost of using a removal company. It has ranged from £250-£350 for us. It really is the best money you'll ever spend. The other major advantage is that if they pack then you are covered by their insurance.

[Destroyer]

Yes , they said any insurance claim was much easier if we’d used their packing service.

I’ll keep going with the decluttering - even dh is more on board, because fewer boxes means a lower cost

[Destroyer]

I think we’re going to need a skip - we're not taking beds and mattresses (they need replacing anyway).

[StCharlotte]

I had a mover who packed a half full ashtray and a plate with the remains of the previous night's takeaway. Too quick for me!

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

I left out clean knickers for moving day. They got packed.

[CMOTDibbler]

Packers are absolutely amazing, and don't miss a thing because they pack everything. Our first move with packers we found a beautifully wrapped empty wine bottle.
Its never been vastly more to be packed, though our moves have been 2 day moves where they load the lorry one day and unpack to the new house the next because of distance. Worth every single penny though.
At the moment you'd need a skip for beds/mattresses unless they are good enough to give away locally

[TeaStory]

@missionalmostimpossible for packing alone it cost us a couple of hundred quid, 2 bed Victorian terrace. Best money I ever spent because I didn’t have to arse around getting boxes and bubble wrap etc, they even had special tall boxes with hanging rails for wardrobe stuff. I highly recommend it and will definitely use a packing service if I move again.

[Destroyer]

Thanks, you’re making me feel more confident about things. I’ll look at the website now.

[Destroyer]

Going round the house, I can’t believe how much we have and we've been decluttering for a while!!

[randomsabreuse]

It's about £200-£250 on top of a 2k ish move for them to pack. They are definitely worth it for a long distance move.

Hopefully won't need full removal service for next move as it will be from rented (so likely overlap) and very local as we're renting more or less where we want to buy!

[missionalmostimpossible]

Thanks @TeaStory, good luck with the house move @Destroyer!