How much packing do we need to do if we hire packers?

[EarSlaps]

We've sold our house and had an offer accepted, things are steaming ahead and it looks like contracts will be exchanged soon with completion by the end of the month!

I've spent time getting rid of as much rubbish as possible but haven't started packing. We're planning to get a removal company to do all the packing (we have two small DCs and no family help), but presumably we need to do some packing? The packers won't be able to do it all on the day or we'll never get out of here.

If you've used a packing service, how much did you do yourselves? Presumably the company provide boxes etc.

Also considering getting a move out/move in clean. Anyone done that?

[ShoeWhore]

No you honestly don't do a thing - although do get rid of anything you don't want packed as they will literally pack everything

If they don't think they can do it all that day they will come the day before and do some then. Ours sent a team and they swarmed all over our 5 bed house and packed the whole thing and loaded most of the furniture and all the boxes onto their van by lunchtime. They left us with mattresses, bedding, one sofa and the TV. Next morning they came back and got the rest (They possibly did the shed that day? Can't really remember now.) They even packed the kettle, mugs, tea etc into its own box last of all. They'd have done it in less time I think except we were relocating over a long distance.

The only thing I packed was my underwear but I'm sure if I'd left it I'd have done that too. I would advise packing yourselves an overnight bag for the first night though.

You will be amazed at how fast they move.

[EarSlaps]

Sounds amazing! Did it work out quite expensive for the packing? Quite a lot of people said it's less than you think.

We've had packers before moving back from Oz to UK and I do remember them being really quick. But it was just a two bed flat's worth and we didn't have any children!

[GinandJag]

Get rid of your junk and leave the packing to the packers.

[MrsMillions]

Very similar experience here. 4 bed house. Packers came lunchtime the day before, packed pretty much everything except our beds, sofa, TV, and loaded it onto van - left around 5. Came back for the rest at 9 on moving day. We were out just after 11, got keys at 1, and they'd unloaded not long after 3. We decided not to pay for unpacking so we could decide where to put everything.

They bring all the boxes including big ones with rails for the contents of your wardrobes. Plus special padded stuff for TVs etc.

Would say only thing you'd need to pack would be things you want to take by car. Overnight bags, the bedding we were using, and valuables in our case.

Highly recommend it.

[camtt]

We had packers a couple of years ago - I think it used to be not much extra but the prices had gone up by the time I did it, not double but not far off. However it was worth it, especially as I ended up breaking my arm just before we moved. I decluttered but only packed overnight stuff/essentials which we took in the car.

[SocksRock]

We paid about £200 for packers. They did EVERYTHING. We literally gave them the keys at 8am, went out for a naice day trip and came back at 2pm. Our entire house was packed. We left a few cleaning bits in the car, gave the house a quick once over and took the keys down to the estate agent.

[fiorentina]

Worth every penny. As above the packed everything, really well and it made it so easy at both ends. I only packed an overnight bag for us all and a few bits I wanted to have easy access to like cleaning bits for before we left our old house and when we arrived at the new one.

[EarSlaps]

Wow, sounds positive. DH is convinced we should pack our fragile items ourselves but surely they are better at that? I think I'll just let him put his Lego models straight in his car .

We'll pack up suitcases of clothes and toys etc so we've got essentials to hand. We're also thinking of hiring a storage unit for a couple of weeks either side of the move so it's easier to unpack. Plus there's no garage at the new place so we need to store bikes etc until we get a new shed.

[SocksRock]

Ours would only insure they stuff they had packed. Honestly - we lived in that house like nothing was happening - we did nothing. Until 8am on move day, when we handed the keys and walked away for 6 hours.

[bumpertobumper]

of all the costs involved in moving house - solicitors etc, paying packers was the 'best' money spent. worth every penny.
agree with pp that it's better to do your own unpacking to decide what goes where as you go.
good luck with it all!

[EarSlaps]

I've tried to explain about the insurance but he's being a stubborn bugger!

Yes, I want to do my own unpacking- will they come back later to collect boxes and packing materials or did you just pass them on to crazy fools that want to pack themselves?

[Twistedheartache]

Brilliant investment imo - I think ours charged £250. Came the day before, packed almost everything except our underwear & things we'd need that night, left boxes for us to use if we wanted.
They rebuilt any furniture they took down & I unpacked the rest.
My only tip would be to pay some attention to what they are putting where - I didn't & spent ages rooting through boxes for specific items.

[Twistedheartache]

Oh and definitely let them take fragile items. They are experts at packing & insured! Ours did make us take our telly off the stand ourselves as it was stuck & they couldn't do it in case glass stand smashed

[LittleBearPad]

We didn't pack a thing. It was wonderful.

Don't pack fragile stuff as it won't be insured.

After the move you ring them up and they come and collect all the boxes / paper.

[slicedfinger]

Ours came back s few days later to pick up the packing paper and boxes. Again, worth every penny.

[SleepShake]

Those of you that got people to pack, did they unpack everything too into its right place?

[EarSlaps]

Fantastic, so glad I started this thread now. My stress levels have just dropped considerably . Now if only I could silence all the people constantly asking how much packing I've done...

[caroldecker]

I would move personally important valuables myself as they may be insured, but the market value may be a lot less than your value.

[LittleBearPad]

No Sleep we unpacked but the movers rebuilt all our furniture. Tbh once all the boxes were in I was glad they headed off so we could catch our breath.

[Baffled2012]

I had a 6 mo th old and husband away with work when I moved so hired packers. They didn't unpack for us. Just left the boxes in the areas I specified in old property when they were packing up (they write on the side of the box where the stuff has come from so easy to unpack yourself). They come back a couple of weeks later and collect the boxes and charge for any you have broken or still want to keep. I would definitely recommend a move out and move in clean. We got some local cleaners to do a big clean when we moved in but still needed our cleaner to do an additional clean. I think when you've got young children get as much help as you can afford. Good luck with the move.

[SavoyCabbage]

They swarm in and pack everything. Ours packed a tray of brownies. To Australia.

[SocksRock]

Yeah, I found a bag of satsumas in our bread bin. After everything had been in storage for 4 months

To be fair, the storage was unplanned - was meant to be a week but the house we were buying fell through.

I took one look at it, binned the lot and bought a new bread bin

[TurnOverTheTv]

They packed my washing up

[ruthsmumkath]

Just remember to keep anything you don't want packing separate - they work very quickly and you may want to keep you shoes out of sight of them!!!

[RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog]

I agree with caroldecker about packing and moving your most valuable items yourselves, especially considering the difference between the perceived values.

Personally we're not keen on removers doing our packing and have always preferred to pack the contents of our houses, even the shitloads of stuff, including literally hundreds of books, from our 3500 sq ft house a few years back, but I appreciate if you have young DC you might not fancy it!

Last few moves we've done have been massive affairs - long distance with tonnes of stuff (including a hot tub twice!) - and our removers have required five days to load/unload without having to do any packing.

We always take the most fragile, valuable stuff in the car with us as I wouldn't trust the removers not to damage anything that's irreplaceable. Last time there was so much that I considered too fragile for the removers, we had to offload some into our storage unit as it wouldn't all fit in the car......

Our last few moves have cost between £3000 and £4250.....god knows how much that would have increased if we'd availed ourselves of the packing service!

I can testify to them being fast though - our last removal firm helped me pack up a few dvds etc as we'd run out of the boxes they'd delivered a few days before completion, so they had to bring extra on day 1 of the move and to speed things up they dug in to help.....blimey were they quick!

Ours arranged to collect the empty boxes, wardrobe hangers and even the scrunched-up paper they'd provided next time they were in the area.