Your house moving tips here, please!

[MrsMerryHenry]

We're moving house in a few weeks' time. Thankfully I've already started clearing out bits of detritus here and there, but obviously we still have FAR more stuff than we moved in with.

I have started to create a mind-map of all the tasks we need to complete before the move, but would LOVE to get your best tips on how to make a smooth(ish) move.

Also if anyone can recommend a good removals company (London to Brighton) all the better.

Thank you!

[Maveta]

I started about a month in advance making piles of things to chuck/ charity/ give to friends/ sell etc and got on with that while packing everything you could conceivably do without i.e. clothes and a few kitchen things. Also lists of any diy that needed doing to leave the house in a good condition (maybe only applies to rentals?)

And definitely a removals company!

All went very smoothly..

[inscotland]

I put a large box in most rooms. Just in the corner so that when I was going through things/cleaning/sorting out I just chucked stuff in to go to charity. I found that easier than doing a whole room all at once.

[JoeJoe1977]

We used Pickfords last year to move, they also stored our things for 2 months whilst we were between homes. We paid the extra (about £150 I think, including all the packing materials) for them to pack everything up and unpack, I was pregnant at the time and DH couldn't take any time off work for the moving out or moving in.

I am a list-liker and I had a dedicated folder with all my lists in. Lists of things to do, useful contact numbers, account numbers for utility companies etc. I found the Which? guide to moving really helpful for prompting me to do things. Have probably still got it somewhere if you want me to post it to you? I am never moving again so unlikely to be needing it!

[nevergoogledragonbutter]

Oi, you stole my thread.

I started packing today. And have run out of boxes already.

I've tackled the kids toys first and there seem to be a lot of 'bits'. what am i going to do with all the bits? of course to DS1 they will all be very important, but to me they look like 'bits' of landfill.

i've made a huge pile of stuff in the garage ready for a boot sale.

we still don't know for sure if we're moving

[nevergoogledragonbutter]

help i am moving has checklists

[MrsMerryHenry]

Oooh, JoeJoe, that guide would be brilliant, thank you! I'll CAT you with my address. Let me know how much postage is.

dragonbutter! Good to hear from you, mate. So what's happening in your household, then? Any developments? Well done for starting packing, it sounds like even if the job doesn't work out, you'll go anyway, which IMO can only be a good thing. Thanks for the link, I'll have a look at that.

Also inscotland - good tip (though we have no space to put spare boxes in! Will have to just do it anyway as I think that's a really useful thing to do.

Maveta - snap!

[MrsMerryHenry]

Got to dash, will be back another day!

[JoeJoe1977]

Have just updated my account so I can receive CAT, hope it has worked!

[whiskersonkittens]

Don't do it

If you have to, get a firm that will do all your packing for you and worry about sorting evrything as you unpack rather then beforehand.

Most important thing is postal redirection - they need at least 5 days notice. All the rest can wait until after you move except meter readings at old and new houses (ring water board to do it if on a water meter).

We used White & Co for long distance and they were very good.

[fruitstick]

What Whiskers said

We used these people
www.reedlocation.co.uk/contact/

They packed our entire 3 bedroom house in 4 hours - and were lovely to boot.

[Sidge]

Ruthlessly declutter.

Pay the removals firm to pack as well - it is worth every penny and in the overall cost of moving house is minimal extra expenditure.

Don't pack the kettle, teabags, mugs etc. Take them with you in the car!

When you arrive at your new house make up the beds first so when you are knackered later you can at least fall into bed.

Unpack the bathroom first so at least you can bathe, shower etc (and bathrooms tend not to have that much stuff to unpack), plug in/connect the TV and DVD, then do the kitchen, then children's rooms then your own, then lounge etc.

[janeite]

We got the removers to pack everything too and then they put the beds back together, plumbed the washing machine etc again at the other end. I heartily recommend this.

Keep the kettle in easy reach with some not too precious mugs and tea bags, biscuits etc.

Make sure you know of a takeaway/ delivery place for dinner that first evening, as you almost certainly won't want to cook.

Sort out children's bedrooms and bathrooms before anything else.

A few vases of fresh flowers will help it to feel home-like, even if chaos is all around you!

[Shitemum]

You lot make it sound easy!
We are moving back to the UK in 9 weeks from Spain where we have been for 20 years.

We are leaving our house with an agency that does holiday lets.
I have had 3 jumble sales so far (no charity shops here) and sold a few pieces of furniture. Haven't even started packing.

Am actually feeling ' frozen' - just sitting and looking at the mounds of stuff that needs sorting/packing/chucking.

'Tis a blardy nightmare.

We can only afford to ship about 1 or 2 cubic metres of stuff.

Help!......

[Shitemum]

Killed the thread, didn't I?....

MrsMerry - I would love to know what your mind map looks like.

Mine looks like this:

panic...+´ç`?$%&...panic
..$%/" remember to pack that thingy there...)?¿* oh God.....really need to chuck that out but am attached to it.."!$%
panic a bit more....sit with glazed expression for a while..?¿*&CCedil;^etc etc

[nevergoogledragonbutter]

at shitemums mind map.

[Shitemum]

Dragonbutter - My one and only tip: for my jumble sales I made up little bags of toy 'bits' and sold them at 1 euro each. So a bag might have 3 cars in it or a few finger puppets, things people wouldn't buy if they were just in a huge pile in a box.

[nevergoogledragonbutter]

ooh, i might do that.

[MrsMerryHenry]

Shit, I've been leaving stuff outside my doorstep to give away for free.

Thought it would be easier. I am SO not money-minded.

This is my mind map approaching me from behind whilst I sit on the porch unaware.

So the removals people can actually pack everything? What, clothes, shoes, knickers, my collection of priceless teddy bear figurines, THE LOT???

I love you guys. What would I do without you?

[nkf]

This has probably been said but I think teh best thing you can do is to throw stuff out.

[MrsMerryHenry]

Not my figurines, though?

Am by the prices people will pay, even on that 'discount' website, for such tat stylish ornaments.

[Elibean]

Thank heavens, company for my shitemum-like mindmap: I too am frozen, we're about to exchange, moving in about 4 weeks, not yet found a rental house (which doens't help) but looking hard.

We've been trying to sell since last autumn, you would'nt think it would all come as such a that its actually happening, would you?

[Elibean]

at MrsMH's mindmap. And dh is refusing to let packers pack his equivalent of figurines (gadgets, of course).

[MrsMerryHenry]

Elibean - we are housemoving twins!! Also just about to exchange and moving in 4 weeks but no rental house. Where are you moving to?

Gadgets - pah! Lego for grown-ups.

[navyeyelasH]

My best tip, having just moved from rental into my first house is not to leave everything to the last minuts. At the start everthing was neatly wrapped in bubble wrap, by the end I was just grabbing handfuls of things and throwing them into boxes!

Oh and also don't overload your boot and try and shut the stupid thing; it will break and auto glass wil take a whole day to fix it and charge you £370! And your insurance documents will be in a box somewhere meaning the whole process is so much more of a faff.

Next time I'm definately getting a moving compnay to do eveyrhting - the cost is worth it to save your sanity IME!

[SamVimesIsMyHero]

Ah, well Merry and Elibean I'm your long lost moving triplet!
Actually our exchange has been held up so it might not be for a couple more weeks. I have big list on the fridge of things to do before we move, mostly starting with declutter x ....
Unfortunately every time I cross something off I seem to add something on the bottom!
We are definitely getting movers to pack for us and re-put together beds. I just want to EXCHANGE so I know when we are moving and can't start getting quotes. THis house moving business is a MAJOR pain in the arse.