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Original poster

Tips for having professional packers when moving house

46 replies

bingoitsadingo · 03/01/2023 15:53

We're moving house next week and have booked the packing service from our removals company. Never done this before - any tips? I was reading about a "no pack zone" for any items that shouldn't be packed, and making sure the bins/recycling are emptied beforehand - anything else I should know? TIA

OP posts:
PuttingDownRoots · 03/01/2023 15:58

Try to have things in the right zone of your house, as they won't organise as they pack. So if you leave your current novel in the children's bedroom, it will be packed with their stuff. Or your passports on a book shelf.

Pack your essentials for a couple of nights, like clothes, bedding etc.

RambamThankyouMam · 03/01/2023 16:00

Be aware that they pack everything that isn't nailed down. Including flowers in a vase!

But overall it's an amazing service. Would never do it any other way.

glasshole · 03/01/2023 16:03

How much extra is it on top of the normal removal services?

Interested in this thread?

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Property
ThePoint678 · 03/01/2023 16:05

Yes, agree with PP, they will pack absolutely everything and in our case that included the keys from the window locks, the sink plugs and items clearly usable only in the house they are packing. So, when they ask you what you don’t want them to pack, state the obvious.

Frazzled2207 · 03/01/2023 16:06

It’s worth every penny. Bear in mind that any small drawers eg in bedside tables they will just leave as they are which is helpful.

i think you need to be sure that each box of stuff is labelled so that it turns up in the right place the other end. But a professional outfit will have this covered.

check if there is anything they won’t move. Ours wouldn’t take spare pots of paint, fairly sure there was other stuff too.

it’s worth every penny. I wfh on the day and found it useful to be “around” for questions.
you’ll need to go out for dinner but we were able to leave enough stuff in the fridge for breakfast on the move day itself.

lilacclementine · 03/01/2023 16:10

It's worth making sure that you've thrown away or recycled anything you don't want to take. They pack everything. We had a clearly broken lamp that was carefully wrapped and transported to the new house! Our fault - it's not up to them to make judgements. If they're packing up a mess it'll be a mess unpacked so make sure everything is tidy and in the right place.
It's worth paying more for the wardrobe boxes. Just opening then and moving your clothes (still on hangers) into the new house wardrobe was wonderful.

CMOTDibbler · 03/01/2023 16:14

Put anything you don't want packed in your car. Enough to get dressed for a couple of days (don't forget shoes), toiletries, bedding and towels. Then plate/cup/ cutlery sort of thing so that even if you are eating takeaway you have something to eat it off.
Get rid of any lurking rubbish though - a few moves ago we found a carefully wrapped and packed empty wine bottle

lilacclementine · 03/01/2023 16:15

Oh- there's an insane amount of cardboard and packing materials. Our first move we had so much bubble wrap I was quite upset at the environmental cost. Second move was mainly paper padding but took 2 trips to the tip. Sometimes the company will buy good condition boxes back which is helpful. Otherwise local FB is a feeding frenzy if you offer moving mixes.

Bluevelvetsofa · 03/01/2023 16:18

I put things like my jewellery and craft supplies in the car to take myself. It’s true that they pack anything not nailed down. My neighbours had the nappy they proposed to use to change the baby, packed.

ABrotherWhoLooksLikeHellMugYou · 03/01/2023 16:23

Check before they leave. Ours told me they were finished at 3pm so off they went. The next day when the actual movers turned up they had over 30 more boxes they had to pack before they could actually move us. Things like drawers under the bed (which I had pointed out) and so on.

Assume nothing and pack anything very precious yourself. I'm so glad I did my tea set and special glassware as 50% of our basic glasses got broken due to careless packing and because we didn't discover them until over a week after the move we could claim for the breakages.

Who the fuck can unpack an entire house within a week when they have kids and FT jobs ffs?! The insurance was useless.

GreenManalishi · 03/01/2023 16:24

RambamThankyouMam · 03/01/2023 16:00

Be aware that they pack everything that isn't nailed down. Including flowers in a vase!

But overall it's an amazing service. Would never do it any other way.

This, my last ones packed half a bottle of wine off the worktop! Make sure everything is in the room that it needs to be in, and anything that you don't want packed is ringfenced and labelled as such, pack for a weekend away for everyone and stick the kettle and chargers etc in your car in a box then go out for the day. They will just go through your house like a hoard of locusts and everything will be tucked away when you get back, it's the best money I have ever spent!

Whenasuitcasejustwontdo · 03/01/2023 16:24

Best money I spent when we moved house. But completely agree with the comments saying everything will be packed. I was mortified when the packers had driven to the new house and I was doing the final check, to discover they’d even taken all the light bulbs!

SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 03/01/2023 16:28

Have a no pack zone for bits you want to keep handy (your car or bathroom spring to mind)and then go out and leave them to it.

It's amazing. And yes, they really do pack everything.

FusionChefGeoff · 03/01/2023 16:28

Make sure everything in the house is in its 'home'. Eg If you'd left your book in the bathroom it could easily get lost amongst the towels when packed and you'll never remember which box. Charger left on bookshelf? Lived at the bottom of a box of books in the garage for months until we had put the shelves up in new place!

Pack a case for each of you and also a kitchen essentials box eg cleaning, plates, cutlery cups, basic utensils, tomato sauce (for obligatory moving in fish and chips)

mimbleandlittlemy · 03/01/2023 16:29

Are they unpacking as well? Even though I took out the expensive insurance and took photos of all the broken things in the boxes they had been packed in to, they refused to pay out as they said I could have broken them and returned them to the box then photographed them and they would only pay on insurance if they did the unpacking too. This was a big company, not a small fly by night operation. In the end I made myself so unpleasant that I got a 'goodwill' payment on a couple of things but the company failed to put a bed together properly, it broke on first use, and they said I should have kept if for their insurers to see even though I had moved to a terrace with no garage or anywhere to store anything and they had the pictures.

Worth reading your small print.

mistlethrush · 03/01/2023 16:29

Pack a kettle, mugs, teabags (or coffee), sugar and a bottle of milk so that you can make tea in the new house early in the moving in process. Similarly make sure you can find cleaning products you might want to use before things get fully unpacked (eg hoover).

Ours moved our (large, victorian) chest of drawers completely full - so don't necessarily pack all the contents yourself beforehand!

SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 03/01/2023 16:29

lilacclementine · 03/01/2023 16:15

Oh- there's an insane amount of cardboard and packing materials. Our first move we had so much bubble wrap I was quite upset at the environmental cost. Second move was mainly paper padding but took 2 trips to the tip. Sometimes the company will buy good condition boxes back which is helpful. Otherwise local FB is a feeding frenzy if you offer moving mixes.

Ours came back about 6 weeks later and collected all the boxes, bubble wrap and other packing stuff.

Chrimbob · 03/01/2023 16:37

SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 03/01/2023 16:29

Ours came back about 6 weeks later and collected all the boxes, bubble wrap and other packing stuff.

Show quote history

Mine collected packaging too - local so i just called them when I was ready. They provided wardrobe boxes. The packing and un-packing was about 40% of the moving costs, but worth every penny.

theshadeofgreen · 03/01/2023 16:40

@bingoitsadingo I'm sorry to hikack but I've been debating packing up our house myself vs professional packers and this thread has made up my mind....
Can I ask how much they're charging please?

CatJumperTwat · 03/01/2023 16:43

I'm not the OP but I always get professional packers and it's about £600 for a two bed.

Original poster
bingoitsadingo · 03/01/2023 16:46

thanks for all the tips! We're moving out of a rented house so I definitely need them to leave the lightbulbs (and lampshades, and curtains, and some other bits...

I'll put anything movable in one place, but I assume for stuff like lightbulbs/curtains I can just tell them or make a list?

Will they label boxes with the room they came from?

@theshadeofgreen @glasshole We are paying about £450 (inc VAT) extra for the packing service. That's just packing, not unpacking.

OP posts:
LoveAHolidayOrTwo · 03/01/2023 16:46

They are great, my packers packed my five bedroom house in under three hours.
Have a big clear out beforehand. Who wants to move stuff they don’t need?

CatJumperTwat · 03/01/2023 17:13

Will they label boxes with the room they came from?

Yep.

SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 03/01/2023 17:16

Yes to all of that. They have a list for such things. Remember this is what they do every day. They will know about needing to leave behind some things in rented houses that they may otherwise take.

Have a chat, you should be really reassured.

Enko · 03/01/2023 17:30

best money ever spent

next time I'm paying for the unpacking too :)

ours agreed 1 box for things we did not want to move. they didn't do kettle until the day of move and it was moved separately and plugged in straight away. agreed what suitcases not to take too.

and we dropped of boxes when we needed.

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