Moving day tips

[Soakingbathtime]

We are due to move next week. We are doing all of the packing over the weekend.
Can I have some tips please which worked well for people?
Did you provide snacks and drinks for the removals men?
How did you go about cleaning after everything was removed.
I’ve scrubbed the bathrooms, oven and fridge freezer ready.
Was there time to do skirtings, hoover and mop after everything was taken out?
How do we make the day run more smoothly?
Tips very very welcome!!!

Best thing I did was pay some one else to clean the house. They collected the keys from the estate agent and dropped them back after.
There were 2 of them and they either did 2 or 3 hours (so about £40-£60). Best money spent.
I was so happy when we were leaving that I had arranged it and didn’t have so spend hours scrubbing

Aren’t our buyers going to expect to get into our house as soon as we’ve completed though? Or can I get cleaners in before they get the keys? Our estate agent said everyone will most likely be in their new houses by mid day so not sure that leaves us time for a cleaner. To be fair we’ve been sorting things for the last month and I’ve wiped out each cupboard as I’ve gone, so it’s not too bad.
Just don’t want our buyers to think we are scruff bags!

I’m very strange as I love moving!

Label each box for where it is going in the new house. Tell the removal men when you get there which room is which or even better for bedrooms put a label on the door.

Pack things not used very often as ealry as possible, but make sure you keep stuff you will need out. You can’t avoid last-minute packing.
Get to eating freezer stuff - keep it as minimal as posisble to move with, ideally nothing.

Keep all valuables - passports, favourite teddy of children etc - with you.

Make sure kettle etc is last to go in and first to come out

Change your bedding a night or two before you go, then bag each bed up with sheet, duvet and pillows - you don’t want to be putting duvet covers on when you get in

Elastic bands are marvellous - cutlery etc.

Have a takeaway first night.

Get to unpacking as quickly as you can. You can always move stuff around but its much easier when all the boxes are gone.

We had everything packed and ready to go so that the removal men just emptied the property and we cleaned as each room became clear.

They left at about 11am (we gave them money and they went and had an early lunch) and we locked up an hour later, which was when we completed. The house was spotless. I carried a small toolbox round with me to touch up paint areas if they got chipped by furniture and a box of cleaning materials stayed with me before going into the car.

Everything was off the walls and any damage made good and painted over a few days before completion. However our last house had only recently been redecorated so touching up with paint was easy.

In the new home, we asked for the beds to go in first, with everything else clearly labelled room by room. We had toilet rolls, cleaning items, overnight bags and bedding in the cars.

We’ve moved house loads now and this always works best for us.

Good luck!

Loving all of these tips!
So much to do this weekend though.
Need to make good the walls and paint them, empty our loft as there’s stuff we need to chuck before moving, pack everything, clean what I can before hand. Oh and do a mini food shop, go to the tip, get in biscuits for the removals people and write the new home card.
Feeling pretty daunted.
I’ve phoned most of the utility people re moving and have a handy list regarding that.

If you have boxes with fragile things, use some florescent duct tape on them, then just tell the movers that any boxes with that colour tape are fragile.

When you dismantle any furniture like beds - put the screws and allen key/screwdriver in a bag and either tape or tie onto the bed leg or something. Put kettle, few essentials like mugs, spoons, plates in the car with you. Plus tv remote controls and any phone chargers. Take photos of electric and gas meters at both properties on your phone - permanent record then if there are any disputes with your energy providers.

At the new house - make up beds, unpack kitchen and bathroom asap - the rest can just wait. And yes, deffo get a food shop delivery for the next day. Also - if only moving local - keep freezer door taped shut and get it loaded onto lorry upright last and then unloaded and plugged in at new house first. If not tipped up you can do this and preserve any contents too.

Also only pack books in small boxes - anything else is far too heavy to lug.

You sound very organised already! Do you have a neighbour where you can invite yourself for breakfast so you don't have any kitchen faff in the morning and the removal company can just crack on? Also if you have a nearby caff, we bought bacon & sausages sandwiches all round mid-morning as well as keeping them well supplied with tea/coffee and biscuits. They worked very hard and we wanted to say thank you and also to keep them at it! Take a picnic for your first night or have takeaway in mind, then online shop for the first morning. Pretend you are packing for a two night stay so you have everything that you need in a suitcase and can concentrate on unpacking other stuff and still have what you need personally. Take photos of the empty rooms, so you can enjoy the difference in a few months time. Enjoy the moment of relief when everything is in - after all the stress of the last few weeks think about how much joy you will get from your new house :)

We moved last year and had never used a removal company before (only ever moved locally and done it all ourselves.) I think most things have been mentioned but something I didn't realise was that boxes needed to be packed with the lid closed so they can be stacked in the lorry. I got told off by the removal men for overfilling boxes!
For some things you have to clean as you go, for example when the fridge and oven are taken out.
I also kept a large handbag with me that I put all my jewellery and valuables in.
We didn't tip our removal men as they arrived at the wrong time, were downright rude to me, damaged some furniture and managed to lose some of our things! But otherwise I would have given them some extra money.

Just having a sit down after the mammoth task of emptying the loft. Have kept 3 boxes worth and sent 7 boxes to the tip, so feeling good.
Made the epic mistake of packing the kids toys this morning tho, so have ended up unpacking some to keep them quiet!
I feel like I’m living in a game of Tetris with all these boxes. I’ve taped them all shut too so hopefully won’t get shouted at!
Making a cleaning box up this afternoon.
I’m trying to keep on top of the vacuuming, but this packing is just causing an absolute mess!

Hire a cleaner
Honestly best thing we did, cost £40 and she worked whilst the removal men were there and then once it was empty could finish cleaning
It was spotless and because I was pregnant I just couldn't have done it myself! Best money we spent!

Also wrap up warm, our new house was bloody freezing
I've never been so cold in my life, luckily my little boy was in his warm puddle suit thing but I only had a small jacket as I didn't think it would be cold! Previous owner must have never had the heating on!
Took hours and hours to warm the place up!

Packed a little suitcase of about a weeks worth of stuff for us! As we didn't have a washing machine straight away!

Removals men got everything loaded by late morning & then went off to sit outside the new house, have lunch & await completion. Once they were gone I was able to finish the cleaning - but don’t go overboard as probably most people will clean again when they move in (I cleaned and then moved into a house which had been empty for some time & where no cleaning had been done) ☹️.
Definitely worth getting the removal men to reassemble stuff (I agreed this with the company beforehand).
Shopping bag full of important valuables/documents can live in the car.
I also had packing done as I was working full time & only exchanged less than a week before the move, but one thing I regretted was that the removals men only wrote the rooms/cupboards on the boxes
so I had to do quite a lot of inspired guesswork when looking for things.
I provided tea & coffee but really they were just keen to get on (it was a Friday afternoon) so didn’t stop much. Didn’t tip - removal package was expensive enough.