How do you achieve an efficient house move?
I'm getting my own place -- i.e. an apartment that I own, and not rent -- and I find myself needing to prepare for another house move (this'll be the 4th of such events for me), only this time with a lot more stuff.
I'm in a situation where I have to plan how I proceed carefully, since the elevator isn't working yet at the new place, and I have to carry everything up 7 flights of stairs.
Every single time I've done a house move in the past it's been a disaster; didn't plan at all, just stuffed things into my car and left for the new place when it was full; rinse and repeat. I'm positive I did at least double the number of trips I actually needed.
I want to think ahead on this one since the number of trips matter a lot.
What are your tips for house moving? Any weird but efficient way of packing/labeling/sorting/whatever?
Also interested in hearing the stories of your most horrible (or most enjoyable -- although I can't imagine this being the case) house moves.
PS: don't want to hire a moving company, I like doing things like this on my own.
Buy boxes. Buy good, strong, packing tape. Maybe buy a tape dispenser. Buy or rent a sack truck. You want your boxes to be big enough to hold stuff, but not so big that they become too heavy. Too heavy will be defined by how far you have to carry them. Carrying anything up 7 flights is going to be hard work and you'll probably be better of making more journeys with lighter boxes than fewer journeys with heavy boxes.
This is a very high quality sack truck. You don't need anything this expensive! Sack trucks make it really easy to get boxes from your home to the van, and from the van to your new home. https://www.parrs.co.uk/basic-aluminium-warehouse-sack-truck-cap-300kg-p5244
Set aside one room of your current home for packing. Put everything in that room into boxes, and stack the boxes neatly along one wall. Label the outside of the boxes with the room you want them to go into. Use bigger bolder brighter labelling for the things you'll need immediately - UK house movers will normally put the kettle and mugs and tea bags and instant coffee and sugar in a bag and move that first.
Really consider whether hiring people to carry some boxes and furniture up those seven flights will be worth it. Try going up and down those 7 flights yourself - see how you feel after doing 5 sets of up and down in a row. You'll be doing far more than that!
One of my friends once spent an hour or so carefully packing all his books into a large chest (like 1.5x1x0.5m). He did a really good job on packing efficiency, there was barely a gap to be seen. Then he tried to move it...
A friend of mine did this to me when I helped him move. I will never forgive him.
I deliberately have small boxes to move my books. They're the densest items I own (most weight per volume), so I want them in small boxes so each box only weighs a few kilograms. Other things, like DVDs and CDs (I'm old-school), can get packed in larger boxes because they're mostly air. But heavy items get packed in small boxes. There's more boxes, but each box is able to be lifted.
I back this advice. I've done a similar move myself several years ago and regretted not hiring movers just to handle my furniture on five flights of stairs. It would've made my weekend so much easier and saved me another week of lingering aches and pains. As long as OP can afford it I think they'll find it was money well spent.
It's worth mentioning that if they ultimately decide to hire movers they should pack and move anything irreplaceable themselves. No matter how professional and highly recommended a moving company is they will never care about things of sentimental value as much as you do.
I would suggest on not buying them. Most grocery stores (and some dept. stores and just lots of random places) have lots of extra, pretty solid medium-sized boxes perfect for moving.
And use smaller boxes for books - the weight really adds up!
I've found it increasingly difficult to find spare boxes at supermarkets and stores like that. It used to be easy to get boxes from supermarkets; they were more than happy to give them away. The last couple of times I tried, the supermarket staff told me that the boxes are crushed immediately after being unpacked and placed into the recycling bin.
I ended up buying boxes two moves ago, and I keep them between moves, to re-use them.
This is a worthy addition to my list of mystifying British English terms. Then again, most people in the US still refer to them as "dollies", and that's far more mystifying to me.
"Hand truck" in my experience (southeast USA)
I hear hand truck a lot, too, but I hear more people using "dolly". That's especially confusing given that is also the name people use to refer to the flat four-wheeled movers.
I actually only have a small coffee table as far as furniture goes; so it's not as bad as it seems.
People interested in this topic will find more tips for moving house in this previous discussion: Moving out tips
I once had a month overlap between rent periods and my old place was between my work and my new house, so I moved basically a handful of stuff a day. That was pretty painless. I'd drop by the old house after work, grab an item or furniture or a bag of clothes or whatever, then on to home. It helped both places were furnished so I didn't need to move beds and suchlike.
Other than that, I guess you just think critical path. Don't move the books before you move the bookshelf. Don't shift your mattress until you've reassembled your bed. Make sure the kettle and tea is the first thing you unpack, that sort of thing. My guess is that you risk putting more time into working out the exact optimal way to move than you'd save by just doing it (almost) any old how. I haven't moved for ages and I don't intend to again for a while. Also last time I did was from furnished rental to unfurnished ownership - so the first job was a trip to IKEA to fill a van with brand-new furniture, then put all that together before moving our stuff in.
I know it's not your preference and in general I agree with you about doing stuff for myself - but in your situation I would absolutely hire professionals. 7 flights of stairs? Fuck that.
I've moved a lot, so my advice is pretty simple. First, sell or get rid of stuff you don't need. It's time to take an inventory and those clothes you like but never wear or those blankets you never use are just taking up space. Now that you're slimmed down a little, the next step is to hire some movers. If you can't find a company you like, you can hire moving help through uhaul when you rent a truck online. I did that a couple weekends ago and it was $25 for the truck and $110 for two guys to load and unload it. Now, seven flights of stairs does throw a wrench into it, I would just recommend tipping the fuck out of them. If you have super fragile or sentimental stuff, I'd move that on my own but let the movers handle the rest of it. Make sure any movers you hire are insured - ask to see a certificate of insurance. That way if they break any of your things you can get them replaced with minimal hassle.
To echo tomf, save your back! It is super easy to hurt yourself moving. Seriously, practice good form with an empty box a couple times if you need to. Back straight, legs bend like you're doing a squat, grab the box, stand like you're coming up from a squat. Lifting with your back is a one way ticket to bed rest town.
I second this motion. Most people have far too many things. Moving is the perfect time to Marie Kondo your life.
As an extension of this, take far more time than you need to move. If you don't, you'll end up bringing a bunch of stuff that may not ever leave their boxes.
OP here, no such things in my mid-sized Eastern European city.
You all have some convincing arguments for hiring someone. I’ll definitely rethink my position on that.
As far as my back goes, I’m a regular gym goer so it’s less of a problem, fortunately.
You can find cheap movers. There are the high-priced professional movers who provide end-to-end service, but there are cheaper alternatives, such as the "man with a van"-type movers. They're literally just that: a man with a van (or truck). You do all the packing yourself. All they do is turn up on moving day, with their van (or truck), and help you lift & carry for a few hours.
This is a silly position to take. They are more experienced, and can do it faster and better. Usually ends up cheaper when you look at the way you end up going through extra trips, rentals, and supplies like boxes - and that is before you look at the time it eats.
And don't forget the physical strain. It may not seem like much because most things (boxes and small items) seem easy, but it's the repetition of picking things up and putting them down that will get you.
Hire movers. It’s not as expensive as you might think and you don’t have to hassle family or friends for help, rent a truck, etc. Totally worth it.
Save your back. Especially without an elevator. You can always help them.
edit: if you only have a small amount of stuff, buy good boxes, label absolutely everything for the room its coming from and the room its going into. Once everybody leaves, set up your bed (or get someone to do it while you unpack other stuff) and make it. You'll lose track of time, and not having that to deal with will be a blessing. Also prep your morning routine stuff (clothes, breakfast, etc.)
If you are going to move all of your own stuff, be sure to get more help than you need for heavy stuff. Also make sure you have plenty of water, etc etc.
Don't be afraid to delegate.
I also like doing things on my own. I've hired rental trucks and enlisted the help of friends. At a certain point I realized I had too much stuff so I hired movers.
Two inexpensive burly dudes in a truck will take 1/10th the time you will in a car.
You still get to pack and unpack everything into boxes.