Determined To Pack Everything Yourself? Remember These Issues Before The Movers Arrive

Moving is not fun at all, and it can be expensive. Many people try to save money on moving by packing everything up themselves. If this is the route you want to take, you've got plenty of company, but you'll also have plenty of aggravation. Packing up a home takes a long time when you're doing it yourself. If you are still determined to do this part of the job yourself, then remember to address these steps so that your belongings are ready for the movers.

Protect Furniture Casters

Furniture casters are wonderful because they let you move heavy items easily across floors. They also, unfortunately, pick up dirt and track it all over your floors and carpets. When the furniture with casters spends its life inside, that doesn't result in much of a dirt problem. Move the furniture outdoors — rolling it along the asphalt of a parking lot, for example — and you end up coating the casters with dirt that you then track inside. When you pack up your belongings, either wrap the casters so that they don't get dirty (which means the movers will have to lift the furniture instead of rolling it), or tell the movers not to bring the furniture with casters inside until you've had a chance to clean off the wheels.

Protect Furniture, Period

As you pack, make sure you tape drawers shut and protect furniture that could be easily damaged. Wrap mattresses well, bag couch cushions, and basically protect everything. This is one part of packing where you might want to speak to the movers to find out what they do to protect furniture and if that's included in the basic moving cost. There are so many little details that go into protecting furniture that you may actually want to have the movers do this part, even if you continue to pack up other things yourself.

Is Strapping Tape Needed?

You should be able to close boxes with moving tape, but if the items inside are particularly heavy, a couple of rows of strapping tape may be needed to prevent the bottom of the boxes from opening up. Find out from the movers if they recommend adding cross-strips of tape (if you don't have strapping tape, extra strips of packing tape that run perpendicular to the main flap closure of the box might work).

Of course, you can pack everything yourself before having movers take it away. But you might want to reconsider having the movers do the packing, too. It will save you time and energy, and it won't add that much to your moving bill. Speak with the residential moving service company you've arranged to use about whether they offer packing services, and if so, what the cost is.