Moving out can be overwhelming. The only way to prevent unnecessary costs and additional physical and mental stress is to iron everything out from start to finish, from deciding what to take with you to loading the items up on the moving truck.
Getting rid of the things you don’t need is a good place to start. It’s a waste of time, energy, and supplies to pack items that will be of no real value to you when you move into your new home. It’s added work packing them up; it’s also added work unpacking them when you get to your destination.
Weed out non-important things and sort them out to see what you can donate, recycle, or throw away. Taking the time to organize them this way and to leave behind non-essentials will be worth it in the long run.
Now onto the next difficult task: loading the moving truck. We’ve highlighted some tips for you here:
Large and Heavy Items
Large and heavy items should be moved and loaded into the van first. These include items and appliances that need more than two people to move, like the stove, washing machine, dishwasher, and refrigerator. They need to be loaded into the far end of the truck, against the wall closest to the cab. Make sure they are kept upright, and heavy items are balanced on both sides of the truck. Boxes large and heavy should be loaded up next as they can be placed on top of the appliances and furniture.
Padding from truck rental agents can help protect the wood surfaces and corners of furniture. Also, padding protection makes it easier to load heavy pieces of furniture onto the truck.
Long Items
Long items like box springs, mattresses, sofas, table-tops, headboards, and mirrors should be loaded next. If you don’t have truck curtains for openings, loading them up can be especially tricky. Your next best move is to lay these items next to the longer sidewalls of the truck to save space and allow them to remain upright. Mattress covers can prevent your bed and sofa from ripping and tearing during the move.
Roll-up your carpets and put other long items like ski, poles, lamp bases, and lamp parts inside. Consider stuffing linens and sheets into both ends of the carpet before taping your carpet and carpet’s ends closed. This saves space and prevents items inside the carpet from falling out during the move.
Light and Fragile Items
Lighter boxes should be placed on top of heavier ones and stacked to the top of the truck. Soft and fragile items like bags full of bedding, linens, and clothing can fill the space between the top of the boxes and the truck’s ceiling.
Awkwardly shaped and fragile items should be one of the last things loaded onto the truck. Make sure they don’t move or fall during transport. You can store them in boxes and put them underneath tables, desks, and chairs.
Load up smaller items that do not contain anything fragile last. These include bags with clothes, blankets, towels, and linen. Other items like shoes, hangers, and garage tools can fill the empty spaces of a truck.
Plan and prepare your moving, packing, and truck loading strategy ahead of time to minimize your stress come moving day. We hope these tips helped you.