Get ready for moving your furniture.

In preparing for the physical moving of your furniture, here is some helpful advice so you can move your furniture efficiently and reduce the risk of damage to your furniture or worse injury to yourself.

My first recommendation, is to take on the services of a professional house removals company with a proven track record for quality house moves, which should be backed up with lots of house removal reviews.

Do you need to dismantle furniture to get it out of the house?

Have a look around your home go room by room and see what furniture is to be moved.  Will the furniture get out of the house without having to be dismantled?  If it gets out of your current home without having to be dismantled, will it get into the new house?  If not, it will need to be dismantled in advance of the move.

If you are unable to dismantle and rebuild your furniture yourself then speak to the removals company who will be skilled in dismantling a rebuilding furniture.  With the quality of some modern flat pack furniture it can be quite difficult to dismantle it without causing minor damage. The dismantling service will always be done with care. However flat pack furniture is often designed to be only built once.

If you are dismantling the furniture yourself it is a good idea to label all the pieces to ensure all the individual parts are placed in the room you would like them to go.  A good tip is to place a label on each piece of furniture to identify what position it was during dismantling, to ensure that when you are rebuilding the furniture you know which piece goes where (unless you still have the instructions).

If on the day of the move the men arrive and find that the furniture cannot be moved then they will have to dismantle the furniture (there will be a charge for this service).

Moving fridge/freezer and washing machine.

Always refer to the manufacturer’s guidelines for moving domestic appliances.

If you are moving locally then it is usual to leave your fridge freezer on until the last moments, so the freezer remains cold – it should be ok to have a fridge freezer switched off for a few hours during transit, as long as it is kept upright.  Empty the contents of the fridge place into either a cooler box or take a box, pack it with lots of packing paper, then place items inside and seal – this should last a few hours (unless moving on a hot sunny day).

If you are moving over a long distance, then you will need to defrost the freezer and disconnect in advance of the move.  Read the manufacturers guidelines for how soon to switch the appliance back on.  Some say let it settle for 24 hours others you can switch on straight away.  Always best to have the fridge freezer go onto the vehicle last, so it comes off first – allowing more time to settle in the new house.

With washing machines, put the appliance on a rinse cycle and drain the machine.  It is the customer’s responsibility to disconnect the washer from the water supply and reconnect.  If this is proving difficult then the movers will be able to do this for you, however there can be no liability in case of a leak.

Cleaning of you home

Prior to vacating your home you may need to book a cleaning company – it is often best to move out of the house the day before to allow plenty of time for the home to be cleaned – especially if you are currently living in rented accommodation.  If you do not know a cleaning company, speak to neighbours or even the removal company.  Most removal companies are associated to cleaning companies, or even have in house cleaners who will arrive on the morning of the move and clean each room as it is being emptied.

Once you have arrived at your new home.

Positioning furniture in your new home

When you arrive at your new home, you may not have fully considered where the furniture is to be placed, having just a vague idea.  Once the items of furniture are in the room they may need to be moved around until you are happy with the position.  The removals men will be happy to move furniture around for you prior to leaving the home.  Sometimes this may prove difficult depending on how many boxes are in each room.

Procedure to follow prior to the removal men leaving your new home

Once the vehicle has been unloaded, and prior to the men leaving your new home.  It is very important to do a walk around with the foreman to check all the furniture and boxes which have been moved to inspect for any damage.   This is important as once the men have left it would be quite difficult to prove that the damage has occurred during the move.  It is also a condition of the insurance that any damage is notified on the day of the move, and noted on the sign-off sheet.

Whilst the removals men are still at the house, inspect all pictures your TV and any other items which are high risk for damage during moving.  However, if they have been packed properly then there should not be much of a risk.

Due to the amount of boxes there often is during a house move, it is difficult to check packed boxes on the day of the move, there is an allowance of 7 days after the move to notify of any damage, if any.  However, during the inspection you should check the condition of all the boxes for any crumpling or evidence of being dropped.

Rebuilding dismantled furniture

Now you are in your new home it is time to start rebuilding the furniture.  If you have paid for the furniture dismantling service then the movers will take care of this for you.  Just advise where you would like the furniture to be positioned in your new home.

Reconnecting appliances

As above, please read the manufacturer’s guidelines for when to switch on your fridge freezer.  If you do not have the manual then you should be able to get the information from the internet.  The mover’s may be able to re-connect the washing machine water pipes, however we insist that the customer tightens the connector prior to switching the water supply tap to on.

First night in your new home

It has been a long day, if not few days.  All the contents from your old house are now in your new home.  You will be surrounded by boxes which all need to be unpacked sooner rather than later.  Hopefully you have lots of help to get through this task.  An unpacking service may be offered by the removals company – however this will be at an additional cost, and may not be fully completed due to timings on the day of the move.  If late unloading due to keys handover delay – it is unlikely the men will have time to fully unpack your home (if you have opted for this service).

Hard work done, now have a rest and something nice to eat

After a long day, you may not feel like cooking so find your local take-away and have a night off from cooking – you have deserved it.

Unpacking room by room

Work on a room at a time, instead of doing a bit of unpacking in one room then another.  One you have emptied the boxes put all the used bubble wrap, tape and packing paper in bin liners and flatten the boxes back down.  Most removal companies will offer to collect the unpacked boxes at the end of your move and offer a small refund against the cost of the boxes.  They may not be able to dispose of the packing materials unless they have a commercial waste licence.

Your next move

Most people move many times during their lifetime.  What would be a great help for your next move is to count the number of boxes packed and also make a note of the lorry size.  This will make the whole move selection process a lot easier the next time.  As a removal company owner, I would find it refreshing for a customer to tell me “last time we moved we had a lorry of x size, moving approximately x number of boxes and we used x number of men”.

Help and advice during the move process

We are always happy to provide help and advice to customers who are moving home.  We have packed and moved over a thousand houses so can pass on helpful tips on how to move your home with minimum stress and hassle