Moving Tips from the Professional Mover

When putting together our moving checklist and our moving help guide we knew that one of the most important aspects was going to be sitting down with a professional mover and asking them all of the questions that we have come up with over the course of our moves. See one of the main goals of this entire guide was to put together, in one place all of the information that we wish we had in previous moves and to ensure that the people who read this information are well informed going into, during, and after their big move.

We know that we were going to want to go into detail with the professional mover about the best way to pack certain rooms and information regarding these individual rooms can be found below:

•     How to Pack the Kitchen
•     How to Pack the Bedroom
•     How to Pack the Bathroom
•     How to Pack the Living Room
•     How to Pack the Dining Room
•     How to Pack the Basement

Each of these rooms present their own sets out challenges when it comes to a move and so we wanted to really spend time diving into the proper way of going about preparing and performing a move for these specific rooms in the house. Our professional mover was incredibly helpful in providing us with insider tips for packing, and for what can really help a moving company out when they come to move your belongings. The latter bit, what you can do to help your moving company, is incredibly important to know if you are going to have a successful and stress-free move and so we dive deeper into that subject below.

With that said, let’s take a look at the conversation that we had and some of the moving tips from the professional mover that he offered to us.

Moving Tips from the Professional Mover

One of the first moving tips from the professional mover that we received was that you are comfortable with the moving company that you hire. We found this interesting that the very first thing that he offered in the way of advice was that you should be comfortable with the mover that you hire.

Following up on this we asked him what he meant by this and how a prospective client of his could go about ensuring that they were comfortable with the services that he was going to render. He said that one thing that they could do is to get a referral from a friend or family who had already used him or another moving company. What he found is that when an individual was referred to him by someone that they trusted, they were more likely to feel comfortable with the move.

He said that sometimes an almost adversarial relationship can be established between the moving company and the individual who is having their belongings moved. Why this is exactly he didn’t know, but he speculated that it is because moving companies often times get a bad rap and because of the fact that the individual is literally entrusting the movers with all of the belongings that they own in this world. Doing so can create a scenario where the individual is anxious and worried that something will happen to their stuff. In order to avoid this it is best that you trust your moving company and allow them to do their job.

Let the Moving Company Do Their Job

The moving tips from the professional mover sort of came out of our discussion on being comfortable. He told us that one of the most difficult things that he comes up against is when a client attempts to interject themselves into the move too much. While he said it is a good idea to be an active participant in your move and it is good to have effective communication with the movers, if you are attempting to control or manage the move it is only going to lead to problems. He likened it to hiring a plumber and then standing over their shoulder and telling them how they should fix your sink.

While it can be difficult to let go of control, especially when it comes to moving your possessions, it is best to remember that you hired these individuals to do the move because they are professionals and have a lot more experience moving then you do. If you get out of the way and only interject when they have questions about how something should be moved or where it should be placed you will find that you will be a lot less stressed out and the movers will be able to do their job quicker and more efficiently.

This does not mean that you should totally disappear on your movers, as they will probably need you to ask you some questions during the move. If you cannot be present during the move, either because you are moving cross country or because you have to work, you should have a surrogate there or at the very least be available via phone if any questions or concerns come up.

A sort of aside that came out of this part of our discussion was the fact that it is always a good idea to have water and drinks for the movers. They very often will have their own hydration, but it is always a good idea to endear yourself to people who are working for you, not to mention that it is just a nice gesture. When we hired movers in the past we always did this and so we asked our moving professional what he thought and he agreed that it is always nice.

This also led us to talk about tipping a mover and how much is appropriate. While he didn’t want to come out and say it directly, after some probing he said that most people will generally tip anywhere from $25 to $50, and he felt that that was a good amount. It all really depends on how much money you can afford and how big of a move it is.

What is the Best Way to Prepare for Movers

One of the most important topics discussed in our conversation about moving tips from the professional mover was what an individual should do in order to prepare their home for a move. The first thing that our professional mover said was to make sure that all of the boxes in your house are packed securely and taped shut. He said that most of the time loss that occurs when performing a move is that the individuals are not finished boxing up their stuff, or they have to re-box items because they were not packed correctly the first time.

Something that we hadn’t even thought that our moving professional brought up, yet we have done for moves in the past, was to be sure to empty all of our drawers and tape them shut. This mostly goes for armoires, desks and the like, but when it comes to moving heavy furniture it is best to empty everything out and then tape the drawers shut so that they don’t move while the movers are going downstairs or in the back of the truck. While you may be tempted to just tape your drawers up with stuff inside, remember that your furniture is going to be shifted during the move and there is a decent possibility that some of the items may fall out or break.

Beyond this, if you have a 200-pound dresser and you leave your items in it, you are just adding to the weight that the movers have to pick up and move, which makes their job harder.

When you are packing your items you also want to make sure that they are labeled with what is inside and where that box is going in your new home. Doing this will allow the movers to easily unpack the truck and get your stuff inside without much hassle. He emphasized the importance of labeling boxes and said to be sure that we include it in our moving tips from the professional mover because it just makes everyone’s life that much easier.

Don’t Over Pack Your Boxes

One of the last things that we discussed with our professional mover was the fact that some individuals want to try to pack as much stuff as they can in their boxes. They believe that doing this will make the move going quicker and they that they will also save move on packing material and boxes. However, very often when you overpack a box you run the risk of the box breaking, or of damaging whatever is in the box. For instance, if you overpack a box with books and the books shift while moving you can damage the covers and the pages, which is something that no one wants.

Beyond this having incredibly heavy boxes means that the movers will be unable to take as many boxes per trip and they will also have to move slower if they are going up or downstairs. What you want to do when packing your boxes is to make sure that you put an appropriate amount of your belongings in the box. Not too little and not too much. Basically just use common sense when you are packing and lift the box before you tape it. If the box feels incredibly heavy and like it might give out that is a good indicator that you may want to split up the contents of that box into a couple of boxes.