Here’s Cookie making sure that she moved house with us!
When you need to move house, one of the biggest expenses is the move itself – will you need to hire a company to do it for you or can you cut costs by renting a vehicle and doing it yourself? Plus, if you’re thinking of hiring movers but don’t know how to make sure the chosen company is credible, I’ve got a list of questions you can ask them.
Read on to find out how to move house, hassle-free!
Moving yourself: choosing a van
If you’re considering moving and transporting your possessions by yourself, you should start thinking about hiring a van. Sure, you could shift everything in your car (I’ve done that many times in the past) but it means more journeys back and forth. If you are dealing with a short distance move it may not be so difficult but if a long distance is ahead of you – it is a good plan to hire a van for the day.
When choosing a vehicle to contain your possessions, choose the one that exceeds your required space by about 10-15%. If you’ve already piled up your boxes and furniture at home it can be easy to measure how much space you’ll need in the back of a van. Also, you can ask experts for assistance in finding a suitable vehicle based on the number of rooms your house has.
You may find that you’ll need to hire a lorry rather than just a van, and that’s when it’s useful to have a license that allows you to drive larger vehicles. If you don’t already have the ability to drive a truck, it’s possible to get HGV training on finance so that you can learn to drive any size of vehicle and can therefore hire the correct size for your moving requirements.
How to load a van when moving house
The best and most effective way of loading your truck is to start with the heaviest and biggest items like washing machines, refrigerators, ovens, sofas, dryers etc first. Don’t forget to rent or borrow a sack barrow or trolley, as it will be impossible to rely simply on your physical strength to move these items around – especially after a few loads! When in a truck these things must be placed upright and securely tied to the side panels with straps or bungee rope.
After moving the bigger items, start loading dressers, chairs, tables, and smaller cabinets. It is better to put them in the middle of your truck and secure any drawers with ropes or string. When all this is done you may begin loading all your boxes and put the heaviest ones on opposite sides of the truck in order to balance out their weight across the truck’s floor. Light boxes with fragile stuff should be placed on the top level.
Getting the professionals in
If you want to hire movers to help the process go smoothly (and avoid a back injury by struggling yourself!) you can ask a representative to come to your home to estimate the cost. Be sure to make a list of questions and don’t be afraid to ask them – any reliable company will be happy to answer any moving-related question. Here is a list of basic questions to consider asking your movers:
- Safety of your possessions is essential so ask about their terms. Make sure the company operates legally, is insured and has a good reputation. Professional movers will have all this kind of documentation in order.
- Pay attention to the firm’s employees: are they qualified, and experienced enough? Find out whether they are permanent employees or just temporary ones hired for the peak season assistance. Does the company use subcontractors?
- Make sure the company you have chosen has the right equipment and everything necessary to ensure a smooth process, such as packing materials, rope etc.
- What additional services does the company offer?
- Ask for references and find out how many years the company has been in the moving business.
Make sure to prepare your list of questions in advance in order not to forget anything, and if you have any special requirements (moving a kennel or piano, for example) discuss these in advance.
I hope these tips have given you a little extra confidence to move house yourself or to hire in professionals if needed. Let me know your advice for home moving by leaving me a comment below – I’d love to hear what you did last time you moved house and how you got on.
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