Prepare Your Move With
A Moving Checklist
home moving articles and tips
Does moving house seem like a daunting task that seems impossible to accomplish? If this is you, you had better consider hiring a house removal company to assist you with the move. Although a moving company will take care of the majority of the work for you, there is still some things that you need to do to make sure you arrange before the removals crew takes over.
We have divided the tasks according to a timeline checklist so that it is easier and faster for you to handle them in chunks.
Four Weeks Ahead
- Make a list of things you will be taking with you, and more importantly, things that you will be leaving behind, including house fixtures.
- Choose a moving date according to your convenience and book some property surveys with a few local dependable moving companies. When they have provided you a quote based on the services you need and the volume of stuff you will be moving, pick one that comes commercially recommended and gives a good deal.
- Inform your council and utilities service providers that you will be vacating the premises and to discontinue your service.
Three Weeks Ahead
- Sort your belongings and arrange garage sales or charity give-aways to get rid of the things you don’t need.
- If you have kids or pets, make sure you arrange for someone to take care of them on moving day. You could request friends to come over, or leave them with the neighbours. Alternatively, you could also drop them off at a child-care or pet-care facility until you are done with the move.
Two Weeks Ahead
- Begin packing away stuff that you are not likely to use in the next few days. Pack them according to the rooms where you will put them in the new house.
- If you do not have the moving company doing the packaging for you, dismantle the big furniture to give you more space for wrapping other stuff. You might also want to dismantle outside fixtures such as greenhouses, sheds, swings etc. at the same time.
- Pay all bills pertaining to the current house and inform the post office to redirect your mail to the new address. Inform friends, family and other correspondents about the change of address.
- Inform the local council in the new neighbourhood and arrange for parking in front of the new house on moving day, if the removals company is not doing it for you.
- Drain fuel from lawn mowers, motor cycles and other vehicles that are being transported on a truck.
- If you are moving out of a block of flats, intimate your neighbours of any inconvenience they might experience on the moving day and obtain priority use of the lift.
One Week Ahead
- Arrange to have your gas, electricity, telephone and water meters read by the company and give them the date on which to disconnect.
- Defrost your refrigerator and freezer before you load them on the truck.
- Do most of your laundry and wash your curtains, tablecloths etc.
- Pack an essentials overnight bag for everyone.
One Day Before
- Disconnect TV and satellite dishes and prepare them for transportation.
- Seal food in air tight packets or jars.
- Prepare food for your family and moving crew for the next day.
- Put away the last of your belongings that does not go in your overnight survival kit. Put these items in your car.
- Liaise with the removals service to ensure they are sending the right vehicle and number of men. Ensure that they have the right address and directions.
- Arrange to leave valuables with a friend or in a safety deposit box.
- Label the rooms in the new property so that the moving crew knows where to put what.
