A month before your move:
- Call at least 3 moving companies to get price ranges and visual estimates
- Select a moving company and reserve your moving date
- Decide if you’re going to have professional packers or do it yourself
- Start collecting packing materials and boxes
- Start packing and labeling (packing tips and help here)
- Plan what to do with pets and children the day of the move
- Plan to be at the house when the movers are there to answer any questions, but once they get started you will have some time on your hands. We recommend keeping wifi and electricity and water on during moving day.
- Hire cleaning service or plan a day to clean yourself
- Plan to pack on one day (if you have a professional), move on another day, and clean on a third. Unless you have a studio apartment this is all too much to do in one day.
A week before your move:
- Change your address and notify people (see list here)
- Make a list of what to show the movers when they arrive (see the list here)
- Plan meals and snacks for the day of the move
- Label and organize your cables and chords from your electronics
- Take any wall mountings down and take apart furniture (or the moving company can do this for you)
- Pack your moving day kit and personal items (list here)
- Keep clothing hanging in the closet, they will be moved in wardrobe boxes
- Remove breakable or spill-able items from drawers in furniture (soft items can stay)
- Disconnect and thaw appliances if you are moving them
The day of the move:
- Review the visual estimate or hourly rate and fees with the foreman on your moving crew
- Let the movers know where pets are kept in the house
- Inform the movers of any specific time frames or budget constraints that you have
- Do a walk through of the property and let the movers know if any hardware on the walls needs to be taken down, if anything is staying at the old house, if there is food in the fridge or freezer you want
- Point out any extra fragile or broken items
- When the movers are done packing up your old house, do a walk through with the foreman to check every closet, room, garage, backyard (are you bringing the hose?), side yard, attic, fridge, dishwasher, washer and dryer to make sure everything is gone
- Leave a box of cleaning materials and supplies in the old house if you’re going to be coming back the next day to clean.
List of people to contact when you move:
- Family and friends
- Current Employer
- Landlord
- Postal service
- San Diego Gas & Electric
- Water
- Telephone
- Cable: AT&T Spectrum Cox
- Internet: AT&T Cox Spectrum
- Domestic waste collection
- DMV
- Your voting registration should be updated when you change your address with the DMV but always double check so that you receive the correct voting information and ballets!
- Accountant, Tax Consultants, lawyers
- Banks, creditors, loan agencies, 401k holding company (if you’re employer doesn’t already do this for you).
- Any ongoing subscription services, like meal delivery, magazines, produce boxes, clothing shopping services, etc
- Insurance company
- Doctors, dentists, eye doctors, vets
- Schools, clubs, organizations, sports teams
- Shopping apps: target, amazon, your phone profile, apple pay, grub hub, letgo, facebook ‘buy nothing’ or ‘being neighborly’ groups, nextdoor neighbor app, the ‘home’ default on your navigation apps,
- Solar company
- Gardener, babysitters, cleaning companies,
What to pack in your ‘Moving Day Kit’:
If you don’t have room in your car, you can pack all of this in a few boxes and give to your moving crew to put on the truck last. They will give this box to you first when you get to your new home so you can get (somewhat) settled.
- Toiletries
- Pillows, fitted sheets and blankets for the first night in the home
- Wash cloth and bath towels for everyone
- Change of clothes
- Plastic bags to keep dirty clothes in
- Garbage bags
- Toilet paper
- Hand soap
- Paper towel
- Paper plates and a few utensils
- Basic tool kit for assembling furniture (if you don’t want the movers to do this for you)
- Snacks and easy to prepare food items for the next 2 days
- Dog food, leash and toys
- Chargers for your laptop and phones
These items should be transported in your own car and should be in your possession during the entirety of the moving process:
- Medications for you, your family or pets
- Pets and children
- Sensitive or important paperwork
- Chemicals and cleaning supplies (wrap each item separately in sealed plastic so if they leak they do not cause damage or interact with other chemicals).
- Garage opening and keys for new house and/or personal storage units
- Kids medicine, diapers, milk, backpacks, school work, etc
- Phones, laptops, jewelry, heirlooms and invaluable items
Packing
- Start packing early and often. People greatly underestimate how much time it will take them to pack.
- Leave your clothes hanging in the closet (they will be moved with wardrobe boxes)
- Light items in large boxes (like towels and linens)
- Heavy items in small boxes. Over-packed or heavy boxes increase the likelihood of damages
- Don’t leave empty spaces in boxes. Fill in the gaps with towels or packing paper. If it is unbalanced or half packed it is likely to fall over or get crushed, causing damages.
- Do not mix items from different rooms in the same box. It will make unpacking very time consuming.
- Label (or color code) boxes with the 1) room 2) content descriptions 3) if it’s fragile
- If you’d like to keep inventory, number each box and keep a list of each box and how it is labeled.
- Tape the top and bottom seams of a box very well, then wrap the seams of the box on top and bottom to give structure and strength to the boxes. This will help them stack well and prevent damages.
- Glass: create a large X with tape over the glass to support it and keep the glass together if it does break. Then wrap in bubble wrap and put into a box. If you’re putting multiple picture frames in one box then put a piece of cardboard or a few layers of paper between each frame
- Dishes:
- Pack vertically, never horizontally or laying down.
- Use plenty of paper between each dish and on the top and bottom of the box.
- You can wrap bowls and cups individually and then stack them.
- Plasma TVs need their original box or a special create, they can never be laid down on their side.
- Items that need special attention or professionals when packing. Please discuss these items with your moving coordination in advance of the move!
- Oil paintings (will stick or melt)
- Heavy statues
- Grand pianos
- Pool tables
- Safes that were specially installed
- Grandfather clocks
- Jacuzzis or above ground spas
- Chemicals and cleaning products
- Gather the following equipment to pack yourself:
- Boxes of all sizes, including TV boxes and boxes for art if you need
- More tape than you think you’ll need and if different colors if you want
- Permanent markers of different colors
- Paper towels
- Garbage bags
- Bubble wrap, packing paper or newspaper
- Plastic Mattress covers
For move info, call us at (858) 633-8600
