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Moving House tips
Various people I know seem to be in the throes of moving house at the moment, so time for a post to share tips and information on how to make the process run smoothly.
Start with a tidy (not cleaning, tidying). Work out if there are clothes that should be binned/taken to a charity shop etc. Sort through your paperwork and throw out out of date stuff (being aware that you need to keep records of your income for the past seven years for UK tax purposes and having proof of previous addresses is a good thing if you're likely to need a CRB check)
Create a list of all the people that need to be informed of your change of address, so you can do them all at once. I normally do those I can do online, online and then sit down with a telephone to do the rest and write letters to those who don't seem to have got it a month later.
Register your new address with the MPS & TPS. Print out a form to join the electoral roll for new area and/or apply for a postal vote for your old address. Call the Council and let them know the date you moved in for Council Tax purposes. Use the NHS local services search to find details of your nearest GP. Set up a mail redirect - this can take about a week to do, so don't leave it too late. Gather all the information you need that you can function sensibly without the internet for a couple of weeks (or at least know where the library with internet access is!)
Pack related items together as much as possible eg. 'box of books' 'bag of stuff for the kitchen' as this makes it easier to direct them to the appropriate place in your new home. If you're moving a lot of stuff/have lots of helpers, label things on the outside so people know where they go. Don't automatically pack into boxes. Boxes get heavy fast and are cuboid shaped so can't be squished into gaps in the car/van.
Take piles of books of similar size and tie them up with string like a bedding roll or parcel (packers knot), leave a loop of string at the end as a handle. People can then pick up as many stacks of books as they're comfortable carrying.
The supermarkets' 'bags for life' are really useful for packing things into. You get more squishable, lighter loads. Have some spare bags about for last minute things.
My experience is that people do better with variable weight loads - so someone might take three bags and another five at a time, than they do with boxes that are all equally heavy. It also means people can pace themselves by alternating heavier and lighter loads.
If you have children as helpers, have some nice light things they can safely carry or other jobs planned for them. Helpers (particularly children) should be told to wear jeans and trainers and bring a pair of gardening or other work gloves.
Remember you can pack into objects that are coming with you - a fridge can have a couple of bags of clothes packed inside it quite happily. The kitchen bin can have stuff put inside it.
Pack sex toys & other stuff you don't want your helpers finding accidentally in something you know won't be opened on the day you move eg. into a suitcase of clothes. Do the same with delicate ornaments - get them packed somewhere safe in advance so you're not worrying about them.
Fit Chillerz ice sheets around your freezer and then transport it full of food. These sheets worked really well for me.
Pack a couple of bags/boxes of 'essentials' - pack it last so that it's first out at the other end and keep it clearly labelled. It should contain: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, $other drink of choice, the kettle, mugs, teaspoons, some biscuits (not chocolate which might melt) [milk should be in the coolbox, which should also be packed towards the end], telephone handset, energy saving lightbulbs, loo roll, key for a gas box, screwdrivers/alum key/spanners/other tools, door stops, bed sheet, curtains or curtain substitute for your bedroom, night clothes, wash bag and clean clothes for the morning. The bag of cleaning stuff should also be packed towards the end and easily identifable, just in case you get there and have to clean before you can do anything else. Also keep the first aid kit, pain killers, money, pen and paper handy.
There are two schools of thought on this - either make putting your bed together the very first job you do, so that you know you can stop once it's done or make it a job for later on, so you don't stop working too soon. Transport duvets + pillows inside covers, so they can just be thrown on your bed. If needs be put them inside bin liners so they stay clean in the van.
Remember to take final and first meter readings.
Order the phone line as soon as you can (the last time I checked BT needed 48 hours notice) and check it's working as you arrive. Make sure you have dial up details for a sensible ISP. Order broadband ASAP once you've moved in.
Check you have gas/electricity/water supplies (don't wait till it gets dark to check whether the lights work)
There are different schools of thought on fridges & freezers - definitely do the heavy lifting and get them into place as soon as you can. Then read the instruction booklets and check whether they have to be left to sit unplugged for a certain period of time before being plugged in. I think I ignored that instruction for my freezer and just plugged it in and everything was fine, but I wouldn't necessarily advise doing that. Chillerz ice sheets work for days, so it would be fine to leave the freezer to stand overnight before turning it on if you want to be safe.
Plan to not cook. Taking sandwiches/other lunch food in a cool box is good, but you probably want to plan for at least one hot meal - either ready meals or takeaway. Look up takeaway numbers in advance. Also plan to have breakfast food available for the following morning so you don't have to do food shopping pre-breakfast.
Washing machines = childsplay to connect. Make sure you have an adjustable spanner to hand to help tighten the connections if necessary. Remember that the drain hose will probably have water in it.
Visit the place and take measurements so you can create a basic plan and get hold of sensible sized curtains.
Don't worry about room layout too much. Get everything in the right room and work from there. The first layout probably won't work and you'll refine it as you live there and realise that the sofa's in a sub-optimal place for telly viewing or the kettle's in a silly place.
Brute force & ignorance has a place, but not till a bit of thought has been applied. Make heavy things as light and as non-awkward as possible ie. take cushions off sofas. Lots of things will slide along the floor and don't need to be lifted [depends how much you care about the floor covering]. Plan the route first. Work out where the weight is in the object before trying to move it ie. a washing machine will move much more easily if you push the middle to bottom rather than the top because the weight is towards the bottom.
Any other bits of wisdom from bitter experience?
Start with a tidy (not cleaning, tidying). Work out if there are clothes that should be binned/taken to a charity shop etc. Sort through your paperwork and throw out out of date stuff (being aware that you need to keep records of your income for the past seven years for UK tax purposes and having proof of previous addresses is a good thing if you're likely to need a CRB check)
Create a list of all the people that need to be informed of your change of address, so you can do them all at once. I normally do those I can do online, online and then sit down with a telephone to do the rest and write letters to those who don't seem to have got it a month later.
Register your new address with the MPS & TPS. Print out a form to join the electoral roll for new area and/or apply for a postal vote for your old address. Call the Council and let them know the date you moved in for Council Tax purposes. Use the NHS local services search to find details of your nearest GP. Set up a mail redirect - this can take about a week to do, so don't leave it too late. Gather all the information you need that you can function sensibly without the internet for a couple of weeks (or at least know where the library with internet access is!)
Pack related items together as much as possible eg. 'box of books' 'bag of stuff for the kitchen' as this makes it easier to direct them to the appropriate place in your new home. If you're moving a lot of stuff/have lots of helpers, label things on the outside so people know where they go. Don't automatically pack into boxes. Boxes get heavy fast and are cuboid shaped so can't be squished into gaps in the car/van.
Take piles of books of similar size and tie them up with string like a bedding roll or parcel (packers knot), leave a loop of string at the end as a handle. People can then pick up as many stacks of books as they're comfortable carrying.
The supermarkets' 'bags for life' are really useful for packing things into. You get more squishable, lighter loads. Have some spare bags about for last minute things.
My experience is that people do better with variable weight loads - so someone might take three bags and another five at a time, than they do with boxes that are all equally heavy. It also means people can pace themselves by alternating heavier and lighter loads.
If you have children as helpers, have some nice light things they can safely carry or other jobs planned for them. Helpers (particularly children) should be told to wear jeans and trainers and bring a pair of gardening or other work gloves.
Remember you can pack into objects that are coming with you - a fridge can have a couple of bags of clothes packed inside it quite happily. The kitchen bin can have stuff put inside it.
Pack sex toys & other stuff you don't want your helpers finding accidentally in something you know won't be opened on the day you move eg. into a suitcase of clothes. Do the same with delicate ornaments - get them packed somewhere safe in advance so you're not worrying about them.
Fit Chillerz ice sheets around your freezer and then transport it full of food. These sheets worked really well for me.
Pack a couple of bags/boxes of 'essentials' - pack it last so that it's first out at the other end and keep it clearly labelled. It should contain: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, $other drink of choice, the kettle, mugs, teaspoons, some biscuits (not chocolate which might melt) [milk should be in the coolbox, which should also be packed towards the end], telephone handset, energy saving lightbulbs, loo roll, key for a gas box, screwdrivers/alum key/spanners/other tools, door stops, bed sheet, curtains or curtain substitute for your bedroom, night clothes, wash bag and clean clothes for the morning. The bag of cleaning stuff should also be packed towards the end and easily identifable, just in case you get there and have to clean before you can do anything else. Also keep the first aid kit, pain killers, money, pen and paper handy.
There are two schools of thought on this - either make putting your bed together the very first job you do, so that you know you can stop once it's done or make it a job for later on, so you don't stop working too soon. Transport duvets + pillows inside covers, so they can just be thrown on your bed. If needs be put them inside bin liners so they stay clean in the van.
Remember to take final and first meter readings.
Order the phone line as soon as you can (the last time I checked BT needed 48 hours notice) and check it's working as you arrive. Make sure you have dial up details for a sensible ISP. Order broadband ASAP once you've moved in.
Check you have gas/electricity/water supplies (don't wait till it gets dark to check whether the lights work)
There are different schools of thought on fridges & freezers - definitely do the heavy lifting and get them into place as soon as you can. Then read the instruction booklets and check whether they have to be left to sit unplugged for a certain period of time before being plugged in. I think I ignored that instruction for my freezer and just plugged it in and everything was fine, but I wouldn't necessarily advise doing that. Chillerz ice sheets work for days, so it would be fine to leave the freezer to stand overnight before turning it on if you want to be safe.
Plan to not cook. Taking sandwiches/other lunch food in a cool box is good, but you probably want to plan for at least one hot meal - either ready meals or takeaway. Look up takeaway numbers in advance. Also plan to have breakfast food available for the following morning so you don't have to do food shopping pre-breakfast.
Washing machines = childsplay to connect. Make sure you have an adjustable spanner to hand to help tighten the connections if necessary. Remember that the drain hose will probably have water in it.
Visit the place and take measurements so you can create a basic plan and get hold of sensible sized curtains.
Don't worry about room layout too much. Get everything in the right room and work from there. The first layout probably won't work and you'll refine it as you live there and realise that the sofa's in a sub-optimal place for telly viewing or the kettle's in a silly place.
Brute force & ignorance has a place, but not till a bit of thought has been applied. Make heavy things as light and as non-awkward as possible ie. take cushions off sofas. Lots of things will slide along the floor and don't need to be lifted [depends how much you care about the floor covering]. Plan the route first. Work out where the weight is in the object before trying to move it ie. a washing machine will move much more easily if you push the middle to bottom rather than the top because the weight is towards the bottom.
Any other bits of wisdom from bitter experience?
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Order phone first, then when connected order broadband. Try and do this a little bit before you move in, as they always seem to take forever to set up ;)
Make sure your insurance starts on the right day.
Find out where meters are, and which companies you are with. Don't wait for the first bill.
I always make the bed first. And then clean. Then put clothes away. Unpacking takes several days sometimes. The last box/bag is the most satisfying.
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All this comes from moving my brother in, and many many student houses!
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Particularly with desks; you don't want people carring them suddenly have a door open on them or a drawer falling out and onto their foot.
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(Anonymous) 2007-09-10 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
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Books are heavy. Don't fill boxes to the top with books; only half-fill them, then put soft, light things on top to fill the box.
Label each box with its contents and where it came from as you pack; it'll make it much easier to sort things out later and find things.
Remember that you have to let the freezer stand in it's final position for at least 24 hours after moving to allow the gases to settle before you switch it on again.
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(I must admit I'm actually a bit of a pro at moving house having done it maybe a dozen times and have long lists refined over the years, and I'm impressed that you've covered pretty much everything but the money we paid the removal firm to pack our non-delicate stuff last time we moved was definitely well spent.)
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