There’s a lot of moving advice out there. From legitimate moving companies to organizational blogs, from close friends to that girl on Facebook you went to high school with–it seems like most people have something to say about moving into a new home. But some of that advice isn’t so great. You have to weed out the good advice from the bad, which can be difficult if you haven’t moved in a while. To help you eliminate the terrible advice, here are the 5 moving tips we think are actually the worst moving advice you can take.
The Worst Moving Advice: Avoid These 5 “Tips”
1. Pack Closer to Moving Day
When you mentally scan through your home, it might not seem like you have a lot to pack. But it’s always more time consuming than you expect. For the average American home, each room takes about one day to pack. Even if you only have 5 rooms, you don’t want to take almost a full week off of work just to pack. About 3-4 weeks before your move, depending on how much you have to pack, start packing up nonessential items. Opt for things like books, out of season clothing, or kitchen and cookware you won’t need until after you move. The earlier you start, the more future you will be thankful you that did.
If you’re not sure where to begin, check out our 8 essential tips on how to start packing.
2. Furniture Can Be Moved with Full Drawers
While this might seem like a time saver, this “hack” could end up damaging your furniture. When extra weight shifts around while you move the piece, items could slam against one side and damage the drawer. It also makes the furniture much more difficult to maneuver. If it has to go up or down flights of stairs or through tight doorways, there’s a higher risk of damage to the furniture or home simply because it’s heavier. Even clothes can add too much extra weight to a dresser. Sure, one piece of clothing by itself is lightweight. But when combined with several other pieces, that weight can pile up quickly. Furniture wasn’t created to be moved with items stored inside, so it’s best to move them when they’re empty.
3. You Don’t Need to Disassemble Furniture
If your furniture can come apart, you should probably take it apart for your move. Stacking items on top of each other is the most efficient way to pack a truck. A delicate table with removable legs might come out damaged on the other side if it ends up with some heavy boxes on top of it.
Furniture can also be damaged from brushing against walls or doorframes, and, in turn, can damage the home. Taking furniture apart breaks it up into smaller, easier to move pieces.
4. Moving Blankets Are Unecessary
While you can just put your furniture into the moving vehicle unwrapped and unprotected, this isn’t the wisest idea. You might think you can get it to your new home without a scratch, but keep in mind, even stacked cardboard boxes can cause scratches. Splurge on the moving blankets, especially if your furniture is an expensive investment piece or has sentimental value. They are pricy, but you don’t have to purchase them to keep forever. Rent them from a moving company for a much lower price than buying them outright. They will protect your furniture from potential damage when on the truck and are worth every penny. If your furniture harkens back to your college apartment era and already has so many scratches you can’t tell what the original woodgrain looked like, you can certainly opt to just toss your furniture in the truck and go because a few more scratches won’t hurt it.
If you’re completing the move yourself, here are some of our tutorials on how to wrap and protect furniture during your move:
5. The Movers Will Move Anything
Movers will move most standard items. When it comes to specialty pieces like gun safes, hot tubs, or grand pianos, they might have policies against moving these pieces. Check your moving contract before you sign and ask the company about specific items. Don’t just assume they will move everything you have, or you might end up figuring out how to move a heavy pool table by yourself on moving day.
Now that you know the worst moving advice to avoid, it’s time to decide whether to move yourself or hire a moving company. And if you’ve gone with the latter, we at Moving U & Junk U believe we’re the best moving company for you. We are licensed and insured, and you can find and read our many five star reviews on Yelp, Google, and Facebook. Our movers are professionally trained to safely move your belongings from point A to point B. Whether you’re looking for assistance with moving, packing, junk removal, or a little of each, you can sit back, relax, and trust us to take care of all the heavy lifting for you.
