Dirty Moving Secrets and The Myth of Quick Pack
It takes longer to pack a home than it takes to move it! Let that sink in for a minute, it takes more human hours to prepare the contents of a home for moving than it takes to actually load and unload the truck. (!!!!!!)
Hold up, that can't be right? Is it??
Let's start by defining what we are talking about. Move Day vs. Pack Day. For movers those are two different days, on one your home is prepared to move and on the other it is actually loaded into the truck. Best case scenario for our movers is, they can walk into your home and are able to pick up ANY item and it is ready to be loaded into the truck. No disassembly or additional packing required. We have a saying for those instances the client has 100% prepared the home. That the home is "in a state of ready". The "State of Ready" is the standard that we use to estimate a packing portion of a move and truth is it takes a long time.
Pro Tip: Pack Day is for packing, Move Day is for moving!
If your home is, as we saying in the moving business "in a state of ready" which means the movers can walk in and can pick up any item and carry it to the truck with no prep needed. Your home is ready to be moved. The reality is most people have kids, a pet, a job. They need their computer and have to cook food, have a cup of coffee and maybe would like to sleep on their bed the night before move day. Which means in the truest sense of the word "pack day" is not complete. But Moving Day is here and at You Move Me we understand that maybe not everything is 100% ready which is why our crews are experienced in disassembly and packing a wide rage of uncommon household items. We won't shortcut packing protocol unless the client gives us written authorization because the chances of the items being damaged is high. So the more information we have about how you would like your move to be managed the better.
The worst news for the movers is that the client didn't get all the packing done. Because there is no way to shortcut packing. Either you pack an item correctly or you don't, halfway won't prevent a damage from happening. No amount of "fragile" written on a box that is packed incorrectly will prevent the items from being damaged. The contents of the box will move while in transport, they will rattled inside of the box regardless of how well the truck is packed. Now if you don't care about your possession, of course having every item packed is not necessary. But at You Move Me we will not choose what items are your prized possessions. We will treat everything you own as a prized possession until our clients tell us otherwise. Which brings me back to the point of this post.
THERE IS NO WAY TO PACK FAST, BUT WE CAN HELP!
Top Tip
1. Self packing is cheapest, but needs to be done correctly or it will take longer to load truck than we planned. If you have questions ask we will always be just a phone call away.
2. Keep us informed if your packing plan is not working. Especially if you are planning for "just" a move, and now there will be packing.
3. You will not be able to pack in one day! For a normal 2000 sqft home it takes 3-4 people at least 8 hours to pack 90% of a home. (or over 32 hours of work or 5-8 hours for a one bedroom apartment!!)
4. Don't get frustrated, let us know. We have seen and heard it all before and we will have a solution.
5. Let Us do the pack for you, it may cost more but when you look at the amount of your time and energy you will be saving, it will be well worth it!