How it works

Moving to a new house is one of the most ordinary situations we can encounter in our life. And even though we change the place we live in at least a few times in our lifetime, removals are still among the most nerve-wracking situations that can happen to us. Just figuring out the organization of shipping all your belongings from one place to another is an enormous task and with securing your belongings for transportation, unpacking as well as selecting the suitable transport provider to assist you with removal, it becomes really huge as well as quite stressful. Thankfully there are couple of things you can do to make the move as efficient as can be as well as significantly less nerve-wracking.

Packing as well as securing your items for shipment

One crucial tip you need to remember while preparing for the removal is that you need a precise list of steps that you will abide by through the whole process. It is smart to make a list of all the things you need to ship. Such a list can not only make the packing easier but additionally will allow you to check if all of your things were safely shipped to its place of destination. Removal calls for transporting a great deal of various items, including a big amount of small things that can be easily misplaced when packed in a hurry – an inventory will help you make sure they all made it to the place of destination safely. Another crucial step is tagging all the cardboards as precisely as you can. One of the most helpful ways of tagging boxes is by category. For example all the kitchen accessories and devices should be placed into cardboards labelled ‘kitchen’, all the pillows as well as jewellery in the box tagged ‘bedroom’ and so on. You’ll see how much time labelling can save once you start the unpacking. Remember to label both sides and the top of the cardboard, so that you (and the transport provider) will be able to recognize which box goes where, no matter how they will be stacked in the transporting vehicle.

Be extra careful with delicate items. Wrap them in protective layers of textiles and bubble wrap as well as label them in an easily visible place (including a “This way up” sign). You also need to ensure that the transport provider knows that he’ll be shipping delicate load as well as which cardboards requires handling with caution.

When it comes to furniture, it’s imperative to empty them before the removal and transport all the things inside individually. Any loose items in cupboards and drawers can harm your furniture during shipment. It’s also smart to secure all the furniture doors and drawers using tape so that they cannot open during transportation. You may use regular Scotch tape for that. There is also a matter of loading the furniture into the transporting car. Before attempting to move your furniture out of the apartment, make sure that they will fit through the front doors, stairways and into the elevator (if your old apartment has one). If so, you can move them without disassembling (be sure to have at least one person to help you!). If they cannot, disassembling them is the only way to ship them safely. Be cautious with dismantling – be sure to have all the nails and bolts gathered like in a Ziploc bag as well as that you’ve secured delicate elements of the furniture properly. Disassembling furniture is also smart when you need to fill the shipping car to the maximum, because disassembled furniture will be much easier to stack efficiently.  

Whenever securing minor items, like books, tableware, decorations etc., cardboards will be the most obvious choice. It’s probable that you won’t have enough boxes to fit all your belongings – however there is a few ways to acquire additional boxes. For example you may get new boxes in all home-improvement and construction stores. However as you’ll most likely need lots of boxes, you can choose a more economical way. Visit your local shops and ask if they have any boxes they no longer need. Shops usually possess a lot of unnecessary cardboards and they are usually happy to share. 

An alternative to boxes will be using bags, particularly for transporting textiles as well as little stuff. There is a quite higher possibility that you have some bags already at home. As stated above, bags will be a sufficient choice for packing clothes, magazines as well as small things, there are some downsides, though. Bags are much more flimsy than cardboards and susceptible to tearing, should you decide to use them for shipping items with hard corners (like books, cutlery and so on). Moreover – placing bags on top of each other is much harder than stacking cardboards the same way.

One of the most difficult loads to ship are houseplants. It is always best to ship them by yourself, however if for some reason you cannot do that, you need to be certain that the transport provider is aware of what he is going to ship. One day prior to the shipment water the plants generously and give them a moment. It’s important that the plants have enough water to suffer through the shipment, but it’s equally important to allow them to absorb what they can before putting the plants in a box (you must pour off the extra water gathered on the saucer, to make sure it won’t accidentally leak through the cardboard).

Choosing the right hauler

Of course, aside from properly securing your load for the removal, it is equally important to find a suitable hauler. Which aspects of transportation must you acknowledge while making your decision? Cost of the service, certainly, is important, particularly on lengthy, routes between countries, however it’s only one of the factors. Whenever shipping all your belongings you should firstly think if your load will be safe when given to the transport provider. Whenever listing your delivery on a transport marketplace, such as Clicktrans, you not only may ask possible haulers every question you require an answer to before deciding upon a transport provider but moreover you can check out feedback given by previous customers on each hauler’s profile page. Nothing is more reliable than reviews given by a person who’s already used the services of the transport provider you are thinking of hiring.  

The cost of removal

Price of removal is pretty difficult to asses, because it changes, sometimes drastically due to the weight and dimensions of the cargo as well as the route length. If you plan to ship a lot of fragile things, the price is probable to go up. It’s similar for removals between countries – routes within one country are usually more economical than moving your items into another country.