Moving to a new house is among the most ordinary situations we can encounter in our life. And despite the fact we change the place we live in averagely a few times in our lifetime, removals are still among the most nerve-wracking activities that can happen to us. Just figuring out the logistics of transporting all your belongings between houses is quite a task and when you add packing, unpacking as well as selecting the best hauler to help you with the move, it seems really colossal and very stressful. Luckily there are a few ways to make the move as simple as can be and considerably less stressful.

Packing and securing your belongings for shipment

The most important thing you should remember while packing is that you should create a precise list of steps that you’ll have to stick to through the whole process. It is good to create an inventory of every item you want to transport. Such a list can not only make the packing easier but additionally will allow you to check if all your belongings were safely shipped to its place of destination. Removal entails transporting a big amount of various items, including a big amount of small items that are easily misplaced under the pressure of time – a list will ensure that you will remember to make sure they all made it to the place of destination safely. The next crucial step is tagging all the boxes as precisely as you can. One of the most useful ways of labelling cardboards is by the room name. So all the kitchen supplies and appliances go into cardboards tagged ‘kitchen’, all the duvets as well as personal items in the box tagged ‘bedroom’ and so on. You’ll quickly find out how much time labelling can save once you get to the unpacking part. Don’t forget to tag both sides and the top of the cardboard, to make sure that you (as well as the hauler) can be sure which box goes where, regardless of how they will be stacked in the shipping vehicle.

Be extra careful when preparing to transport delicate goods. Wrap them in thick layers of fabric as well as bubble wrap and label them in an easily visible place (including a “This way up” label). You should also ensure that the hauler knows that he’ll be transporting fragile load and which cardboards have to be handled with care.

When it comes to furniture, it’s imperative to take everything out of them before the removal as well as ship all the things inside separately. Any unattached items in closets and cabinets can harm your furniture during shipment. Additionally it is smart to close all the furniture doors as well as drawers with some tape so that they won’t open during shipment. You may use ordinary Scotch tape for that. There is also a matter of loading the furniture into the transporting vehicle. Before trying to move your furniture out of the house, be certain that they will fit through the front doors, stairways and into the elevator (if your old apartment has one). If so, you can transport them without dismantling (make sure that you have at least one person to help you!). If they can’t, disassembling them is the sole method to ship them without harm. Be careful with dismantling – be sure to store all the pins and bolts in one place like in a Ziploc bag as well as that you’ve secured all the elements of the furniture properly. Disassembling furniture is also a good idea whenever you need to use the shipping car to the maximum, as dismantled furniture will take a lot less place.  

When securing minor things, such as books, tableware, cosmetics and much more, cardboards will be the smartest choice. It’s probable that you will need more boxes than you have – but there is a few methods to acquire additional boxes. Firstly you can get new cardboards in most of the home-improvement and construction stores. However as you’ll probably need lots of boxes, you may decide upon a more affordable method. Visit your local stores and see if they have some boxes they don’t need any more. Shops tend to possess a great amount of unneeded cardboards and they are usually willing to give them away. 

Another options, instead of boxes will be using bags, especially for storing clothes and little stuff. There is a much higher chance that you have some bags already at home. As stated above, bags will serve as a sufficient choice for packing textiles, magazines and small things, but unfortunately they have a couple of disadvantages. Bags are much less durable than boxes and susceptible to breaking, should you choose to use them for shipping things with edges (for example books, cutlery etc.). Also – stacking bags on top of each other is much more difficult than stacking boxes in similar fashion.

One of the most tricky loads to ship are houseplants. It’s usually smartest to ship them personally, but if for some reason you cannot do that, you need to be certain that the hauler is aware of what he will be transporting. One day before the shipment water the plants thoroughly and let them sit. It’s crucial that the plants have enough water to suffer through the transportation, but it’s equally important to let them absorb what they can prior to putting them in a container (you must pour off the excess water gathered on the saucer, so that it won’t accidentally leak through the box).

Choosing the best hauler

Obviously, aside from suitably securing your cargo for the time of transportation, it is equally important to select a suitable transport provider. What factors should you take into consideration when making your decision? Cost of the service, of course, is of importance, especially on lengthy, routes between countries, however that’s just 1 factor. Whenever shipping all your belongings you need to firstly take into consideration if your load will be properly protected in the hands of the hauler. When listing your delivery on a shipping marketplace, such as Clicktrans, you not only can ask possible transport providers all the questions you need answered before deciding upon a hauler but also you may check out reviews given by previous customers on each transport provider’s profile page. Not much can be more believable than feedback given by someone who’s already hired the hauler you are thinking of hiring.  

The cost of removal

Price of removal is pretty hard to estimate, because it changes, sometimes drastically due to how much the cargo weights and how big it is as well as the route length. If you plan to ship many delicate things, the cost is likely to be higher. It’s similar for international removals – domestic routes are usually more economical than transporting your load across borders.