Moving & Packing Tips

The key to simple packing is using the right materials, including packing paper, felt pens, and appropriately sized boxes, to ensure that your belongings are packed safely and efficiently.

We use standard size moving boxes because they’re the most efficient for carrying and stacking your belongings: 2-cube, 4-cube, 5-cube and china barrel (dish pack). If you decide to get your boxes somewhere else make sure they’re similar in size (so they stack easily) and appropriate for the items you’re packing (books belong in a 2-cube box).

Liquor store boxes are often too small and mismatched to make for efficient moving. The more time it takes us to carry and load your boxes the more money it costs. Buying proper supplies in the beginning will save you money in the end.

Make sure you fill your boxes completely, all the way to the top (especially the heavy ones). The integrity of the load depends on each box supporting the weight of the others. Things shift around in the truck, if one poorly packed box is crushed the whole load is compromised.

Our goal is to make as few trips as possible. As long as your dressers are full of light items – clothing, linens, blankets, pillows – leave them, and we’ll move them as they are. Please do remove any small items – jewelry, coins, watches – as we’ll likely tip the dressers on their side along the way.

The exceptions: If your dresser is solid oak, an armoire, 7 feet tall, or too fragile to bear the weight of tipping it’s best to empty the drawers before moving.

We use pads to protect a lot of things, but lampshades are too fragile for pads (with the exception of glass lampshades). The safest way to transport your lampshade is to pack it in a box.

A good rule of thumb for properly protecting glass tabletops and shelving is to arrange to pack them into picture boxes before the move. Contact us and we’ll get you the supplies you need.

Marble, ceramic or other heavy, fragile tabletops should be crated. Let us know ahead of time and we can arrange this for you.

We can easily move your plants in our trucks. Dry plants are best so please don’t water your plants a day or two prior to moving. Drip trays should be packed separately. Groups of small plants can be packed together in open top boxes. Large plants can come as they are, we’ll use bungee cords to fix them to the walls if necessary. Wardrobe boxes work well for plants more than 4 feet high and we can supply these at a cost of $7.50.

A 2-cube box is the perfect size box for packing books. An experienced mover can carry two of these on his back, 3 or 4 on a two-wheel dolly, or 5 on a four-wheel dolly. If you’re concerned about lifting them yourself, pack them is a spot you can leave them until the movers arrive.

You can make your move go smoother by limiting the number of trips we need to make. One way to do this is to fill the empty spaces in your furniture – side tables, cabinets, dressers, trunks, suitcases, and the bottom of your wardrobe – with lighter items.

Things like: duvets, sleeping bags, pillows, lampshades, and small boxes can be easily tucked into the nooks and crannies of larger pieces of furniture. It’s our job to carry heavy things, and we’re good at it, so you don’t have to worry about weight (with a few exceptions).