Preparing to move house

[Erfolg]

My wife and myself are preparing to move house. Not having ever done it, in moving completely in our lives. Having lived in the same property for 40 years what may seem straight forward to many, is full of issues for us.

My wife is now organising the decorating (wall paper) of the house, the walls are all emulsioned white or off white. Also in organising the selection of blinds and there installation.

In my case, I am painting the concrete garage floor tomorrow and will receive some steel racking and work bench next week. In addition I have filled my car with model kits which I am taking there.

We have decided and accept that all the big furniture will be moved by the removers.

The things which are disturbing me is what to many may be non issues. That is do removal men move books? We have 5 book cases, filled with books and some stacked. Then there is the vast amounts of crockery, some in sets, again there is a pretty large volume of pots and pans.

I am now embarking on a clear out of the garage and loft to reduce the hoard, which does include train sets, some toys, and my FE text books and notes. All of which I would like to keep.

So the question is how realistic to box this lot for the removal men, or should I just hire a van for these treasured artefacts (that others call junk)?

[Andy48]

Why not arrange for the removal men to pack it all for you and unpack it at the other end? They provide all the boxes and the packing.

Simple.

Edited By Andy48 on 22/02/2016 19:12:59

[William Macleod]

I asked for some boxes, packed up most of the stuff and they moved my models.

Worked out ok. I moved the fragile models myself.t

[iqon]

Get removers round to give you a quote, they will tell you what services they offer. make sure you are sat down when you look at quote...

[IanN]

Erf, I really feel for you and hope it goes well

Any competent removals firm should be able to deal with your books, crockery, pots and pans etc without you lifting a finger. They will also be well used to lofts - though I guess they will charge according to the size of the job

A firm for which you have personal high recommendations would be the best starting point. Charges will be high but this is a very important area where you tend to get what you pay for. You should also check what their arrangements are for insurance and compensation in the unfortunate event of a mishap

Re your "hoard" be very careful indeed not to underestimate how much you have or how seriously onerous and wearying it may be to move it all yourself. Do you really want the stress of that on top of the move?

When my wife and I moved to our present home from rented accomodation we had - so I thought - "not very much" stuff to worry about. One week of evening trips later, plus repeat journeys on the Saturday with the largest van I could legally hire and the help of pretty much all the family, I was completely and utterly frazzled - and that was 26 years ago when I was considerably more "up for it" than I would be these days!

[NormB]

For our last move, the removal company offered very good flat tri-walled corrugated cardboard boxes at a nominal fee on a use and return basis. We even kept a few at about a small cost.

FE text books - were you a 'finite element' person too? (got rid of mine )

Norm

[Erfolg]

Norm

I have undertaken some basic training on Finite Element Analysis, Printed board Design using Autor-outing. That is addition to CAD Modelling. covering concepts, wire frame, extrusion. All with the emphasis on the use of tables, for the vector graphics, catalogue, boolean operations and matrices multiplication etc. That was then, today i remember very little. I will goes as far as to say it is all a bit boring, other than all being very useful tools, for some applications

Now the issue is moving. You all have answered the question, it is a normal part of the service.

Still need to take the opportunity to do a purge of the real junk.

[Mowerman]

Andy48 suggested getting the removal men to do all the packing for you, I recently got a quote for that service and was shocked to see the cost - £2500

I think I have persuaded SWMBO ,we are too old to move

Edited By Mowerman on 23/02/2016 10:24:32

[Cuban8]

Having had a couple of house moves over the last thirty years, my experience is essentially the more stuff you have to shift and the more that the removers do, the more it will cost (ignoring removal distance).

The key is get rid of anything that you don't need and be hard about it. Our lives are cluttered with.........clutter! Get shot of all that old stuff that's never been used for years, because to be brutally honest, in the fullness of time it'll wind up in a skip or be taken by a clearance firm.

Our last move was ten years ago and to move the contents of a three bedroom property a distance of 45 miles we had quotes ranging from £700 - £1500 and that was with us doing all our own packing. We also purchased our own packing materials and boxes from Ebay and saved £s on that as well.

In the end I went with the cheaper option from a small removal firm and was very pleased with their service with nothing broken or lost and everything done on time, so don't automatically be swayed by the gloss and sales talk from the big names.

 

Edited By Cuban8 on 23/02/2016 11:24:13

[Plummet]

My suggestion is that you put what you can systematically in to boxes and label them on each side. That way, when you are looking for a particular widget you can see the label and at least know which box it is in.

One ex-boss of mine did not unpack the boxes between moves, unless they needed something from that box. Then, next time they moved, they knew that the stuff that was still in boxes was not needed - aka junk.

Plummet

[WolstonFlyer]

My last move ( about 12 years ago) we got the removal company (Pickfords) to do 99% of the packing and supply the boxes but it was expensive, about £3600 I think and that was for a medium size 3 bedroom semi and moving about 80 miles, they did send 5 people to do the packing over 2 days and 4 people on the moving day. The University paid the removal costs so I didn't need to worry about it

They also packed our huge library of books in to about 30 medium sized boxes, they were very picky about the weight of each box and some were only half full so keep that in mind of you pack your own boxes, if they are too heavy they might ask you to unpack them again.

[Mowerman]

Boxes for packing.

At the time of our last move (12 years ago) we got our boxes free from the nursing home SWMBO worked at, they were the boxes that the OAPs 'nappies' came in. Worth asking at local nursing home. An offer of a small donation may help.

[Erfolg]

I have painted the garage floor today, I have three plastic racks in there now, it has dried. I have three steel shelving racks coming next week and a work bench. So should have some reasonable storage when all erected.

I will start in the Attic tomorrow to bring stuff down and bin all the junk. I have decided that all the old computers will be binned, as they are no longer good for man nor beast. I am sure that there will be much more. I know that there are two body boards up there. I will see if daughter o. 1 and son-in-law want them for the children, if not they will go. As will a TR Spitfire car seat, boot lid and goodness knows what else.

My wife has some new mattresses arriving at the new house, plus the windows will have blinds in the next 10 or so days.

By then i should know a lot more about what is coming with us, what is to be binned. Then it will be about getting quotes, to move everything.

How people do this as routine is amazing, as it is a complex process as far as I can see.

Hmm, then there there are the two slalom canoes and one white water racer in the garage, which I will never use again. plus ladders and my vice. Oh dear, it is a stressful business.

The good news is that my car was stacked to the gunnels with kits, which have made the journey.

I can see that it will be some time before I am able to start building models again!

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

I should keep the canoes Erf the weather we're having

John

[Keith Simmons]

We moved house 10 years ago. I agree bin as much as you can & I had to take the paint cans in my car as the removals won't touch it. We find unpacking took much longer than packing & most importantly mark where you packed the mugs & kettle etc. We had to hunt for them 😫

[Vecchio Austriaco]

Hi Carl,

long time we had a chat. I moved hose 10 times - and twice over country borders. So I can feel with you and think about all the mess. Yes it is a good time to get rid of stuff - in my current house I found a few boxes which were unopened since I moved over from Italy - and I have moved 4 times in the UK since... so as it looks I didn't miss the stuff which was in it. Or I bought it again if it was necessary.

Therefore: get yourself rigid boxes - not from the internet - they are only good for cushions or similar - but go to a storage company like big yellow or similar. They have normally good quality stuff - and don't overfill and spend some time in writing the content on it. Pack yourself, so you know whats in the boxes. I had a few interesting surprises with boxes packed by a removal company.

And do not let anybody touch your models.... As I suppose you will not move too far from where you were before transport them yourself.

All the best

VA

[Engine Doctor]

Be Ruthless , If you haven't used it for a year or so dump it . If its old and not collectible , dump it. Don' t think it through so much ,just do it . Finally have a day off of the forum and get it all done . You'll feel a lot better when its all sorted .

[Colin Carpenter]

Agreed Chuck! Chuck ! Chuck ! All of it ! Best of luck ! I am not envious !! Colin

[Erfolg]

There is far much to do in a day.

I have spent this morning making a dent on the loft contents. There were about 10 or so suit cases. I have found all sorts of stuff, that my wife does not know who it belongs to, most probably Daughters No 1& 2 and a few things she has sneaked in. Many suitcases are now on the way to the tip with a collection of empty boxes from various bits of electrical items, that my wife has volunteered to take..

Tomorrow i have assembled about 4 boxes of Christmas decorations plus a few artificial trees.

I can also see a old KK Spectre, towards the back, that will go.

Perhaps the dig surprise is that I have found 4 sets of foam wing cores. plus a fibre glass nose cone and canopy for a Denise Bryant Me 163.

I have also spotted a Graupner Nemesis kit in the garage. Hard one this, it is a bit small for my interests now.

I am hoping that by the end of the week I will have cleared the loft.

I woke up last night remembering there is a electric winch in the Garden Shed, that will have to go.

Gerhard, are you able to do any modelling, now, with your work commitments, new house?

[Olly P]

Erf - fro things like body-boards and kayaks, stick them up on freecycle for collection. someone will be able to use them and it beats them being thrown away.

All my kayaks and gear are at my parents, haven't touched it in ages.

[Vecchio Austriaco]

Carl,

to be honest my activities are pretty low at the moment. The house is done, so one box ticked. I think I was last time in October at the club field. My boy is at uni now, so this doesn't help as he wanted to throw his helis around from time to time. And the weather doesn't help either. Nice and calm it is only during the week...

There is no excuse, there are several models ready to fly. There are 4 building projects of which 2 are ARTF, engines, servos, all there.

Sometimes we have a lazy period, I think I am suffering of one at the moment. Only excuse is work, I am still on business trips once a week.

Regards

Gerhard

[Engine Doctor]

Posted by Olly P on 24/02/2016 12:49:31:

Erf - fro things like body-boards and kayaks, stick them up on freecycle for collection. someone will be able to use them and it beats them being thrown away.

All my kayaks and gear are at my parents, haven't touched it in ages.

Its a good/noble idea but Iv'e found that putting stuff on Gumtree and similar sites "free to good home" is a waste of time and plagued by time wasters. I now ask mates etc and if no interest its down the tip and dumped with all the other good stuff I see down there.

Do your parents mind being used as a storage center . I know what my parents would have said , but cant write that hear as it will offend the moderators .

[Olly P]

ED - Freecycle tends to only get those interested and who will turn up responding. never had a no-show.

I don't think they mind for the boats - they are up in the garage roof space. one of my old boats went to a friends son when he wanted to try it.

The gear? my dad uses it!

[Graham Cramp]

Having spent all my adult life up until now in the forces, moving house is second nature!

We always saw it as a great way to declutter as everything has to be moved anyway so might as well bin what you haven't used in the last few years. I know that we always ended up with piles of stuff for charity, ebay, tip, family etc etc etc, and if you've got the time then great, otherwise you just have to be ruthless and for the headache a few quid gained from ebay, you may as well just get rid of asap - tip!

As for moving the stuff, we have tried everything from doing it all ourselves, to having the company come in, pack, move and unpack the other end. Our last (hopefully for a very long time) move was from Northampton UK to Ottawa Canada and we had a full pack and unpack service. I couldn't have asked for more. I had several airframes in various states of completion, plus a heli plus all my kits and tools etc and not one stick of balsa was even dented after 3291 miles and 3 months in storage.

Definitely the way to go!

Plus they can do it 10x quicker than you or I could, just because they have all the gear and they do it all day every day. In our whole move to Canada one garden chair got damaged when I stuck the knife in too far to unwrap it. That was it, not crockery or glassware broken, no ornaments, pictures - nuffn.

[Andy48]

Posted by Mowerman on 23/02/2016 10:22:20:

Andy48 suggested getting the removal men to do all the packing for you, I recently got a quote for that service and was shocked to see the cost - £2500

I think I have persuaded SWMBO ,we are too old to move

Edited By Mowerman on 23/02/2016 10:24:32

A friend of mine is moving this month and I asked him how much the removals are costing. Just over £1000 including all the packing, although he is not moving far.