Moving

[Uncle Charlie]

Seeking a bit of advice for moving.  Besides my pre-marital college days, I have only moved once and my company did it.  This time we are on our own with two kids and two dogs...and a bunch of crap.  I'm looking for a bit of advice for folks who have done in-town moves.  I live in Dallas, so don't need company names, but rather experiences on what to do and what not to do.  The plan is that we are selling our house and moving into an apartment for a year or so, then back to a house in the area.  We're going to have to put some things in storage (PODs vs brick/mortar?) while we are in the apartment.

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

[subnuclear]

No one ever takes this advice, but don't try and save money using random cardboard boxes to pack stuff in. Go to Office Depot or whatever and buy cardboard boxes that one person can easily carry even if its full of books. If all the boxes are the same size it makes it easier to stack and will stack more efficiently. Also, buy lots of packing tape and wrap the tape around the box like ribbon on a gift box.

[BizidyDizidy]

Would use midnight hour movers - cheap and decent for local Dallas moves (have used multiple times)

You may be able to get a referral discount - if so, happy to do so

[BizidyDizidy]

 Also - have experience with both local Dallas and out of Dallas moves. Would recommend an out of Dallas move, with the   chief advantage that you are no longer in Dallas afterward.

[Craig]

No one ever takes this advice, but don't try and save money using random cardboard boxes to pack stuff in. Go to Office Depot or whatever and buy cardboard boxes that one person can easily carry even if its full of books. If all the boxes are the same size it makes it easier to stack and will stack more efficiently. Also, buy lots of packing tape and wrap the tape around the box like ribbon on a gift box.

This is really good advice. Get a shitload of boxes that are a uniform size. And don't get ones that are huge; when you fill them up they'll be too heavy. Put books and heavy shit in smaller boxes. Also get a dolly/hand-truck and you can move 4-5 boxes at a time. The ones with rollers for going up and down steps are great.

Also, when you're packing up stuff in your uniform boxes, be brutal and get rid of stuff you never use. It's better to get rid of lots of crap now instead of packing it, moving it, storing it, moving it again, and unpacking it. Have a garage sale and use the money you make to buy more uniform boxes.

[homer]

I have done a storage unit for a year two different times now. Mark the boxes well. You will want to find things when you first move into your new house after the apartment (tools, coffee maker, the little part to that thing that you need to make it work but you can't find it now and it's been a year and you can't remember what box it is in).

You'll also need to consider that you will want to get something out of your storage unit during the year. Pack it accordingly.

Crack the refrigerator doors open when you put them in the storage unit.

[Mr. Happy]

Get your boxes at a place like UHaul. And then follow the packing instructions on those boxes, e.g., books only in book boxes, etc. Pack remembering that someone will have to carry the box upstairs, i.e., don't make it too heavy. Get one of those nice tape dispensers with lots of tape and some good Magic Markers/Sharpies. Label every box.

[Waldo]

We're going to have to put some things in storage (PODs vs brick/mortar?)

I've read bad things about PODS the company, in particular.  If you go that route you may want to find someone else that does the same thing.

[Señor Stan]

Get your boxes at a place like UHaul. And then follow the packing instructions on those boxes, e.g., books only in book boxes, etc. Pack remembering that someone will have to carry the box upstairs, i.e., don't make it too heavy. Get one of those nice tape dispensers with lots of tape and some good Magic Markers/Sharpies. Label every box.

This, except get your boxes at Lowe's.  An 18x24x18 box is $4.24 at Uhaul and $1.32 at Lowe's.

[BudGirl]

I used legal boxes, but that was because they were available and free after a scan/shred party we had in our office.

If you can get the dolly that converts to a flat bed, that is great.  You can get up to 9 boxes (or more) on it per trip.

I also recommend packing room by room, that way your boxes are organized in such a way.

And seriously do the donation/trash boxes.  It is better to get rid of it before you take it to the new place/s.

[Ty in Tampa]

Another vote for purging. It's the only good thing about the moving process.

[subnuclear]

I've used 1-800-GOT-JUNK.com to haul old furniture and piles of junk away. Its incredibly convenient and hassle-free and worth the money for lazy people like me.

[Guinness]

Another vote for purging. It's the only good thing about the moving process.

This, absolutely.

We've moved a lot, including several international moves.  When we moved back here the last time we had all of our possessions down to 20 boxes worth of stuff plus luggage.  That's some serious purge right there. 

I recall hearing a guy on the radio saying that if you have anything (especially things in storage) that you haven't seen or touched in a year, get rid of it (not counting heirlooms or collections, just old junk). It's good advice.

[Fredia]

moving furniture is easy. donate what is not used, but that said be grateful you dont have two cats and a dog

[Bench]

You will always need more boxes, bubble wrap and tape then you have on hand.

Mark every box explicitly with contents and which room they should be left by the movers.

Purge, purge, purge.  The last two moves I've moved the same four unopened boxes of dishes my sister gave me after her wedding gifts made them redundant.  I am an utter moron.

Great lazy step, leave your clothes in your drawers and move the drawers yourself while the moving company takes the chest.  That way you don't have to pack and unpack and feel the shame of packing a dozen t-shirts you haven't worn in several years that are crammed into the bottom of your t-shirt drawer.  Yes they were free bar giveaways and you never wear them but there is sentimental value and ah fuck it.  Better to keep ignoring them. 

Grab a couple of cheap plastic laundry bins from Target or someplace similar for when all else fails and the movers have already arrived and are hauling away boxes but you have several armloads of random shit that you didn't have time or room to pack because you started late and didn't buy enough boxes.  As an added bonus you now have extra laundry bins for the clothes you actually wear because your chest of drawers is full of clothes that you moved without inspection and never actually wear. 

[Arky Vaughan]

***Mark every box explicitly with contents and which room they should be left by the movers.***

The room part especially. You're paying them to move your stuff, so have them put it where you want it while you're at it. Otherwise, you'll spend days playing that game where you've got a bunch of tiles but only one open space and you have to move everything around to get them in order.

[Mr. Happy]

This, except get your boxes at Lowe's.  An 18x24x18 box is $4.24 at Uhaul and $1.32 at Lowe's.

I didn't know that.

[Fredia]

knowledge is power

[HudsonHawk]

This, absolutely.

We've moved a lot, including several international moves.  When we moved back here the last time we had all of our possessions down to 20 boxes worth of stuff plus luggage.  That's some serious purge right there. 

I once worked with a guy who could pack everything he owned in his Fiat Spider. He lived that way for years. Happily.

[NeilT]

I once worked with a guy who could pack everything he owned in his Fiat Spider. He lived that way for years. Happily.

I guess if it was a Fiat Spider he'd just pack and unpack at the same house.

[HudsonHawk]

I guess if it was a Fiat Spider he'd just pack and unpack at the same house.

For several years, he didn't have a permanent residence. He traveled a lot for work, and the four or five nights a month he wasn't on the road, he simply rented a hotel room. He never cooked, never cleaned, never did hard work, or never paid an electric/water/cable bill. He swore it was the greatest time in his life.

[Uncle Charlie]

This has all been incredibly helpful.  Boxes purchased at Home Depot (though they are running short on small ones).  I'm trying to make most of the boxes the same size.  We've committed to using United Mayflower for the storage unit. I think they are just getting into this (you pack, we drive) business but of course have been doing long haul moving for years.  I was not impressed by PODS and RatPack was too expensive.

Most importantly, we are doing some serious purging.  Basic rule of "if we haven't touched it in a year" is being applied, subject to sentimental things.  Garage sale #1 is over and we were giving such great deals that people were coming back several times with friends.  Funny thing is, the plan was that one stuff was in the garage sale pile, it had started its walk down "The Green Mile".  Once it passed the treashold of the front door it was dead to me.  Anything not sold was taken directly to Goodwill.

Lots of work done and lots in front of us.  D-day for the house hitting the market is next Tuesday.

[Waldo]

Most importantly, we are doing some serious purging.

We moved in November and purged quite a bit, but not nearly as much as we could/should have.  It's now June and 2/3 of our garage is occupied  by crap that is either unimportant enough to not unpack yet or that my wife swears we will need "at some point".

[Mr. Happy]

We moved in November and purged quite a bit, but not nearly as much as we could/should have.  It's now June and 2/3 of our garage is occupied  by crap that is either unimportant enough to not unpack yet or that my wife swears we will need "at some point".

My wife is in the process of packing up and selling our home in Napa. I've encouraged her to purge. We'll see if she really does that.

[Uncle Charlie]

House goes on the market tonight.  The Realtor day was Tuesday (previously mentioned d-day).  Of course, the painters are taking this to the wire and something HAD to break today...awesome.  I'm exhausted, my wife is exhausted...  Just readying the house for sale is exhausting.

BTW the United Mayflower storage unit was top notch.  I really liked it.

[94CougarGrad]

Check on switching your utilities earlier than you'd think you'd need to. It no longer takes 3 days to get electricity or DirecTv turned on somewhere.

Anything you've got left to purge, don't take anywhere- Box or bag it up and call one of those charities that will come pick it up from your porch and leave you a tax-deductible form. There are plenty of those- the Leukemia Society, veterans' groups, etc.

If you've got smaller animals (cats, Chihuahas, etc.), make sure you put them in carriers when you actually move them to the new place. Yes, it's not far, and yes, it feels like a big pain, but it'll keep them calmer during the ride and you don't risk one of them bolting for the hills when you open the car door. PetSmart and Petco have cardboard carriers very cheaply if you don't want to invest in a bunch of "permanent" carriers that you'll just have to store while you're in the apartment.

[Fredia]

well said about the pets, we moved a block or two and the cat got out of the box and sat on my daughters head/shoulders meowing all the way. not good to have a stressed cat

[Uncle Charlie]

Several moves ago we went to the vet and got what amounted to vallium for cats.  The movers found it during the packing process and stole it before driving off.  When we went to give it to our cat, it was gone.  That cat panted for the entire drive from Houston to Amarillo.

[das]

Several moves ago we went to the vet and got what amounted to vallium for cats.  The movers found it during the packing process and stole it before driving off.  When we went to give it to our cat, it was gone.  That cat panted for the entire drive from Houston to Amarillo.

You shouldn't have told him you were moving from Houston to Amarillo.

[Fredia]

cars are very intelligent

[BUWebguy]

Several moves ago we went to the vet and got what amounted to vallium for cats.  The movers found it during the packing process and stole it before driving off.  When we went to give it to our cat, it was gone.  That cat panted for the entire drive from Houston to Amarillo.

We got those drugs for our cat when we were moving from Philadelphia back to Texas (a two-day drive). We didn't use them the first day, and the cat meowed most of the day, annoying as heck to my wife (thankfully, I was driving the other car). We gave the cat the drugs the second day, and it still meowed the whole ride -- it just sounded drunk this time. I'm not sure which was worse.

[austro]

We got those drugs for our cat when we were moving from Philadelphia back to Texas (a two-day drive). We didn't use them the first day, and the cat meowed most of the day, annoying as heck to my wife (thankfully, I was driving the other car). We gave the cat the drugs the second day, and it still meowed the whole ride -- it just sounded drunk this time. I'm not sure which was worse.

We had a cat that actually got worse with those drugs: he knew something was fucked up, and that made him even more of a basket case.

[NeilT]

Our's car's smart enough, we just let the cat drive.

[hostros7]

Our's car's smart enough, we just let the cat drive.

And to think, it seems just yesterday that you couldn't even go out on a nice Sunday drive with your cat tooncis behind the wheel without hurtling over a cliff.  Flying cars? For the birds.

[JimR]

when we moved back to Austin from Lubbock after law school, we gave our Bassett Hound a sleeping pill so that he could handle that long drive with Mark's mom. watching him shuffle/stumble around trying to figure out why he was stepping on his own ears was hilarious.

[Mr. Happy]

We had a cat that actually got worse with those drugs: he knew something was fucked up, and that made him even more of a basket case.

Mrs. Happy just employed kitty valium for a trip by plane from SFO to Toledo. She said that it worked very well.

[NeilT]

Mrs. Happy just employed kitty valium for a trip by plane from SFO to Toledo. She said that it worked very well.

What did she do for the cat?

[JimR]

What did she do for the cat?

oh, so nominated

[Craig]

when we moved back to Austin from Lubbock after law school, we gave our Bassett Hound a sleeping pill so that he could handle that long drive with Mark's mom. watching him shuffle/stumble around trying to figure out why he was stepping on his own ears was hilarious.

I always found it was better to be sedated when you arrive in Lubbock, rather than when you leave. Come to think of it, maybe that's why you always see long-eared dogs stumbling around at 4th Street and University ...

At the crappiness of Lubbock's nexus, the ear trip's nearer.

[JimR]

I always found it was better to be sedated when you arrive in Lubbock, rather than when you leave. Come to think of it, maybe that's why you always see long-eared dogs stumbling around at 4th Street and University ...

At the crappiness of Lubbock's nexus, the ear trip's nearer.

actually, Lubbock was not a bad place for law school. except for dust storms and tornado scares, that is.

[Craig]

actually, Lubbock was not a bad place for law school. except for dust storms and tornado scares, that is.

My very first organized baseball game -- PeeWee League when I was 8 years old -- was on the night of the big 1970 tornado. We took team photos after the game and you can see purple clouds on the horizon.

[Fredia]

is that the entertainment?

[Mr. Happy]

What did she do for the cat?

More than she did for me!

[94CougarGrad]

oh, so nominated

I concur, counselor.