Moving home takes a very long time, from the day you agree on the price through to the completion date. It can often take many months, but when you do finally get given a completion date, there is often not much time to prepare. The packing process and the actual move can be very stressful in itself, and is often a bigger task than you expect. You will be surprised how many household belongings you have hidden away in your home, and even the smallest two bedroom houses can have lots of things to move.
So, in the scenario that you have finally been given a completion date and it has come around much sooner than expected, you might be very short of time to move. Perhaps you haven’t managed to have any time off of work to prepare and pack, or perhaps you were away on holiday and have just come back to the good news. Many people therefore wonder if they are able to move home in one day, on the day of completion. We have many years of experience running a removals business, and have moved home several times ourselves, and we specialise in supplying cardboard boxes for people who are moving home, so our experience has taught us a few lessons.
What are the main aspects of moving house?
- The first thing you have to prepare is the packaging materials that are going to be needed for the move. This will include cardboard boxes of a variety of different sizes, as well as bubble wrap and strong packing tape. You might also need packing tissue paper, as well as wardrobe boxes for clothes. You can buy packaging materials online and have them delivered to your door, ready for your packing.
- The next thing you have to decide is whether or not you are going to use a professional removal company to assist with your move, or if you are going to hire a Luton van and have some family and friends help you to move your belongings. It depends on your age and fitness, and the size of the house you are moving. Price is obviously another factor, as hiring a Luton and moving yourself can be much cheaper than using a removal firm. It is best to plan this with plenty of time before moving home, to ensure you have the equipment and space that you need for your boxes for moving.
- You have to know exactly when your completion date is, and the exact time of exchange as well, because that is when you have to legally be out of your property and moving to the next. This is very important.
- Next comes the actual move itself and packing. You have to pack the removal van with all of the large furniture from your home, including sofas, bed frames, wardrobes and chest of drawers, as well as the smaller objects packed into boxes. Both of these things take a long time, because you will need to use tools to take the bed frames apart, for example, and you have to pack the smaller things into boxes first, which can take a long time too.
- Finally, you have to drive to the new property and unpack your belongings, before spending many days sorting out your things.
So, can you move house in one day?
- It is definitely possible to move house in one day, if you are absolutely desperate, yes. You will need to start packing extremely early in the morning, and make sure you have the removal van ready the night before. You will need help from plenty of friends, family or a removal company, ideally four or five people.
- It is important to pack the removal van to the maximum, by fitting as many things in the van as possible into each load. This will save you trips back and forth, and make the move much faster.
- The first thing you will need to do is pack the van with the larger furniture from your home, which will take up the most room in the removal van. This enables you to fit smaller objects around and on top of those, so you can fit more into the van.
- The second thing is to prepare the cardboard storage boxes ready for packing. Just fold in the flaps at either end of the box and use some strong packing tape to secure them shut. After this, you can pack the boxes full of your possessions. Make sure you label each box to say what is inside, and label the most fragile boxes too. Pack the heaviest boxes into the van first, followed by lighter ones on top, to prevent breakage. The kitchen will usually contain the heaviest boxes due to plates, microwaves and toasters.
- Although it is possible to move house in one day, it is not recommended. If you rush through a house move, your household items are more likely to get broken and accidents are more likely to happen. You are more likely to forget household items too, and the move will no doubt be less organised than it should be.
- Ideally, you would want to pack your possessions a few days before the removal date, so that all you have to do on the day is simply pack the boxes for moving house and furniture into the van and then unpack them on the other side, as this is tiring enough.
- Either way, you will not need the removal van for more than one day, because the moving process will not take longer than six hours, for even the largest and most cluttered of houses.
