So you have finally been given a completion date, after months of hard work negotiating price, filling out forms and documents for the solicitors, bank and mortgage advisors, as well as organising a survey to value the house too. The finishing line is finally in sight, so now it is just down to packing up and moving into your new home. Emotions can run high, as you will no doubt miss your old property, but at the same time be excited about your new home too.
When it comes to packing and moving, the timing is key. You are legally required to leave your existing property on the time of completion, because the house no longer belongs to you. If you stay any longer, you are officially squatting. You therefore need to plan your move and packing process as effectively as possible, to ensure that the timings are accurately met. In reality, many people leave this to the last minute, and don’t think about packing until a day or two before the move. This could be because of work commitments, or the completion date was set too soon. So you might be in a position where you are wondering what is the quickest way to pack a house?
Organisation and preparation
Making sure you plan every aspect of packing your home is the most important thing. If you plan everything carefully, and organise everything, then it will make the packing process go much faster and smoothly.
You are going to need packing materials to help you with your move, and these should include rectangular cardboard boxes in a variety of different sizes, bubble wrap, strong tape, maybe some packing paper too and wardrobe boxes for your clothes. You can order this in advance from an online specialist, where they will arrive flat packed and ready for you to use.
You will either need a removal company to assist you on the day of the move, or you will need to hire a Luton van and gather some friends or family to assist you with the move. You can organise this long in advance of your move to ensure that you have the help you need and the equipment that you need.
The quickest packing method
- When it comes to actually packing a removal van, the largest objects in your home should go into the van first. This includes large furniture, mattresses, beds, sofas, wardrobes etc. The reason for this is because it is important to fit as many objects into the van as possible, so that it is completely full. This will save you trips back and forth, and make your move go much faster. You can easily fit smaller objects such as rectangle boxes with lids around the larger furniture to ensure it is completely full.
- You should park your removal van right at the front door of your property, to make your life as easy as possible with less carrying distance. This might sound obvious, but it really will help speed things up.
- You can use a sack truck to help transport large objects from your home, as they will make things much easier and faster for you. Transporting the larger objects should be the first thing that you do, before anything else. Remember that you will need to take down bed frames and probably wardrobes, as they are unlikely to fit through your door frames, so this will require some tools.
- When you transport your chest of drawers which include all of your clothes inside, you can leave the clothes in the drawers as you move them, as this will make things much quicker. They will be heavy to carry, so make sure you take out each drawer individually, carry them to the van, and then put them together again when you get there.
- The next step is to pack the smaller objects into cardboard rectangle boxes. Firstly you will need to put the boxes together, so that they are ready to pack. You will simply need to fold in the flaps at either end of the box and tape it together using some strong packing tape.
- The first room of the house to get started on, is the kitchen. The reason for this is because the objects in your kitchen can weigh a lot inside of boxes, and so you know those boxes are going to be heavy. It is best to pack heavy boxes into the van first, so that you can put lighter boxes on top of them and prevent breakage. The kitchen can take a while to do, because you will need to wrap up plates and glasses using bubble wrap and packing paper before putting them into boxes. You should also put your microwave oven and toaster in boxes too.
- The bathroom and bedrooms are the next place to go for packing. The reason for this is because you will need all the contents of these rooms as soon as you move into the new home, so they are vital. You can leave the random objects that are less important from your hallway and living room until last.
- Don’t forget to pack the pictures and picture frames from the walls, and these will need wrapping in bubble wrap first before you put them into boxes.
- Not all the objects in your home need to be packed into boxes, because some are too large. It is fine to put the ironing board into the removal van as it is, for example, or a large lamp. Just make sure that everything is secure and safe in the removal van.
- While you are packing up rectangular boxes packaging, make sure that you write on the outside of the boxes to say what is inside of each box. This is vital, because it makes unpacking much easier at the new house. Don’t just write the room of the house on the box, it is good to say exactly what you have packed into each and every box. It is also good to note which boxes contain the most fragile items.
