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Moving day has a way of humbling even the most organized people. However, no matter how many boxes are labeled, how colors are used to sort your closets, or how spreadsheets are developed on a timeline, at some point, you will be working up a sweat figuring out how to move a queen mattress around a turn in a hallway. For those considering using a portable storage container for their move, that choice is already a good one. Containers like PODS offer advantages that a traditional scheduled moving truck does not have.
But there is one thing that confounds many people: loading a container is a whole different skill set from having nice furniture. Here are 7 tips to make your move easier on yourself, your walls, and your lower back.
1. Start With a Real Plan, Not a Guess
Before any one box moves an inch, take a tour around the house and do a rough estimate of what larger objects exist in your home, like couches, dressers, appliances, beds, and fitness equipment. The size of portable storage boxes is set, and the area in them is limited. People who earn their living loading boxes know how to think in terms of balance and stackability of objects rather than “Will it fit?” An idea that is planned will save you from falling into the trap of filling the container with easier-to-fit items first.
2. Pack Smart, Not Just Fast
There is the temptation to stuff all the objects into the closest available box. However, boxes that differ in size and objects not clearly labeled lead to confusion when unpacking. Make sure to use uniform-sized boxes wherever you can, put heavy objects into smaller boxes, and make labels indicating the destination room as well as a contents description for each box. It is not only important in order to keep everything organized, but it also plays an essential role in the efficiency of the packing process.
3. Protect Your Floors and Doorways
Drop-offs and pick-ups for the containers mean that there will be trucks going into your driveway, and loading means that your door will be full of pieces of furniture coming and going all day long. Place protection runners on the hardwood or tile floor, and take the doors off their hinges if needed in order to fit the big piece through the doorway. Five minutes of preparation now will prevent problems later on.
4. Disassemble What You Can
The frame of a bed, a huge bookshelf, and a dining table always consume much less space disassembled than assembled. It is best to store screws and other tiny parts in separately marked bags that should be attached to the particular furniture item so that there will not be any problems until the time you assemble it at your destination point.
5. Load Heavy Items First, Fragile Items Last
Loading a container is a physically easy and straightforward task but very easy to mess up when you are short on time. You need to load the big, heavy stuff like furniture and home appliances at the beginning. After that, you position these big things low and touching the wall so that your container doesn’t lose balance when it is being carried. Fragile items and those with the least weight go on last, and, if possible, place them on top or secure them so they won’t move around.
6. Don’t Underestimate the Physical Toll
To pack an entire household into the moving container is truly strenuous work—it involves hours of lifting, twisting, and moving things of odd shapes through narrow passages. This is among the most common causes of injuries incurred on moving day. Injuries range from back pain to broken fingers. If you are someone with a busy work schedule, health constraints, or someone who does not wish to spend their one leisurely day in recuperation, perhaps you need to be realistic about the cost-effectiveness of do-it-yourself packing.
7. Bring in Professionals for the Loading Itself
This is where many people feel the greatest stress relief during their moves. You do not have to sacrifice the convenience of using a portable container in order to benefit from professional assistance; rather, you will be able to rent the container on your own and hire the professionals who will concentrate on just the loading and unloading tasks. The pods loading service in Baton Rouge that people rely on takes care of all these important tasks of packing, organizing, and optimizing your space inside the pod, while you maintain control over the process.
Making the Move Easier on Yourself
A move need not be a fight against your own belongings. With proper planning, good packing skills, and the correct assistance during the loading process, you can do away with those backaches, broken crockery, and inefficiencies in container filling that make the moving experience one of the worst you’ve ever had. Regardless of whether you are moving down the street or halfway across the country, it all starts with the loading part of the process.
If you’re planning a move in the Baton Rouge area and want the heavy lifting handled by people who do it every day, Movers and Helpers offers experienced crews who specialize in loading and unloading portable containers efficiently and carefully so you can focus on everything else on your moving checklist.