While your friends can certainly help with many aspects of the moving process, they aren’t trained moving professionals. In some cases, they could cause more harm than help.
Things Your Friends Can Help You With
Many hands make light work, as the saying goes. The more friends you get to help you during the moving process, the faster the work will go.
1. Cleaning
Whether you’re moving out of a house or an apartment, you need to make your space look presentable for the next resident. You may need to start cleaning even before your house sells to present it to potential buyers.
When it comes to cleaning, friends can be a great resource. You could offer to buy them lunch if they come help you clean for an hour or two. They could help you tackle items like:
- Cleaning out the refrigerator
- Vacuuming
- Cleaning bathtubs
- Cleaning out cabinets
- Wiping down walls
- Sanitizing countertops
- Filling wall holes with putty
If you not comfortable asking your friends for help, hire a professional cleaning company.
2. Donating
As you prepare your belongings for a move, you might decide to give away things you don’t need. But sometimes this process is difficult, particularly when you have an emotional attachment to certain belongings. Ask an impartial friend to help you sort your belongings and help you decide whether to give or keep certain items.
When it’s time to donate your belongings, you might need a friend with a truck to haul them away.
3. Finding a Moving Company
Finding a reliable moving company can be difficult. Ask your friends for recommendations. Seeking advice from people you trust is the best way to find a reliable moving company.
Things Your Friends Can’t Help You With
While your friends are great resources for many aspects of the moving process, there are times when it’s best to seek help from a professional moving company.
1. Packing
It’s best to book a moving company for help packing delicate items. Despite your friends’ best efforts, they may accidentally break some of your treasured items. Professional movers are trained in the right methods for packing fragile items such as mirrors, artwork, and electronics. They also have the correct supplies to protect these items.
2. Moving Fragile Items
You may be tempted to have your friends help you move rather than hiring moving professionals. However, your friends may not know how to carefully move items like furniture, instruments, and televisions. In their haste to move your items, they may accidentally cause damage to your home, such as scraping the walls or doors. Instead, you should rely on professional movers’ ability to safely move your items.
Certain items depend on advanced training and equipment from professional movers. For example, movers use materials like furniture pads and straps to move furniture and pianos. They also know the proper procedure to disconnect appliances and prepare them for the move.
Related: 5 Dos and 3 Don’ts of Moving Electronic Devices
It’s also important to think about what could happen if an item breaks or goes missing. If your friends are helping you move, there’s not much you can do about these situations. If you’re using professional movers, you can choose a protection plan that provides coverage for lost or broken items. Protection plans include:
- Limited liability. This standard coverage option typically offers 60 cents per dollar of damaged items.
- Full replacement value protection. Choose this option for increased coverage, which is based on the total value of your items.
- High-value inventory. This option provides top coverage for high-value items like jewelry and china.
Having a protection plan in place can give you peace of mind during your move.
3. Storing Your Items
You might feel tempted to leave some of your items in a friend’s basement or garage. However, this takes advantage of your friend’s space as well as his or her generosity. It may also lead to damaged items.
Instead, count on storage through a moving company. Make sure the storage facility is clean and dry. Certain items, such as bedding, books, electronics, and furniture, benefit from climate-controlled storage, which prevents these items from cracking and warping. Also, make sure your storage unit is secure, ideally with coded access and 24/7 monitoring.
Whether you’re moving locally or internationally, friends can be a huge help. They can help you clean, donate your items, and find the right moving company. However, you need a professional moving company to help you pack, move, and store your items.
Make sure your move goes smoothly. Call Wheaton World Wide Moving for more information and get your free online estimate.
