Innisfree Posted July 27 Posted July 27 (edited) We’re moving a few relatively heavy pieces of furniture, beyond what dh and I can safely handle, so we’ve hired some movers through the U-Haul site to load and unload. We want to have things ready for them to move quickly and easily. Some of the furniture is quite old, and has sentimental value. It’s all wood, as in walnut or mahogany, not pressed wood or lighter new stuff. The movers have very good reviews, for whatever that’s worth. Will it make the process easier for them if we have moving blankets already firmly placed around the furniture? The items being moved are mostly big case furniture: things like chests of drawers or desks. There are a couple of bookcases. So, I know that being able to grasp the items better by having access to the spaces left by removing drawers might help with moving. At the same time my priority is protecting the furniture. What’s the best way to do this? Edited July 27 by Innisfree
Innisfree Posted July 27 Author Posted July 27 Do movers generally expect to wrap furniture themselves, or it that generally done before they get there in a budget kind of situation?
Arcadia Posted July 27 Posted July 27 6 minutes ago, Innisfree said: Do movers generally expect to wrap furniture themselves, or it that generally done before they get there in a budget kind of situation? I live in a condo so I frequently see moving vans. Movers do not wrap furniture most of the time especially when you are paying for movers to move items into your own moving truck. They come prepared to move stuff and typically all they bring are the heavy duty hand trucks. When movers are using their own truck, whether they wrap the furniture depends on services agreed upon. They typically have the big roll of wrap in their moving truck. The movers that my husband’s employer hired when we relocated were paid to do the packing for us so they boxed the smaller items that can’t be wrapped easily and wrapped items that would have fall out parts like drawers. For chest of drawers, we taped the drawers shut with masking tape beforehand so that it was easier for the movers to wrap. 1
Innisfree Posted July 27 Author Posted July 27 2 minutes ago, Arcadia said: For chest of drawers, we taped the drawers shut with masking tape beforehand so that it was easier for the movers to wrap. We were thinking of taking the drawers out to reduce weight. If we wrap the chests of drawers, it becomes harder to grab and lift them, but then we couldn’t slide the drawers back in for transport. We can move the drawers ourselves, though, so that might be fine.
Arcadia Posted July 27 Posted July 27 6 minutes ago, Innisfree said: We were thinking of taking the drawers out to reduce weight. If we wrap the chests of drawers, it becomes harder to grab and lift them, but then we couldn’t slide the drawers back in for transport. We can move the drawers ourselves, though, so that might be fine. I think it depends on the size of your chest of drawers. The movers put sliders under and move it to their heavy duty dolly (platform truck). They are used to moving things like washers, refrigerators. 1
Innisfree Posted July 27 Author Posted July 27 4 minutes ago, Arcadia said: I think it depends on the size of your chest of drawers. The movers put sliders under and move it to their heavy duty dolly (platform truck). They are used to moving things like washers, refrigerators. Yeah, I don’t think our guys are bringing equipment like that. I don’t know, but I didn’t specify it when I made the reservation. We do have our own hand truck.
Arcadia Posted July 27 Posted July 27 @Innisfree is your furniture all on the ground floor? My friend had to pay a stair surcharge because some of her heavy furniture is in her second floor bedrooms. She had that in the agreement so the movers were prepared when they came. They did call for more manpower as they were supposed to get it done in 3hrs for her as stipulated in the agreement. 1
Innisfree Posted July 27 Author Posted July 27 All coming from the ground floor, but some will go upstairs in the destination. Thanks for the heads up; I’ll see how they want to handle things. The form did mention to allow extra time for things going upstairs. 2
mmasc Posted July 27 Posted July 27 I’d wrap the furniture myself with the moving blankets before they arrive. If you don’t, and they show up with no plan to do so, then you’ll have to pay for the time it takes you to wrap it in the moment. Or they’ll load it unwrapped-which I highly advise against. Don’t worry about them having a place to grab hold of stuff—they will come prepared for things like that. (Like a washer for example—it’s awkward to grab but they have gear for that sort of thing.) 1 1
Bambam Posted July 27 Posted July 27 When we moved last time, the movers (hired by employer, not by us) wrapped furniture in moving blankets and duct taped them around so the blankets didn't move. Would that help make them easier to pick up/handle? 1
lmrich Posted July 27 Posted July 27 I just moved on Wednesday. They used plastic wrap instead of blankets - much easier to grip. 1
MercyA Posted July 27 Posted July 27 The best moving company I ever used wrapped all the furniture completely in moving blankets and then wrapped the moving blankets tightly and entirely with rolls of shrink wrap (available on Amazon). The furniture was completely protected. The worst mover we've used didn't wrap things and put someone's else's lawnmower in the trunk of our car during transport. True story. 🙂 You could call and ask if the movers wrap furniture and how they do it. I would do it myself if I thought there was a chance they wouldn't. Good reviews are a good sign! 1
sgo95 Posted July 28 Posted July 28 Moving blankets can be bought on Amazon reasonably (Lowe's and Home Depot are more expensive) but the plastic wrap is available at the big box hardware store so you can prep most things beforehand. You could just prepare some materials for the chest but ask the movers on the day how they want to handle that and then you can wrap it while they move other stuff. We've moved cross country multiple times and we didn't perfectly prep things but even our IKEA furniture survived. In the Uhaul, you just have to think about things shifting and bumping together or rubbing the walls of the truck. Straps like these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/SmartStraps-4-Pack-1-in-x-10-ft-Ratchet-Tie-Down-500-lbs-Work-Capacity/3740809 might be useful too to secure things inside the truck. 1
caseylynn25 Posted October 21 Posted October 21 It sounds like you’re taking great care to ensure your furniture is protected during the move! Having moving blankets ready can definitely help the movers, as it provides an extra layer of protection for your sentimental pieces. However, it might be best to leave the blankets loosely draped over the furniture rather than firmly secured. This way, the movers can easily access the furniture and remove drawers if needed, while still keeping everything protected. You could also consider discussing your concerns with the movers when they arrive; they might have specific techniques or preferences that can help make the process smoother. Good luck with your move!
Heartstrings Posted October 21 Posted October 21 (edited) Just a warning, we had a terrible experience with hiring movers from UHaul, about 3 weeks ago. Not the movers, the "through uhaul" part. Uhaul had apparently underbid the cost of the movers by half so the "hired" movers never took the job and Uhaul didn't alert us to any issue until I called the day before. UHaul online also rserved us a truck that didn't exist and again didn't alert us until I called to see if we could get the truck we reserved an hour early and was informed that there was no truck and that there had never been a truck. We were left absolutly scrambling. The lady at the physical UHaul store told us that this happens several times a week. Try to verify everything early and often! Edited October 21 by Heartstrings 1 1
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