dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 We're moving, quick like, little notice and trying to get out by the 10th. (Don't even know where we're going yet - update coming tomorrow!) My problem is this: I have about 10 bookshelves worth of books. None of the shelves are sturdy enough to just tip the shelf and move the books on it as-is. And you can't put very many books in a box before it gets too heavy; would need about a million boxes! :lol: Any bright ideas on moving a buncha books? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Late at WM, they have a BUNCH of dvd boxes. They're about the right size to hold 4 stacks of books, but they fill up before they get too heavy for even me. You'll need about a million. GL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Do you know anyone you could borrow a dolly (aka hand truck) from? That would make it a breeze. Put an entire shelf of the books on a dolly, wheel it out to the moving truck, unload. Repeat...not quite a million times. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Do you know anyone you could borrow a dolly (aka hand truck) from? That would make it a breeze. Put an entire shelf of the books on a dolly, wheel it out to the moving truck, unload. Repeat...not quite a million times. :001_smile: If her bookshelves are particle board like mine, they may not stand up to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 If her bookshelves are particle board like mine, they may not stand up to that. Oh, sorry! :lol: I actually meant to remove the books a whole shelf at a time...that the dolly could take that many and make it easy to transport, thusly saving the need for loading and hand carrying millions of boxes. I would think even solid wood shelves would need to be moved empty. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Oil boxes from the auto store are THE BEST. I moved literally a ton of books [per Mayflower's estimate] from NY to TX and several of them are STILL in storage waiting for....more shelves. Call ahead and beg them to save them and you'll come pick them up ASAP. If you can convince them to NOT break them down, even better!! Liquor boxes [friday and saturday nights are best for picking them up] are a close second, followed by banana boxes [w/ lids]. It didn't take a million boxes --only 139 boxes for about 3000 books. but many of them were thinner picturebooks or smaller paperbacks. :D and yeah-- you'd have to have a STURDY wood shelf to consider moving them on the shelf itself. on our last move [not so great a distance] i wrapped some books up an entire stack at a time w/ saran wrap. It kept them from sliding around when i had run out of boxes [and time!]. keeps them waterproof too ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I actually meant to remove the books a whole shelf at a time...that the dolly could take that many and make it easy to transport, thusly saving the need for loading and hand carrying millions of boxes. if they aren't packaged somehow, they will be a pain in the a$$ to UNload after they have shifted and flown all over the vehicle. :tongue_smilie: The books will get messed up too. I'm a stickler for the corners of my books not getting crimped ....:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I think the best bet is to fill boxes (which you can get in abundance at liquor, big box, and grocery stores) half-way with books then half with something else. When we moved, almost every box we packed had books in it at least lining the bottom. :001_smile: Half-filled book boxes were topped off with stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, sheets, clothes, shoes, toys, etc. Other boxes had just a single or double layer of books with other stuff piled in on top, like wrapped lamp shades, lamps, office supplies, framed pics, knick knacks, kitchen equipment, small appliances, etc. I don't think that you can avoid having lots of boxes when you move books, but you can at least avoid a hernia. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Dh has a dolly... I'll tell him this one see what he says! Thanks for the ideas, y'all! Keep em coming! Hadn't thought of auto stores for boxes.... Good idea! We usually do okay with number of boxes between dh's work (restaurant, basically) and a local liquor store, but we aren't in our little small town any more and don't know the guys at the liquor store! LOL Auto parts... hm. Good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Oooh... I feel my OCD kicking in... might have to kick back though. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I just wanted to mention that I have had great success asking for free moving boxes on my local craigslist and also on freecycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotsofpumpkins Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 When we moved we called Walmart at about 10 pm and talked to the night manager, and asked them to save us boxes. Then at 5 or 6 am the next morning we went and picked them up. There were a variety of sizes, but plenty of them were small enough (and sturdy enough) for books. That one night of walmart stocking got us more than enough boxes to move our entire household. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 if they aren't packaged somehow, they will be a pain in the a$$ to UNload after they have shifted and flown all over the vehicle. :tongue_smilie: The books will get messed up too. I'm a stickler for the corners of my books not getting crimped ....:glare: :lol: OK, once again what is in my head is not coming out properly here. :tongue_smilie: In my head, here's how it goes. Get big empty boxes. Place in truck. Unload bookshelves onto dolly one shelf at a time. Wheel to big empty box in truck. Transfer books from dolly to big box. Repeat until box is full and all books are properly and safely loaded. Pad the last box with a nice safe binky if not completely full. Goodness knows I am pro book safety here! :D Sure the big box will weigh about a thousand pounds but that won't matter if you just use a dolly again on the other end and reverse the process. I'm going to bed. Apparently, I really need some sleep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 ROFL! Oh okay, I hadn't gotten the "into boxes" part of it either! hehe Thanks! Have a great night... get some sleep. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 When we were moving within the US we would often use paper bags (like from the grocery store); they were a comfortable shape and size for me to move when full. I don't know how readily available these bags are anymore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Hmm... not sure how "readily available" they are either, but dh can get them from work. :D They're big and have handles... hm. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Get big empty boxes. Place in truck. Unload bookshelves onto dolly one shelf at a time. Wheel to big empty box in truck. Transfer books from dolly to big box. Repeat until box is full and all books are properly and safely loaded. Pad the last box with a nice safe binky if not completely full. Goodness knows I am pro book safety here! :D Sure the big box will weigh about a thousand pounds but that won't matter if you just use a dolly again on the other end and reverse the process. oh. wow. That actually makes a LOT of sense, lol! where were you when i was moving my ton of books? huh?? huh??!!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 When we moved about three years ago we discovered the local ABC store (the state runs the liquor stores here in NC) were now charging ten cents a box rather than giving them away as they had done the last time I had moved (9 years previous). They were the perfect size though. If you get extras with the dividers still in, they also work well for packing glasses, vases, things like that. We put over a hundred liquor boxes of books in storage when we started showing our house, then moved about the same amount out of the house when it sold. My husband is convinced Thomas Jefferson had the right idea. Make your bookshelves out of wooden boxes, placed on their sides with the opening facing out, each box numbered. Then, if you need to move them, you tack a lid on each box, carry it the next house, reassemble in the same numerical order, take off the lid and you're set. http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Book_Boxes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 My husband is convinced Thomas Jefferson had the right idea. Make your bookshelves out of wooden boxes, placed on their sides with the opening facing out, each box numbered. Then, if you need to move them, you tack a lid on each box, carry it the next house, reassemble in the same numerical order, take off the lid and you're set.http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Book_Boxes That's incredible! Thanks for sharing! Now. To convince my hubby to build them... and of course it wont' do us any good for this move. LOL Maybe the next one! That's very cool. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 My husband is convinced Thomas Jefferson had the right idea. Make your bookshelves out of wooden boxes, placed on their sides with the opening facing out, each box numbered. Then, if you need to move them, you tack a lid on each box, carry it the next house, reassemble in the same numerical order, take off the lid and you're set. http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Book_Boxes That's a very interesting idea! While the packers do the work of putting them into boxes, we always end up putting them back up the the shelves ourselves. We move this summer, then again a year from now, then every 1 to 2 years for the next 5 years or so, that would save us a lot of time, I think. Just when I figure out where all my books are, we move again and they get all jumbled up. (We had 40 boxes of books last move 2 years ago, and I have some new homeschool books this time, we moved right before we started homeschooling.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 My husband is convinced Thomas Jefferson had the right idea. Make your bookshelves out of wooden boxes, placed on their sides with the opening facing out, each box numbered. Then, if you need to move them, you tack a lid on each box, carry it the next house, reassemble in the same numerical order, take off the lid and you're set. http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Book_Boxes but, but, but then i couldn't talk dh into building these: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 ROFL! Sure you could! Just have him make each of them separate and detachable and stackable so he can slap some plywood on them if you have to move. ;) Dh is liking the "big empty box in truck. books on dolly. dolly to truck; books in empty box. repeat not quite a million times" thing. ;) Says it's someting the kids can do while he/we load some of the other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 ROFL! Sure you could! Just have him make each of them separate and detachable and stackable so he can slap some plywood on them if you have to move. ;) well, it IS notched together: he moved a similar one from NY to TX. It's now attached to the wall perpindicular to the one pictured ;) but alas, not quite the boxes TJ had. *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Ha! It's an awesome looking shelf. Fantastic if one isn't moving! LOL *sigh* waiting on ds going to sleep... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in SC Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 We're moving, quick like, little notice and trying to get out by the 10th. (Don't even know where we're going yet - update coming tomorrow!) My problem is this: I have about 10 bookshelves worth of books. None of the shelves are sturdy enough to just tip the shelf and move the books on it as-is. And you can't put very many books in a box before it gets too heavy; would need about a million boxes! :lol: Any bright ideas on moving a buncha books? :confused: Haven't read the rest of the reponses but what worked for us was copy paper size boxes. 65+ of them to be exact. ;-P They were not so large that they could get "too heavy" to lift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.