3 Mistakes You Should Avoid When You Decide to Self-Move

Posted by Alina Ivanov on May 13th, 2017

Moving is demanding and stressful even when you benefit from the help of the largest moving companies, so if you decide to move by yourself your belongings to a new home, you need to be prepared with a lot of patience and make sure you don’t do any mistakes that will affect your moving schedule.

There are insignificant mistakes that can happen during a move, such as forgetting to clean different appliances in the kitchen or vacuuming a certain room, and there are major errors that can delay your moving process and end up costing you extra in the long run, especially if you have to leave your old place on a certain date.

1. You postpone packing for too long

When it comes to packing, there is only one rule: don’t procrastinate. You need to start packing as soon as you decide to move because this is not just another task you need to check on your moving checklist. This is the main task you have to do during moving and the most time-consuming of all. After all, you have to pack your entire life and move it from one place to another.

Packing can be easily done by yourself as long as you plan the process step by step and stick to it. Make sure you start by packing the things you don’t need for a while, such as out of season clothes and pieces of furniture that you don’t use, especially the large ones. Empty your basement and attic, as well as your garage. This is a great opportunity to declutter your home and sell, donate or throw away the things you don’t use anymore.

2. You’re not playing it safe

Injuries can happen during moving, and they will most likely happen if you don’t take the necessary safety measures to prevent them. Professional movers are trained to avoid the common injuries that might occur during the moving process, so if you really want to move all your belongings by yourself, you should at least take a few measures of safety and read a bit about what can happen during a DIY move.

Be extra careful when you have to lift heavy objects. Make sure the path is clear of obstacles and use adequate equipment for the type of objects you’re planning to lift and move. You should be prepared with moving straps, appliance dollies and other similar equipment. Find out what are the proper lifting techniques and protect your back. Wear gloves to protect your hands and comfortable shoes that have ankle protection and traction.

Always double tape cardboard boxes to add durability and be generous with the bubble wrap and packing paper. Use clothes if you have to protect fragile items that need to be moved and place clean sheets of paper on the bottom of each box. Keep children and pets away on the move day, so you don’t have to always pay attention to them and get distracted or even end up injuring them somehow.

3. You rely too much on your friends and family

You probably think that you don’t need to hire a professional moving company because your friends and family will be very happy to help you with this daunting task. While they might help you, we can’t guarantee they will actually be happy to do this.

They all have their schedules and own life to worry about, and the moving process usually takes more than just a few days. As a matter of fact, a successful moving is planned along at least six months, because you have to think about every little detail, from packing to changing your address, so we don’t know how much you can actually depend on your friends to give you a hand. Moving is a complex activity that requires a lot of time, and just relying on your friends to help you out last minute is a little too much to ask.

It’s better to discuss this with them ahead and make sure you ask them if they can help face to face. It’s a lot of work and you don’t want to risk your friendship over this. Of course, the best thing would be to just invite your friends over to the new house to celebrate your moving and let professional packers and movers deal with the “chaos” that usually accompanies moving.