Move Planning Tips and Tricks
Your move, counted down from eight weeks out.
What the Farnsworth office tells every family at the first estimate, entered in the order it comes due, followed by the packing rules our crews would like you to follow.
Moving-day countdown
Six entries on the manifest, earliest first.
Most families start somewhere around the six-week line. If you are already inside it, call and we will tell you what to do first.
Plan the move
Earl Farnsworth Express
Countdown to delivery
- 8 weeks out
Start the reminders and the lists
- Sign up for Mayflower’s Moving Reminder Checklist. Give your name, email address and move date, and Mayflower emails weekly reminders starting eight weeks before the move. We can help you sign up.
- Start your change of address list and arrange to have mail forwarded.
- Arrange termination dates for electricity, gas, oil, telephone and the other main suppliers.
- Find out about shops, schools, theaters and lifestyle in the new town. It is never too early.
- 6 weeks out
Sort first, then pack
- If you pack yourself, plan on at least six weeks to pack and get ready.
- Decide what to throw away, give away or sell. Hold a garage sale or donate. Less to pack means less to unpack, and less to pay to move.
- Get rid of flammables: paint, petrol and gas cylinders. Empty the fuel from mowers, clippers and trimmers.
- Ask yourself whether you need every piece of clothing. Charity shops may want what you do not.
- Separate books into disposable, family reading and valuable.
- Check every electrical item. Will it work in the new home, and do you need it? If you are taking a TV, see whether you still have the original box.
- Have rugs cleaned.
- A month out
Paperwork that takes weeks to arrive
- Open a checking account in your new town about a month before the move, so you have immediate access to your money.
- Order copies of medical records, including your dentist, your veterinarian and vaccine or immunization information. Some offices require a notarized letter. Moving to a new state, you may need to contact the American Medical Records Association for the procedure.
- Collect your child’s permanent school record. Schools usually ask for it at registration, and often a copy will not do: they want the record with the raised seal.
- Will the new home be ready on the day? If not, arrange temporary storage now.
- Before delivery day
Keep a line open to the crew
- Make sure you have a working cell phone. If not, set up telephone service at the new residence before delivery day, so we can reach you and you can reach us.
- Pack the phone numbers from your old town. You will not remember the ones you call now.
- Round up personal documentation: marriage and birth certificates, driving licenses. Keep passports separate so they are not packed.
- If you have children, set aside cherished toys to travel with you.
- Pets: make sure vaccinations and paperwork are up to date.
- Moving outside the country and taking the car? Check import regulations and the duty payable.
- Final days
Close out the old place
- Start clearing out food, especially the freezer.
- Finish business with local shops. Pick up the dry cleaning.
- Empty the safe deposit box.
- Moving companies cannot, in most cases, transport animals or plants. Arrange their transfer yourself.
- Leave cleaning supplies out for the last once-over, or book a cleaning service in advance.
- Gather every set of spare keys, from the neighbors who kept one to the one under the rock by the front door.
- Moving day
Three things people leave behind
- Keep your new address in your wallet or purse. You will need it for periodicals, credit card bills and old friends.
- Take the electric garage door opener out of the car and leave it for the new owners or tenants.
- Boxes marked “open first” should be the last ones loaded on the van, so they come off first.
Packing it yourself
Box rules that make the load go faster.
Do these and the crew spends the day loading instead of re-taping and re-sorting.
- Pack items you seldom use first.
- Pack items of similar size and weight together, and do not make any carton too heavy to lift easily.
- Use proper packing cartons and wrapping materials, and professional packing tape: wide, strong, clear or brown. Masking tape will not hold a fully packed carton.
- Tape every carton closed on the top and the bottom. Do not just fold the end flaps shut.
- Pack with crumpled, unprinted newspaper.
- Write the contents on the outside of every box, along with the room it belongs in at the new home.
- Mark fragile boxes “fragile”, with arrows on the sides to show which way is up.
- Mark boxes of essentials (cooking utensils, bedding, linens, toiletries) “open first”.
Special cargo
How to wrap what breaks.
- China
- Wrap each item separately in unprinted newspaper, and use a specially partitioned box such as the “dishpak”, available from Mayflower.
- Stemware
- Wrap the stems first for extra protection, then wrap each glass individually and place it upside down in a partitioned box.
- Mirrors, glass-covered photos and artwork
- Cross the glass with a series of masking tape “Xs” to strengthen it, wrap it in a generous cushion of clean paper, and set it in a flattened packing or telescoping carton.
- Silverware
- Nest utensils in groups of three or four, wrap securely, and place in a silver chest or cushioned box.
- Lamp shades
- Handle shades only by the wireframes and place them in large boxes. Shades can nest in one box if clean paper separates them.
- Clothes
- Fold and box them, or ask us for wardrobe boxes, which let you leave clothes on their hangers for faster unpacking.
- Small appliances, computers, stereo equipment
- Use the original boxes if you can. Otherwise cushion with crumpled packing paper, and tape down moving parts such as a turntable tonearm.
- Glass jars and bottles
- Pack with bubble wrap or several layers of paper, and tape stoppers or lids down with masking tape. Do not move flammables.
- Statuary, figurines, curios
- Wrap generously in bubble pack, add a layer of clean paper, and pack with plenty of crumpled paper or foam peanuts between items. Pieces with delicate appendages, like candelabras or figurines with extended arms, get an extra bubble pack and extra material around them.
- Records, tapes, CDs
- Stack them on end so they absorb shock, and pack tightly so nothing shifts.
- Antiques and delicate furniture
- Ask us for specially made crates to secure and ship fragile pieces.
Would you rather we packed it? Our crews do that every week, with blanket wrap and crates for the pieces that need them. See packing and crating.
Supplies
Not sure how many cartons and how much tape?
Our packing materials list spells out what a household usually needs. Ask for a copy when you book your survey, or call the office and we will send it over.
Office open Mon-Fri, 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM