Archive for the Packing And Planning Category

Moving Plants

The charm bestowed over a house by well-taken care plants and flowers is without a doubt immense.Just as immense is the feeling of loss faced with a relocation process that seems to leave dear favorite plants behind in the previous residence.

Moving plants is a delicate matter that should be performed accurately and carefully in order for the plants to make it to the new home sound and safe.

Nonetheless, many of the international and federal regulations forbidding the transit of living floral specimens form one place to another, the survival odds of the plants, and the amount of work involved in it, make plant relocation almost unheard of.

Find out if you can move your plants with you

Before you give up moving your plants with you, contact your local U.S. Department of Agriculture and check on the regulations pertaining to plant moving in your state and the states you will need to cross before arriving to your new home.

Ask the relocation company if they offer any plant shipping services. Since plants are considered perishable goods and are so delicate to transport, most moving companies will just say no to shipping plants, but still some may even specialize in this field. However, do have in mind to inquire about insurance policies and transport techniques.

Most moving companies do not cover any damage caused to the plants, and some will just place them together in the same truck with the rest of the boxes and belongings.

Making the odds higher

Should plant relocation not pose a legal problem, and should you want to go ahead with moving your plants, consider starting the process about 2-3 weeks before moving.

Make sure the plants are properly watered, pruned, and taken care of during the month prior to their relocation.

Three to two weeks before, transplant them accordingly from their pots, or garden, to plastic containers just big enough for the plants.

Moving plants from their familiar place to plastic containers will allow them to get ready for the trip and will allow you to check for any plant disease or undesired insects you may want to get rid of before the plant shipping takes place.

Two days before the moving water and prune your plants as usual. Like wise, take some of the cuttings of those plants you will be not taking with you and wrap them in news paper, placing the cuttings in small containers with water. This way they should survive a few days and be ready for transplanting at your new home.

On the day of the day of the plant moving, place them in a transport big enough to home all of them during the relocation drive. Be especially conscious about the whether conditions, temperatures and air quality you will be exposing your dear plants to. Any change in these conditions in relation to the ones they are use to may prove fatal to the fate of your plant.

Keep their air supply constant and sufficient. Once the plant moving is over with, make sure you place your plants in their intended location as soon as possible

Extraordinary Value Items

The term “extraordinary value items” is applied to any of your household objects with a value greater than $100.00 per pound per article.

This extraordinary value items may include vintage items, collectors’ items and/or antique items in any of the following forms:

  • Art collections
  • Jewelry
  • Currency/coin collections
  • Stamps
  • Silver, gold precious gems and stones
  • Silverware
  • D?cor objects
  • Video cameras and computer software
  • Oriental rugs

If you possess any of the extraordinary value items included in the previous list or any other vintage items, collectors’ items or/and antique items of a value greater than $100.00 per Lb. per object, talk to your movers and packers about it.

Make a Complete Inventory Before the Movers Arrive

Make a complete inventory of them and make sure you properly fill and sing the High Value Inventory sheet your moving company will provide. Should you forget, neglect or fail to fill this important document, the relocation company will be liable only for the total value of the shipment you declared and for a total of no more than $100.00 per pound per item based on the actual weight of the article. Nevertheless, have in mind that shipments under the “basic carrier liability” will not be subject to the fore mentioned loss and damage policy.

If you Can Take Them – Don’t Move Them!!

If your extraordinary value items list is short and does not include items that need to be packed and carried by professional packers and movers, one of the best moving tips is to take them along with you in a special bag or box.

This way you will be personally taking care of those valuable objects and keeping them by your side or in a protected concealed place until you have made it to your new home.

Vintage, Collectors and Antique

In case your vintage items, collectors’ items and antique items require especial packing and transport, you should look up on the Internet and the Yellow pages for companies who specialize in that kind of item’s relocation.

If your extraordinary value items do not fall within a particular category or are varied in nature, you may want to check with the same moving company that is taking care or your relocation for advice on how can they assist you moving those items.

It is very important you make sure to check with your movers and packers all the paper work, insurance coverage, liabilities and fees related to the packing and transport of those very special items.

Make sure you understand and agree to the conditions before you sign any papers.

Good Luck!

Moving Time Table

In order to make your moving checklist simpler to follow and less stressful, it is always recommended you divide it in a few, more specific moving lists based on the moving table of your relocation.

In other words create a moving time table and create a moving list for each of the periods allocating the tasks you have already pin down on your universal moving lists to each one of the time periods’ lists. No matter if you are moving one way, considering an international moving, or moving within the same neighborhood, the following moving time table structure will be of great help.

Few months in advance

If you are moving abroad and need to learn a new language, or to take care of working permits and other immigration documents, permits and licenses, consider doing so with time since some of these procedures could take longer than two months.

Four to three weeks before the moving date

· Assess your house belongings to have a better idea of the size and nature of your move.
· Make pertinent research about prospective moving companies, truck rentals, self-storage companies, etc.
· Choose a moving company and ask them for an in-home moving estimate. Like wise, sit with the relocation company representative and have an in-depth conversation about the kind of insurance coverage offered by them.
· Buy the packing supplies needed fro the house moving (moving boxes, bubble wrap, tape, etc).
· Pack away any out-of-season clothing and dispose of any unnecessary, broken, unwanted items.
· If you are planning an international moving, this is the time to have all the pertinent documents, tickets, reservations, health records and the like taken care of. Contact the pertinent places and ask your relocation company for assistance.
· Call your health care practitioners, veterinarians, schools, etc and ask them for all pertinent records.
· Start organizing tax and insurance records, marriage certificates, social security papers, and any other legal documents and assessing whether or not you will have to up date, transfer, or re-issue some of them.
· Transfer plants to plastic pots.

Two weeks before

· Take care of your change of address and forwarding mail through your local post office branch.
· Transfer memberships, subscriptions, utility companies services, online and offline services, to the pertinent branches in your new place of residence. If you have to close or cancel some of those accounts and services ask them to do so on the most appropriate day according to your moving time table and house moving date.
· Keep in touch with your movers and packers/moving services.
· Look at your moving checklist to make sure you are on top of things.
· Take your vehicle for a thorough examination.
· Check with you Homeowner insurance agent about the coverage of this policy.
· Confirm all travel reservation if you have not done so already.
· Pay a visit to the veterinarian’s office.

A week before

· Start packing.
· As you pack, make a final inventory of your belongings.
· Plan activities for your children on the day of the moving.
· Have your car washed in and out.

The day before

· Clean and defrost the fridge.
· Set aside any toiletries, water, contracts and documents, keys, cash, etc you will need handy the next day.

Items Not to Pack

No matter who is doing the packing and transporting of your household goods, you should be aware that not everything at your current residence should be moving along with you in boxes.

Some things you will have to bring along with you in separate bags, and some other you will have to leave behind. For further details on what items not to pack, read on.

Flammable, corrosive, and explosive materials

According to governmental regulations, some items transport in the hands of moving companies is prohibited according due to the dangerous nature of those materials. Even if you thought transporting the items by yourself, you may like to reconsider what items not to pack and simply leave behind according to what is on the following list:

  • Acids
  • Gasoline, kerosene, lamp oil, lighter fluid
  • Fertilizers, pesticides, weed killers
  • Ammonia, cleaning fluids, liquid bleach
  • Propane tanks
  • Chemistry sets
  • Loaded weapons, ammunitions
  • Pool chemicals
  • Charcoal
  • Paints, nail polish, nail polish remover, paint thinner
  • Aerosols
  • Batteries
  • Matches
  • Fireworks

Perishable goods

Every moving relocation company will include perishables in their list of items not to pack unless the moving is within a radius of 120 miles, and the goods have been properly packed and in within 24 hours from their final destination. Even though perishable goods refers mostly to food, house plants are also included under this category, and it is widely recommended to leave them behind unless your new destination is within state limits and within a 100 miles radius.

Special items

Items like exercise equipment, glass selves, heavy and big electronic domestic items (fridges, washing machines, etc) are best left to the expert packing hands of professional movers. Add this sort of items to the “what not to pack list” to be sure they will be packed properly.

Valuable items

Under this category of items not to pack, you should be adding all your dear belongings. Instead of packing these in boxes and sending them away in a moving transport, you should keep them at your reach and take them with you when you leave your current residence to your new home. No matter what their actual appraisal cost, these are items that due to their personal value are somewhat difficult to replace or even irreplaceable. Among them:

  • Personal documents like passports, birth certificates, marriage license, etc.
  • Financial Statements, tax records, bonds, check books, insurance documentation, stocks and the like.
  • Personal records like school records, diplomas, vaccination booklet, medical records, etc.
  • Personal mementos like photograph, photo albums, personal videos, paintings, children favorite dolls, letters, etc.
  • Valuable objects like jewelry, artwork, furs, decor accents, family heirlooms, etc.
  • Computer software, backups, disks.
  • Medicine.
  • Car keys, agendas, cell phones, address books, etc.

Packing Guides

Moving and packing

Moving and packing tips are as helpful in assisting you relocating successfully, as a good step-by-step explanation to a recipe is essential to the proper outcome of a dish. The following packing tips for moving will serve you as packing guides to help you pack away your belongings in the most effective manner.

The first two tips on packing on these packing guides are:
1) assess your belongings;
2) classify your household goods into groups.

By evaluating the objects, furniture and appliances you have at your current residence, you will be able to understand the nature, size, and weight of the things you need to pack and move straight to tip number 2: Classify your belongings.

Moving List

Create a moving list with a few entries, i.e.: heavy furniture, book/magazines/papers, decoration items, electric appliances, etc. Alternatively, make a moving list with the names of the rooms at your home: living room, bathroom, kitchen, master room, etc. Try to determine the amount of loose things, fragile items, edible and non edible items, free standing furniture, heavy appliances, etc. in every room that can be placed under the universal packing list you have created.
This simple step will yield in return very accurate packing lists regarding what kind and amount of packing materials (boxes, bubble wrap, tape, labels, cushion pads, etc) you should buy and in which order and how your belongings should be packed away.

Concise Packing Plan

The next tip on these packing guides: build a concise packing plan in the form of a visual check off table to go together with your checklist for moving. Schedule when and how each room should be packed and by whom. Although somewhat obvious, this step is one of the most overlooked ones in packing lists and plans, but one of the best moving packing tips to follow in order to keep things organized and in track.

how to pack your belongings

Next in our packing guides, let us move into how to pack your belongings. The best packing help we can offer you is to highlight the incredible advantage packing your things room-by-room offers. Pack every room individually starting from the less transited/crucial ones and ending at the most utilized rooms. Place belongings that share similar functions, weight, shape, or material (like clothes and linens, or books and magazines) together in the same boxes. Keep fragile items on the side and pack them carefully into boxes filled with Styrofoam peanuts after being wrapped in bubble wrap. Leave all heavy furniture and objects to be loaded into your moving transport singularly, but protect their surfaces with foam or linens, and cover any protuberant pointy edges with pads. Keep boxes light enough to be carried comfortably.

As part of the universal tips on packing, and the last tip of our packing guides: label each box according to its contents, approximate weight, the room it belongs to and the way it should be carried and placed on the ground. In addition, state your name, permanent address and contact number clearly on each box and belonging.