Moving - DIY or Hire Out?

The nature of young, urban life today is a nearly nomadic lifestyle, moving in to a place for a year and then leaving when something nicer or cheaper or closer to work opens up at the end of the lease term. This does get expensive, what with truck rental and move-in costs.

Many young people choose to alleviate some of the costs by renting a U-Haul and moving themselves from one point to another. Other, more established movers are quite tired of moving their own things and will hire a moving company such as Mountain Movers to do the heavy lifting.

Some advantages to moving your own things include knowing exactly whose fault it is when something is broken after you unpack. You also are rewarded with the strain of picking up and hauling all your life to an elevator (if you're lucky, not stairs) and into the rental truck... by yourself. You may even get lucky and be able to bribe your friends to help you move, and if you're even luckier, they can stay for the whole move, moving you out of your old place and unloading the truck at the new place.

These are the considerations you need to take into account. Can you move that couch by yourself? Do you trust yourself to do it without scraping it against the concrete outside? Can you lift each of your boxes of books alone and then have the energy to unpack the truck when you get to your new home?

Those who don't have the time or simply can't do physical labor all day can hire a mover for roughly twice or three times the cost of renting a truck for yourself. Movers will get your job done right, the first time, and much more quickly than you could doing it yourself. If your time is more valuable to you than it would cost to hire a mover, then obviously that is the way to go, completely discounting whether or not you CAN move everything by yourself.

A good moving company will let you get everything you need for a lot less than you'd expect. A good, reputable moving company will have screened its employees prior to hire, so you know that you can trust that your things are getting the utmost care. However, when packing there are quite a few things to keep in mind.

You need to make sure to pack heavy things in small boxes. Just because it's not you that's moving it, doesn't mean that you should pack as much as possible in the biggest boxes. Take care to keep your hired movers from being unable to lift. If they strain their backs doing your job, they can't move on to the next job and may miss out on two weeks worth of work! They will most likely refuse to carry a box that's too heavy to be safe, however, so be prepared.

Make certain when you are packing that you secure the bottom and top of each box with tape. If the bottom falls out of a box during transport, it's actually your fault for not securing it. If you are unsure if the box is secure, just put more tape perpendicular to the opening.

Large, fluffy or light items should go in large boxes. The basic principle is that if the item can fit in a box, it should go in a box. Items like framed paintings should be put in boxes that are intended to hold them securely. Clothing that needs to remain hung should be first bound in a plastic bag the way the drycleaner does, and then put inside a wardrobe box. A wardrobe box is a very tall box with a metal crossbar in it for hanging clothes on. It's usually about 5 feet tall.

Another thing to be aware of, is that furniture shouldn't go in a box. Ikea and other build it yourself furniture has a tendency to not survive moving. It was intended to be built and then remain in one spot, and then be thrown away when its usefulness has worn out.

In all, it could be easier to move everything yourself if you have the time to do so, and the friends to help, but it's good to know that you can always hire movers to help you out.