Packing & storage
Four levels, and a holding period
Packing decides whether moving day finishes at a reasonable hour. Storage decides what happens when a sale completes and a purchase does not. Most households need a decision on both.
- MaterialsCartons, paper, bubble, tape and wardrobe boxes delivered ahead of the move. You pack; we replenish when you run short, which most households do.
- Fragile onlyThe crew packs the kitchen, the glassware, the pictures and anything else worth worrying about. You keep the books, the clothes and the loft.
- Full packingThe whole house, room by room, usually the day before loading. You are left with documents, valuables and the things you would rather handle.
- UnpackingCartons opened at the far end, contents set out on surfaces, packaging removed. The service people most often wish they had added.
Choosing honestly
The common pattern is a household that intends to pack everything, is two-thirds done the night before, and finishes the kitchen while a crew waits. It turns a planned day into a long one and it is entirely avoidable.
Decide by what you will realistically finish rather than what you would like to have finished, and tell us a week out if it is going the wrong way. Adding a packing crew late is easier than recovering a late start.
What goes wrong most often
- Books in large cartons. Unliftable, and the base fails. Books belong in small boxes.
- Plates stacked flat. On edge and individually wrapped. Flat, they break from the middle outwards.
- Boxes only half filled. The empty space collapses under the weight above. Fill it with paper or linen.
- Labels on the lid alone. Mark the room on the top and one side, because the top ends up face down.
- Leaving the loft. Always larger than remembered and always packed in a hurry.
Storage between completions
Goods are inventoried as they load, held securely and redelivered on a date you set. Access is by appointment rather than a walk-in arrangement, and you hold a copy of the inventory throughout.
Arranged in advance, it is a line on the quote and the chain failing becomes a scheduling matter. Arranged on the morning it failed, it is a scramble for everybody.
Storage packing is a different standard
Everything dry going in. Clothes boxed rather than left loose in drawers and wardrobes. Nothing with a residue, no fuel, no batteries left in appliances. A carton that survives an hour on a lorry is not automatically fit to sit sealed for months.
What we will not take
Nothing flammable, explosive or corrosive — fuel, gas bottles, paint, solvents, fireworks. No perishables, plants or living creatures. Documents, jewellery and irreplaceable papers travel with you.
Storage is usually attached to a house move, a long-distance job or a move abroad; describe the whole picture and it is quoted as one piece of work.
Worth knowing
Packing and storage, in plain terms
What packing options are there?
Materials delivered for you to use; fragile-only packing of the kitchen, glass and pictures; full packing of the whole house, usually the day before loading; and unpacking at the far end.
How much should we pack ourselves?
Whatever you will realistically finish. The common failure is a household two-thirds packed on the morning, which turns a planned day into a long one. If it is looking unlikely a week out, say so.
How does storage work here?
Goods are inventoried as they load, held securely, and redelivered on the date you set. Access is by appointment rather than a walk-in arrangement, and you hold a copy of the inventory throughout.
Does storage change how things are packed?
Yes. Everything dry going in, clothes boxed rather than left in furniture, nothing with a residue, no fuel, no batteries left in. A carton that survives a day on a lorry is not automatically fit to sit sealed for months.
What cannot be stored?
Anything flammable, explosive or corrosive; gas bottles, paint, solvents, fuel, fireworks; perishables; plants and anything living. Documents, jewellery and irreplaceable items stay with you.
Decide the packing level early. Arrange the storage earlier.
Both are cheaper and calmer as a plan than as a rescue on the morning.