Home Removal Advice
Moving Home and Packing Your Items
We have put together important advice for moving home and packing your items, so you are ready for your home removal day.
Start your Packing Early!
Begin packing your non-essential items as soon as possible and continue to do so until your home removal day. This will help give you a head start before you get your moving date. It is essential that everything is packed in advance of your removal date.
Declutter.
This is the perfect time to declutter items you no longer need. We can arrange for disposal of unwanted items and furniture through our fully licenced house clearance company, Kennedy’s House Clearance. It is always best to have this done before your removal date, to leave your old house empty and only take what you want to keep.
Packing Advice
Taping boxes
Tape the box so it can take the weight of items. When taping the bottom of a box, it is best to start and end the tape at least half way up the box. Once a box is full, close it and tape it closed, it is best to start and end the tape so it makes contact with the tape already in place.
Filling boxes
Do not overfill boxes, especially larger boxes, it is important the lids are shut so we can stack boxes in the removal truck. Heavier items (such as books) should be placed into smaller boxes to reduce weight and risk of damage.
Labelling boxes
Clearly label your boxes so they end up in the correct room and highlight any boxes containing fragile items. Essential items should be placed in clearly labelled boxes as you will want to unpack these first!
Breakable/ Fragile Items
Ensure you use plenty of packing protection. You can use packing paper, bubble wrap, clothing, towels, bedding and cushions to protect your items. It is best to line the bottom of a fragile box with thick padding, then build up layers of fragile items, making sure they are suitably protected with padding between each layer. Finally, add thick padding to the top of the box.
Lamps
please remove the lampshades and bulbs from your floor and desk lamps before removal. These items can easily damage within a removal truck, so having them packed in a box is much safer and takes up a lot less space.
Clothing, bedding, cushions & towels
The best way to transport these soft items are in bags or suitcases. They can easily sit on top of boxes within the removal trucks to save on space.
Electronic & computer equipment
Ensure all leads are disconnected and kept together with remote controls. Wrapping paper and bubble wrap should be used to pack any electricals. If you still have original boxes, use these to pack for transport.
TV and monitor screens
Please use the original boxes these came in where available. If you do not have these, we have specifically designed crates available for transport. You must provide us with the number and size of each TV, so we can provide the correct crates. All bases, stands and wires should be removed from the screen before your removal date, to fit into our removal crate.
Keys and important documents
Please ensure car keys, house keys, passports and other important documents are kept safe and separate to your removal boxes. You do not want things you need immediately to be packed away.
Pictures, mirrors & curtains
All items not remaining within the property should be taken down prior to the arrival of our removal team. Please suitably protect these items and place them in a neat stack, separated from boxes and furniture.
Food & Perishables
Food cannot be moved into storage. When forming part of a direct removal from one home to another, care should be taken to ensure that all lids and bottle tops are secured. Any item capable of spilling, such as liquids and powders, should be placed in a water tight box and suitably packed.
Moving Preparation
Sofas and chairs
Please remove any legs or feet from these items prior to your removal. We provide sofa covers during your move so they arrive safely and require all feet to be removed to use these covers. It also allows extra room when moving these bulky items through doorways to ensure fit.
Furniture with drawers
These should be empty of contents before your removal. Whilst it may be possible to move items with the drawers full, it is not practical. It can hinder stacking items within the removal trucks, wasting space and add unnecessary weight for our removal team.
Mattresses and bed bases
All mattresses should be stripped of bedding ready for the move, we provide mattress protection during the move, so they will arrive safely. Bed frames should be disassembled or flat packed as required. All drawers should be empty.
Self-assembly furniture
These items should be flattened prior to the arrival of our home removals team. If you cannot do this yourself, we offer this service for you at an additional cost, however our insurance policy does not cover dismantling and assembly of flat packed furniture.
Dining tables & desks
Legs should be removed prior to your removal date. This helps get them item into your new home without issue and allows us to use all the space available within the removal trucks.
Appliances
Appliances should be disconnected prior to our removal team arriving, the drums of automatic washing machines should be secured using the transit bolts originally provided to avoid damage, they should also be drained to avoid water spillage. Our removal team is not covered by our insurance to disconnect appliances.
Pets
It is advisable to make arrangements for someone to look after your pets during a removal. It can be stressful for your pets to have our removal team on site, as they do not understand what is happening. It can also make the removal process more difficult for our team, having to close doors to prevent escape isn’t practical when emptying or loading a house. If you cannot find someone to do this, the best place to put them would be in an empty room until we have finished your removal.
Attics & Lofts
The contents of attics and lofts should be packed and emptied prior to the arrival of the moving team. Please place these items in an accessible room or garage, ready for your removal.
Garages & Sheds
All items should be packed well in advance of our removal team arriving. Any rubbish should be discarded and tools cleaned and bundled together for ease of carrying. Any chemicals or bottles should be securely sealed to prevent spillage and placed into a water tight box for transport.
Access
Please ensure that all access points, passageways and staircases are left completely clear for our home removal team. You may need to move your car from the drive to allow suitable access. This is very important so we can load our vehicle safely and efficiently.
Parking
Easy access to and from the doorway of your home is critical for our vehicles. Please explain to your neighbours in advance that large removal trucks will be parked outside your home and possibly cause some inconvenience to them on removal day. It’s helpful to arrange parking in advance of our removals team arrival.
Storage services
If you are moving into storage, please ensure that all personal papers and documents are retained by yourself, it will prove expensive to search for a driving licence or passport that is unexpectedly required. Washing machines and dryers should be drained and fridge freezer should be cleaned, defrosted and dried 48 hours prior to storage removal. This is to prevent mould and corrosion from occurring. We cannot be held responsible for this, as we provide dry storage areas for all customers.
Home removal checklist to help you with your house removal
Kennedy’s Removals and storage have put together a helpful moving home checklist, designed to help you before and during your home removal.
Prior to removal day:
- Inform banks of your new address.
- Inform utilities, TV licence, sky TV and the DVLA of your new address.
- Redirect post with the post office.
- Keep all important documents and keys separate from your packed items to avoid loss.
- Arrange pet care for removal day or keep a room clear where they can stay.
- Inform neighbours of your removal date to avoid parking issues on removal day.
- Disconnect any appliances such as washing machines and dryers, drain any water.
- Ensure pictures & mirrors are taken down and suitably protected.
- Make sure everything is suitably packed and labelled.
- If you are undertaking your own flat packing, ensure you have allowed enough time to do this.
- If coming into storage, ensure freezers are defrosted and all appliances clean & dry 48 hours before.
On your removal day
- Check the parking area is clear before our home removal team arrive.
- Move pets to an area where they are secure and safe.
- Ensure you leave keys for the new owners, including window and garage keys.
- Alarm codes will need to be left for new owners.
- Leave a forwarding address or contact number for new owners so post can be re-directed or collected.
- Take a note of all meter readings before leaving the property.
- Once we are fully loaded, it’s advisable to do a final check, so you know everything is packed.