Moving Checklist: What you Need to Know When Moving Home

April 16, 2015

Who you need to inform

The first thing you need to think about is utilities. You need to ensure all your water, gas and electricity suppliers are notified in a timely manner. This will ensure there is no confusion when you finally move.

Services such as the television, telephone, internet, and post office need to be informed.  They can then take the appropriate measures to transfer your details and ensure they correspond to your new address.

All your financial institutions will need to be up to date. Be careful not to forget anybody. This will include your bank, your employer, or maybe your insurance company. Make sure to think this through carefully in case you forget someone.

Any health physician who you are in regular contact with through mail needs to be aware you are moving house.  Be especially sure to inform people like your doctor who may need to mail you important medical information.

Of course it is important to inform all friends and family as some of them may be trying to reach you at your old address, and could get offended when you don’t respond. A quick group message to your extended family and friends will suffice here. Also, ensure you don’t forget any magazine subscriptions you’re signed up to and inform them in plenty of time so they can change the postal address to that of your new home.

Perfect Packing Plan

It’s important that you make a list of items you are planning on bringing to your new house. You can’t bring everything so it’s best to consider giving some of your stuff to friends and family, a good will store, or perhaps  even throwing  stuff away if you know you won’t be using it anymore. A car boot sale might be a good option as well to make some handy cash before you move.

Whatever items you do decide to bring to your new home, make sure each box is clearly labelled. You will be thankful for this because any unlabelled boxes will cause headaches when you are trying to find important items on arrival.

It’s important that you don’t fill these boxes too much as the last thing you want is a sore back to add to the stress of moving home. Be especially careful when packing  any cleaning products as they can be hazardous and cause damage to expensive items. Window & Door Guys recommend you pack these in a separate box as unfortunately many of our customers learned the hard way about packing these and caused damage to some expensive items.

It’s always worth considering getting insurance if you have expensive items in transit. You can mull this over and perhaps you should check if you can get a reasonable deal on the moving insurance. It can save you a small fortune if there’s any damage while moving, so keep this mind.

Be Sensible when Packing

Keep all documents such as deeds of the house in a safe place. A good tip is to put heavy items at the bottom of the box and lighter items at the top. This way lighter items will not be lost below heavy items that are difficult to move.

Generally it is easier to pack one room at a time as it makes the whole process easier for you and enables you to be more methodical. Ensure to think about items that could break in every room and label the box accordingly.

Start at the top of the house and end at the bottom. The most important thing to remember is to get started with your packing with plenty of time to spare. Last minute packing will result in items being lost or potentially broken because you are in such a hurry.

When Moving Day Arrives

If you have children or pets try to get a relative to mind them for the day.  It will make the whole process so much easier for you. Make sure all keys that you have given to family, friends and neighbours over the years are returned.

It is generally a good idea to change all the external locks on your new house when you arrive. It is best to arrange this as soon as possible, because as you can imagine, it is hard to know who has the keys of your new home which makes this an important safety consideration for you and your family.

Take a small break, but try to set yourself a deadline for unpacking all the boxes-You will feel better when everything is organized. Try to visit your new neighbours on the day you arrive as first impressions are important and they are sure to appreciate the effort. Last but not least, enjoy your new home, you deserve it!