When you move locally, it may be the hardest decision whether to hire movers or do it yourself. Since 10, 20, or even 50 miles doesn't seem like a big distance, you think: "It doesn't make sense to pay for movers." True. You can do it yourself if you have a small amount of stuff to relocate. However, if you're relocating a bigger household, it's not a bad idea to ask professional movers for help.
Here we'll see the tips of experts from Luxury Movers Moving Company: how to pack for a local move, what equipment you need, how to hire a moving company, and more.
When you move without the help of professionals, everything is up to you: packing, organizing a moving truck, loading, driving to your new location, and finally unloading your stuff in your new home.
Except for the responsibility you have, wasting your time is the biggest disadvantage of the DIY option. On the other hand, it's the cheapest option you can choose when moving locally.
The packing comes first. Thing by thing, you need to pack it all by using protective foils and securing them with tape or cord. Compared with the option where you hire movers, and they provide you with all the packing equipment, in the DIY option, you need to purchase it yourself.
However, you have freedom. You're the organizer, so you determine when you'll be working on packing, how to pack it, and so on. You don't have to adjust your time and needs to anyone.
Packing is a long-term task, especially if you have a lot of stuff, so be prepared to invest your time. Take days off from work, and if your family or friends can, ask them to help you.
The next step is to load the packed stuff into a vehicle for transport. It can be a personal car if it's big enough to hold a large amount of your stuff at once. There's no sense in turning back 100 times and loading a car repeatedly.
You'll likely spend a lot of time and money on gas. Moreover, moving furniture and big appliances like a fridge or dishwasher in a car is mission impossible. What should you do? What can you do if your vehicle is not appropriate for household or apartment relocation?
Here we come to renting a truck.
To save time and effort, you can rent a truck designed for moving. It will be much easier to load the truck than a personal vehicle. Besides, you will be able to move all your stuff at once instead of multiple times.
When renting a truck, you pay for renting and gas. Of course, you drive the truck so the responsibility is yours but since you move within 50 miles, maybe it's not a big deal.
Renting a truck costs $0.59 to $1 per mile, according to sources. Therefore, moving locally shouldn't take you much money on transportation.
We'd already mentioned that you must purchase the packing boxes, foils, and tapes. Plus you may require a ramp for loading the items into a truck.
If you have big pieces of furniture to move, it may be best to purchase equipment for easier lifting, such as a dolly. On the other hand, maybe you could move it only by hand if you ask some strong men to help you.
However, you get at risk of damaging the items, which may be really bad if you have luxurious heavy items like a piano. This can require special thick blankets that will protect the piano and straps that will hold the blankets securely.
Unlike DIY moving locally, when hiring a moving company, you don't have to do any organizational tasks. No purchasing the equipment. No searching for strong men to help you in lifting heavy items. You just need to call a moving company, and they will do everything for you.
Most local moving companies offer multiple services. The main ones are full-service moving, container renting, and labor only. What are the differences? Let's explain them.
When choosing labor-only service, you'll get only moving men. It's great if you don't have many contacts, so it's not so easy for you to find men willing to help. If you find them, they'll surely want to pay for them.
In that case, paying professional movers to lift your items for you is better. They already have the technique while local men you'd pay are not so experienced in moving.
So the labor-only service doesn't include transporting the truck to the new location but only lifting the items to the truck. You'll still have to organize your move, which means you should rent a truck or ask someone to borrow their truck for a day.
The same is with packing and unpacking services. You still have to transport your belongings, but you get help to pack them. It's also the best help you can get. They are professionals who know how to pack to prevent damage. They ensure the best quality packing boxes and use a technique that guarantees the security of the items on the road.
The container option is opposite to labor only. Instead of help in packing and loading, you get help in driving the truck, while packing and loading are up to you. The option is called container because the moving company rents you the containers where you load your stuff as you pack them.
The containers stand in front of your house/apartment. You get the container(s) keys to ensure the security of your stuff. When you're done packing and the containers are loaded completely, just call the movers, and they'll pick up the containers. Then, they move them to your new location.
The containers are left again in front of your new home and the movers wait for you to call them to pick up the empty containers. It's a good option if you enjoy browsing your stuff to decide what you want to carry with you and what you don't need anymore. Then it's ideal for you to have containers available, so there's no hurry. You can work as usual and do packing in your free time.
The last option may be the best one. Why? Because you don't have any task except for hiring the movers. You should call them at least a month before the date you plan your local move.
