Moving Casualties in Houston: How to Protect Your Most Difficult-to-Move Items

By Julie DeLong, A-1 Freeman Moving Group 

Being a professional moving company in Houston, we pack plenty of fragile items for our clients to be sure they make it to the destination unharmed. So, today, we're here to discuss ways to avoid the most prevalent moving casualties if you are packing yourself and how to safeguard your most challenging-to-move items.

Delicate Glassware, Fine China, & Antiques

There exists a good reason that professional movers use so many unique packing materials for moving your dishware. Glassware and ceramic dishes are hard enough to transport without damaging them, much less fine china and also fragile collectors items. Lots of families notice at least one crack or shattered glass piece in a move with numerous breakable goods in cartons.

You'll want to take special care packing, stuffing, separating, and padding your most sensitive items. 

• Utilize cardboard dishware dividers
• Pack plates vertically, this method decreases the chance of breaking
• Stuff each and every hollow area utilizing paper shreds, bubble wrap, or peanuts
• Don't permit glass to touch other glass
• Don't pack too tightly, or pressure/bumps may cause damaging
• Pad extra room and the outside of every box with fluffy packing material

Decorative mirrors & Pictures

Large panes of glass tend to be tough to pack since they have a high possibility of becoming cracked or smashed in the move. This implies mirrors and glass-covered picture frames must be packed with additional care. The most important thing will be to secure the glass surface and reduce the risk of an impact against the glass. 

• Stack picture frames with each other in a box with cardboard dividers between
• Secure a blanket or cloth over the complete surface of the glass
• Make use of a sizable section of cardboard over every glass area to lessen impacts
• Keep vertical, similar to the dishes
• Don't allow packed glass to lay flat

 Wood Household furniture

Wood household furniture is a common moving casualty, although not the whole furniture piece itself. Alternatively, wood has a tendency to experience chafes, scuffs, in addition to damage to the finish when being taken apart or hauled by means of limited corners and doorways of the house. It's very usual for once-pristine wood furniture to get to the new house in need of refinishing or repairs. Here's how to avoid harm to your furniture (and also walls) along the route: 

• Detach hardware like handles and feet to make the pieces of furniture more rectangular and even.
• Store all removed pieces together within a clearly labeled bag or box.
• Smaller packages of removed parts may be stored in a drawer of the furniture pieces it came from
• Keep numerous sets of taken off pieces in the same box for convenient reconstruction
• Tape All drawers and cabinets shut
• Make use of paper tape or masking tape that doesn't damage paint, stain, or finish
• Take large furniture apart if you're able to.
• Cover every piece individually and pack into one carton or bundle.
• Clearly label everything you take apart, incorporating where the parts should be reconnected in the future. Colored tape can help.
• Cover everything in furniture pads or moving blankets to decrease the chance of scuffs
• Ask for help or hire professional movers to relocate substantial or awkward furniture pieces 

Musical Instruments

If you own any musical instruments, you recognize that a move can mean legitimate danger for these carefully tuned and delicate pieces. From grand pianos to oboes and all things in between, instruments tend to be vulnerable and need to be treated with the most attention.

For big musical instruments such as pianos, harps, and acoustic bass, you might have to work with a specialized instrument moving team. Speak to your moving company in Houston regarding what they are able to do or companies they are able to hook you up with who specialize in moving large musical instruments properly across long or short distances.

Pertaining to small sized personal instruments, these steps can help you keep your musical equipment protected and in excellent condition during the move: 

• Loosen the strings of stringed instruments including guitars, violins, cellos, and small harps. The temperature and humidity variations during a move or when in storage can cause strings to break or even warp the wood of the musical instrument in the event the strings are too taut.
• Prepare mouthpieces individually and consider hauling your mouthpieces together with you as opposed to putting them in a box.
• Stow musical instruments within their own shaped and also cushioned cases if at all possible.
• If practical, wrap instruments in bubble wrap, even within their cases, to deliver extra insulation in addition to protection.
• If perhaps you don't have a case wrap the musical instrument in several layers of bubble wrap and then put in its own carton with nothing more inside.
• Fill your box with newsprint, bubble wrap, or packing peanuts to circumvent moving and bumping.
• Never put 2 musical instruments within the same container in the event they damage one another on the move.
• If perhaps it is a possibility, contemplate moving instruments inside your vehicle as opposed to on the moving truck. 

Art

No matter whether you have posters, painted canvas, or sculptures, packing up art is usually tough. There's a pretty good chance your art will endure the move not having special moving services, but only if you prepare it the proper way and are careful concerning the place it is placed into the moving truck. For particularly expensive pieces, talk to your moving company in Houston concerning whether you should consider moving them inside your car or shipping with an art transport service.

Even so, if you've simply got a few vulnerable pieces of artwork to pack and take, here's how to stop them from turning into moving casualties:

Canvas & Posters 

• Determine if it's acceptable to roll up your artwork and store in poster tubes. Vertical, durable poster tubes will often be the best approach to take.
• When stowing flat, consider continuing to keep in picture frames which are presently packed cautiously to reduce bumps.
• If keeping flat, use a thin flat carton about the size of your art
• Lay the canvas or poster between sheets of cardboard to ensure they are both flat and secured
• Think about plastic wrap, wax paper or maybe a quick spray of paint-sealant for unsealed paintings or even drawings 

Sensitive or Unusually Sized Statues 

• Like dishes, fill every crevice, cavity, and handle with fluffy packing material
• Similar to musical instruments, spot in a bed of packing material and enclose with more packaging materials to protect from bumps or compression
• Metal in addition to wood might be placed in the same container
• Generally, do not pack two glass or breakable statues within the same box

 Workout Machines

Lastly, we come to the toughest but perhaps most complicated packing task of all: your workout gear. Dumbbells, weight benches, stationary bikes, and special workout gear are often a tremendous concern to move. The weighted and structural items can be quite weighty while the equipment itself can be sophisticated and/or bulky to move. In fact, substantial work out machines are frequently the reason for moving casualties.

Sporting gear, alternatively, could be very vulnerable. Rackets and skis, snowboards and surfboards, along with other carefully wrought sporting gear may take considerable damage from the wrong type of jostling throughout a move. These are items you ought not merely throw in a carton and head out.

Here's how to move your home gym and sporting gear properly without the breaks, losses, or too-heavy cartons:

Weights 

• Put one or two per box
• Cushion snugly and pack into small now-heavy containers
• Search for or construct containers smaller than a book box
• Pack disc weights in acceptable stacks
• Wrap in furniture pads and secure utilizing shrink wrap
• Do not ever package several weights heavier than you can carry
• Lift up with your legs 

Workout Gear 

• Keep and prepare the assembly details
• Take down whatever you can and pack in bundles of bars and bench sections
• Mark each and every piece along with screw as you take apart and stow within labeled bags with the workout gear parts
• Take pictures when you disassemble to assist with reassembly 

Sporting Gear (Rackets, Surfboard, etc.) 

• Store rackets in their cases with an added layer of cushioning. Don't allow to flex.
• Bubble-wrap skis and surfboards then put into cases or upright cartons.
• Consider extra cardboard or struts to keep boxes impact-resistant and firm
• A professional mover can supply cartons, should you need them
• Pack groups of gear jointly inside the identical box.

 ----

Transferring to a new home in Houston doesn't need to include the typical moving casualties like furniture pieces scuff marks or broken china. No matter if you are relocating significant everyday things or exclusive vulnerable belongings, these tips will allow you to have a tragedy-free move with every one of your beloved things making it safely to your new house. If you need further practical moving advice from a professional moving company who's seen it all or you're anxious about moving special items in your house, call us today!