El Paso Moving Blog - Tips, Tricks, and Insider Info
July 22, 2019

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

Packing & MovingBy Julie DeLong, A-1 Freeman Moving Group 

When packing and moving your residence to a different destination in or around El Paso, a number of items probably won't endure the move. This is what is called a moving casualty, a terrible magnitude of damage or complete breakage that can take place on move-out day, move-in day, or whilst the truck moves along from one residence to the subsequent. No matter how meticulously you pack, most households encounter a minumum of one minor moving casualty throughout the transfer, however you don't need to.

Being a professional moving company in El Paso, we pack a lot of sensitive belongings for our customers to make sure they reach the destination unscathed. So, today, we are here to share tips on avoiding the most prevalent moving casualties when you're packing yourself and ways to protect your most hard-to-move belongings.

Vulnerable Glassware, Fine China, & Collectibles

There exists a valid reason that professional movers have countless special packing materials for moving your dishes. Glasses and ceramic dishes are difficult enough to safely move without damaging them, much less fine china and delicate collectors items. Many families notice a minimum of one crack or destroyed glass item in a move with numerous breakable things in boxes.

You'll want to take special care packing, filling, separating, and cushioning your most vulnerable items. 

  • Make use of cardboard dishware dividers
  • Pack plates vertically, this approach reduces the potential for breaking
  • Stuff each and every hollow space with newsprint, bubble wrap, or peanuts
  • Do not allow glass to touch other glass
  • Don't pack too tightly, or pressure/bumps can cause shattering
  • Pad extra space and also the outside of every box with fluffy packing material

Wall mirrors & Pictures

Substantial panes of glass are particularly challenging to pack since they have a high chance of being cracked or smashed in the move. This suggests mirrors and glass-covered framed artwork must be packed with special care. What is important will be to secure the glass area and reduce the chance of an impact with the glass. 

  • Place mirrors collectively in a box with cardboard partitions in the middle
  • Secure a blanket or cloth over the entire layer of the glass
  • Apply a large piece of cardboard over each and every glass surface to minimize strikes
  • Keep vertical, just like the plates
  • Do not permit packed glass to lay flat

 Wood Furniture

Wood home furniture is a common moving casualty, although not the whole piece of furniture itself. Rather, wood has a tendency to suffer from chafes, scuffs, and harm to the finish when being disassembled or carted via limited corners and doorways of the house. It is rather typical for once-pristine wood pieces of furniture to reach the new residence requiring refinishing or fixes. Here is how to avoid damage to your furniture (as well as walls) as you go along: 

  • Remove hardware including handles and feet to make the pieces of furniture more rectangle-shaped and even.
    • Keep all removed hardware together inside a clearly labeled bag or box.
    • Smaller groups of taken off hardware might be placed in a drawer of the pieces of furniture it came from
    • Stow numerous groups of taken off hardware in the same box for easy reconstruction
  • Tape All drawers along with cabinets shut
    • Utilize paper tape or masking tape that will not damage paint, stain, or finish
  • Take sizeable home furniture apart if you're able to.
    • Cover every piece separately and load up into one box or bundle.
    • Distinctly tag whatever you disassemble, incorporating the place that the pieces need to be reconnected later. Colored tape helps.
  • Wrap everything in furniture pads or moving blankets to reduce the potential risk of scuffs
  • Ask for help or hire professional movers to move substantial or awkward household furniture 

Musical Instruments

For those who have any musical instruments, you understand that a move can indicate legitimate danger for these kinds of carefully tuned and sensitive pieces. From grand pianos to oboes and all things in between, musical instruments tend to be delicate and need to be handled with the utmost concern.

For big instruments including pianos, harps, and acoustic bass, you might have to make use of a specialty instrument moving team. Speak to your moving company in El Paso regarding what they can do or services they could hook you up with that concentrate on moving big instruments safely spanning long or short distances.

For smaller personal instruments, these tips can help you keep your musical equipment safe and in good condition throughout the move: 

  • Loosen the strings of the stringed instruments for instance guitars, violins, cellos, and small harps. The temperature and humidity alterations throughout a move or while in storage might cause strings to snap or sometimes warp the wood of the instrument if the strings are very tight.
  • Pack mouthpieces individually and contemplate transporting your mouthpieces along with you instead of putting them in a box.
  • Pack instruments in their own designed and also cushioned cases if at all possible.
  • If practical, wrap musical instruments in bubble wrap, even in their cases, to provide additional insulation and protection.
  • In the event that there isn't a case wrap the instrument in numerous layers of bubble wrap and after that put in its own box with nothing more inside.
  • Pad the box with newsprint, bubble wrap, or packing peanuts in order to avoid moving and bumping.
  • Do not ever pack 2 musical instruments inside the same carton just in case they damage each other on the move.
  • If it's a possibility, consider moving instruments inside your car or truck as opposed to within the moving truck. 

Artwork

Packing & MovingNo matter whether you have posters, painted canvas, or sculptures, packing up art may be challenging. There is a pretty good possibility your art will make it through the move not having special moving services, but only if you prepare it the proper way and are mindful about where it is placed in the moving truck. For particularly expensive items, speak to your moving company in El Paso regarding whether you should evaluate moving them inside your car or transporting with an fine art transportation service.

Even so, should you have only got a few sensitive pieces of artwork to pack and take along, here is how to stop them from turning out to be moving casualties:

Canvas & Posters 

  • Decide if it is suitable to roll up your artwork and keep in poster tubes. Vertical, hardy poster tubes are frequently the soundest strategy to use.
  • If stowing flat, take into consideration keeping inside picture frames that happen to be presently loaded properly to lessen bumps.
  • If storing flat, utilize a thin flat box near the size of your art
    • Put your canvas or poster in between sheets of cardboard to ensure that they're each flat and secure
    • Think about plastic wrap, wax paper or even a fast spray of paint-sealant for unsealed paintings or perhaps drawings 

Sensitive or Strangely Sized Figurines 

  • Like dishes, fill every crevice, cavity, and handle with fluffy packing material
  • Like musical instruments, place into a base of packing material and surround with more packaging material to protect from bumps or compression
  • Metal in addition to wood might be stored in the same carton
  • Normally, never put a couple glass or breakable sculptures in the same carton

 Workout Gear

Lastly, we arrive at the strongest but perhaps most difficult packing job of all: your workout equipment. Dumbbells, weight benches, stationary bicycles, and specialized workout equipment are often a tremendous concern to move. The weighted and structural sections can be quite weighty whilst the gear by itself could be sophisticated and/or cumbersome to move. In fact, large workout devices are commonly the cause of moving casualties.

Sporting gear, on the other hand, is often rather vulnerable. Rackets and skis, snowboards and surfboards, along with other finely wrought sporting gear could take serious hurt from the wrong kind of jostling throughout a move. They're belongings you don't want to simply toss in a box and go.

Here is how to move your home gym and sporting equipment safely without any breaks, losses, or too-heavy cartons:

Weights 

  • Load up 1 or 2 per container
  • Pad firmly and pack into small now-heavy containers
    • Look for or build containers smaller than a book box
  • Pack disc weights in achievable stacks
    • Wrap in furniture pads and secure utilizing shrink wrap
  • Do not ever package a group of weights more substantial than you can carry
  • Lift utilizing your legs 

Training Gear 

  • Retain and load up the set up guidelines
  • Take apart anything you are able to and stow in bundles of bars and bench sections
  • Label every piece and screw once you disassemble and stow within labeled bags with the workout equipment parts
  • Take photos prior to when you take down to aid with reassembly 

Sporting Equipment (Rackets, Skis, etc.) 

  • Store rackets within their cases with an added layer of padding. Do not allow to fold.
  • Bubble-wrap skis and boards and then stow into cases or upright boxes.
    • Think about extra cardboard or struts to maintain boxes impact-resistant and rigid
    • A professional mover can provide cartons, when you need them
  • Pack sets of gear jointly within the identical carton.

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Relocating to a new home in El Paso doesn't have to include the typical moving casualties including household furniture scratches or cracked china. If you are relocating large everyday things or distinctive fragile belongings, these suggestions will help you enjoy a tragedy-free move with each and every one of your treasured items making it safe-and-sound to your new home. If you need additional sensible moving tips from a professional moving company who has seen it all or you are worried about moving unique items in your house, call us today!

 

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The Mickelson Family
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Very pleased with the overall respect and care the men gave to my possessions. Even mailing me very quickly the only thing lost in transit. Would recommend to anyone needing a long distant move.
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