The biggest mistake people do when their house is sold and they have a closing day is to buy boxes and start packing. Yes, residential packing takes a lot of time but, a long time before you start boxing your belonging, your best step is to de-clutter and get rid of items you don’t need.
It’s very common to underestimate how much stuff we have. When everything we have is inside cupboards and drawers it is hard to imagine how many boxes, we need to move our belongings. Most people will look around and think, “I don’t have a lot of stuff “. Packing a small kitchen in a 1-2-bedroom apartment takes about 10-15 boxes. An Ikea bookcase with 5 shelves needs to be cleared into 8-10 boxes. Instead of assuming, try to walk inside your house like a stranger and write down room by room how many boxes you think you have. To be safe, always overestimate and add 15% extra.
As much as you like to reuse and recycle, before picking up free used boxes from friends or a back alley of a store, make sure you know where these boxes were used before. Insects like bedbugs and silverfish live inside cardboard boxes. If your friend has a cat and you are allergic to cats, your packing task will turn into a nightmare. Few companies in metro Vancouver will rent out plastic boxes that will always arrive clean to your home and will be picked up after you are done unpacking.
Start with seasonal items and things you don’t use frequently. A day before the move: pack important documents, passports, and MSP cards with toiletries and clothes you will need for the next 2 days in a suitcase and place them in your car before the movers arrive.
Finally, leave all the keys to your old house (storage, garage, shed…) and all appliances’ manuals in one spot for the new owner.
There are a few items that can put everyone in a big danger and can’t get packed into a box and sent in the moving truck; first is the propene tank – big or small, please carry it in your car and make sure you can see and control it during the move even if it’s a 5-minute drive. Second is the cylinder tank that the household used for the soda stream maker (or any other oxygen tank like a divers tank). The third is the fire extinguisher. These items can explode while in the box inside the truck.
