26 Free House Moving/Packing Checklists | Do’s and Don’ts

Moving from a former house to a new house comes with a bit of tension if not properly managed. This tension may pose some sort of stress on one’s mental health, hence the need to create a packing checklist that would make moving relatively stress-free, as the packing checklist would contain all the vital information of properties to move, how to move them properly, and in the best possible form or manner. Statistics from the new census data show that millions of people move out of a house yearly, with at least 44% individual or family, 38% corporate moves, 16% military moves, and 2% government agencies. With this figure likely to increase, one must give keen attention to details by creating a packing checklist when moving to enjoy a hitch-free move.

Time as we know is a continuum and in moving. Therefore, when making your checklist for packing, it is necessary to allocate time period of various duration for things to pack. There is never a good time to start packing, but the moment you decide to move to a new house, it is necessary that you start creating a packing list and also pack in earnest.

After the exuberant excitement of moving to a new and much better house, comes the question; how? Just how exactly is moving all these properties going to happen? The only way to execute deserved justice to that question is by creating a packing checklist and, of course, implementing it.

8 weeks before you move

8 weeks may look like a lot of time, but given how we get occupied with things, it is not too long a time. So when it comes to a house moving packing checklist, this period is the exact time to;

• Compare: Check out the new place you are moving to, measure the space so as to help in making decisions on things to pack, those to leave or give to family and friends as moving can cause you some amount of money so getting rid of some stuff you don’t need would keep you on a safe space.
• Notice: As stipulated in your rental agreement (for rented apartments), it is pertinent to give your landlord some weeks’ notice. Noting this in your packing checklist helps you remember it as it can escape your mind. Also, contact your internet provider to inform them of your change of address.
• Repairs: Check out for home appliances that may need repairs so that they can be fixed before time. For those that need changing, you can order new ones too.

6 weeks before you move

It is the sixth week before moving, certain tips ought to occupy your packing checklist and they most certainly include:

• Getting materials: On the packing checklist, ensure this particular tip is of paramount importance during this week because materials such as cartons can be borrowed from friends or companies, markers, and pens for labeling boxes containing fragile and delicate materials, and tapes for tape sealing will be highly needed.
• Research on moving companies: On the moving packing checklist, ensure to have a good number of moving companies that would offer a good service. It would also be wise to get special movers to help with expensive items that may be very fragile.
• Insurance: Get insurance that would cover the whole moving process. Perchance any property gets damaged during the moving process; insurance can enable quick replacement without extra hassle.

4 weeks before you move

About 28 days before moving to the wonderful new house, the following tips should be ticked off on the moving packing checklist.

• Organizing: Try having one or two moving companies in mind before you even start packing.
• Access: Take out time and confirm just how easy or difficult it will be for the van to get to your new home, putting into consideration factors such as parking restrictions and the like. 
• Minor packing: On your packing checklist, you listed items that you would move. Now is the time to start boxing items that you don’t use frequently.
• Tax duties: Endeavor to contact the HMRC to effect the change in address.
• Civic duties: This period is ample time to register your new household with the local council to enable you to carry out voting at your new location.
• Insurance: Ensure your content, as well as home owner insurance, is transferred to your new property.
• Mailing: This is very vital. In order to avoid missing letters and or parcels, apply to Royal mail for mail redirection. This can also be done online via the Royal mail’s official website.
• Stock capture: On your packing checklist, take stock of all the inventories you have, and to be double secure, take photos of all your furniture so as to note their conditions before moving.
• Cleaning: An inevitable part. You can start cleaning from the outside areas such as gardens and then gradually the inside areas of your new home.

2 weeks before you move

It is now barely 14 days before moving. The following activities should be checked on the moving packing checklist in this period.

• Food: At this point, with respect to food and food items, you need to start watching the kind of food items you purchase.  Worse comes to worst, two days before moving out, defrost the refrigerator. Also, previously available frozen foods should be cooked and eaten to avoid spoilage since packing such food items is not in any way advisable. Dishes should be carefully packed and arranged in a well-labeled box to avoid breakage.
• School: Moving also means a change of school for the children, so send their records to their new school, get more information about the school and acquaint the children with their new school.
• Packing: Start packing some major household items that will not be used until you get to your new place. Things such as duvet, towels, kitchen utensils, etc. Make sure to label them correctly too. Dismantle furniture for easy movement and repair damaged or scraped parts in your old home.
• Pets: If you have pets, arrange for them to be taken care of on the day of movement., you can either take them to a kennel or entrust them to a friend’s care. Also, execute the last-minute tasks; pack a box of clothes you and your family members will change into as well as toiletries, medications, and kids’ special (toys, games and pets). Finally, don’t forget your keys.

Plan for the moving day

Get a box for toiletries, clothes, and other stuff that would be necessary for use on the day you move to your new house.

• Service your car: Make sure to service your car properly to have a hitch-free ride on the day you move. Also, buy enough gas that would cover you on the day you move to avoid extra expenses when you make the move.
• Moving day: The D-day is here, and after adhering to the moving packing checklist leading to this very day, you will feel light and less stressed as all you will have to do on this day include the following:
• Tidy your old home: After packing all your stuff, tidy your old home. To save time, you can employ a cleaning service, then take photos of the condition you left the house in so as to avoid any dispute that may arise in the future.
• Take charge: Discuss with the leader of the moving truck how you arranged your stuff and how it should be handled.
• Move ahead: On the day of movement, make sure to move ahead of the moving truck so as to move easier, and to get there before them would help get you prepared for the unpacking.
• First things first: When the moving truck arrives, take out those things you marked for usage on the first day of getting into your new place, then other vital stuff like bed, and kitchen utensils, and then order for food as there would be no time to cook.

A house moving packing checklist template is a well-organized document to help ease the stress of moving into or out of a new home or office. It includes all the supposed activities to be carried out, right from about two months (8 weeks) before moving to the actual moving day. You can save yourself the stress of creating a packing checklist by just downloading ready-to-use templates from below and begin ticking off your list today.

Packing Do’s and Don’ts

After organizing your packing list, there are some dos and don’ts that would help for healthy packing, and they are listed below.

Do’s

Mentioned below are some do’s that you should follow for a successful packing checklist:

• Pack like items together: Packing like items together would help for easy labelling, delicate handling and in the making of a moving packing checklist. For example, packing wood and glass together would result in a catastrophe. Even if it is labelled as fragile, the wood may eventually cause damage to the glass.
• Label each box: Labelling each box would make it easier to re-arrange and also make it easy to handle as the movers know what is contained in each box, and the labelling should be made bold too.
• Pack a box of must-have items: During packing, items that would be required on the day you pack to your new place must top on your packing list, as they are a prerequisite to have at that moment. For example, your credit card, a change of clothes for each member of the household, medications, flashlight, some cash, phone and charger, laptop and charger, and all important items.
• Pick a good moving time: Picking a good moving time would help make moving easy. Check your schedule properly, check the weather forecast for the day you intend to pack. Ensure to check with your employer too that the day you intend packing would be suitable for all.
• Use safe packing techniques for different packing items: When packing, place heavier items at the bottom and work your way up. After packing glassware in boxes (which can be found cheaply online), pad them with paper so as to ease friction and avoid cracks. Stack various small boxes into a big one for easy loading.

Don’ts

Given below are some don’ts that you should avoid when creating a packing checklist:

• Avoid filling each box to the brim: When packing, ensure not to fill boxes to the brim as it would make it hard to tape, and if it becomes hard to tape, you would have to force it, which may result in a crack of fragile items.
• Do not keep breakable items in the drawers: Keeping breakable items in the drawer when moving would be risky as they can crack when packing, so when making a packing checklist, ensure to secure boxes for various breakable items.
• Avoid packing items you are using first: When creating a packing checklist, ensure not to pack frequently used items first as you would still be using them. Hence, it is advisable to pack out-of-season items first before packing other items.
• Don’t forget your moving bag with essentials: When moving, ensure not to forget the bag containing essentials such as a credit card, a change of clothes for each member of the household, medications, flashlight, some cash, phone and charger, laptop and charger, and all important documents.
• Don’t pack any non-allowable: When moving house, ensure to enquire from the moving company the list of things they don’t pack so as to save you time and stress of packing things they won’t carry for example items such as fireworks, chemicals, propellers, igniters or primers, acids/ammonia, lamp oil, fluid cleaners, propane tanks, charcoal, aerosol cans, car batteries, candles amongst other things as this can pose a certain amount of risk to the movers and the reputation of their company if any accident should occur.