It’s important to have a game plan that gets you ready for your moving day. A schedule can help keep you on track for packing everything up, and reviewing any specialty items—like heavy workout equipment or a piano—can give you a more accurate moving estimate. Focusing on what needs to happen before moving day is obviously helpful. But sometimes it’s just as useful to talk about what not to do.
When you get down to it, mistakes can cost money. The most expensive moving days aren’t usually about bad luck. There are some potential mistakes you should be aware of in advance.
Problems with Bad Prep: Moving Delays and Extra Costs
As a general rule, professional moving costs are tied to time and crew size. That means anything that slows the process down can end up increasing your final bill.
Moving crews operate on a schedule, and they’re assigned based on the size and complexity of each job. So whenever the scope of a move changes, or the home isn’t ready when the movers arrive, everything is going to take longer. You’ll be looking at more labor hours, and more labor hours mean higher costs. A good team will know how to work quickly, but if you don’t make it a point to get properly prepared for your move, you’ll likely be getting a bigger bill.
What are the Worst Ways to Go About a Move?
At Colt Moving, our pricing is structured around the exact time it takes to complete the move. We don’t round up, so you’re only paying for the actual labor, and any fees for the distance or specialty items are clearly outlined on our website. This makes it easier to calculate a realistic quote, but to keep your total cost as low as possible, the right prep is key. Here’s what to avoid as you get ready.
1. Lying (or Guessing) About the Size of Your Move
For some people, it might be tempting to underestimate your square footage when gathering moving quotes. Other times, it’s just that mistakes are made. You might forget about including the garage, your attic, or a storage unit that your movers will need to visit. The problem here is that poor planning and inaccurate info can lead to longer move times.
We tend to recommend one truck and two movers for every 1,500 square feet of space. This is based on experience. We have a good idea of what our movers can accomplish, but if your home is larger and you’ve only scheduled one truck and bypassed a third mover, then your move is likely going to exceed the projected timeframe.
It’s also important to remember that one truck typically holds about five to six rooms of furniture. The more accurate you are upfront, the more accurate your estimate will be. If you’re unsure of your square footage, counting up your rooms can be a good guide. Just be sure to include everything—your garage items, patio furniture, bulky workout equipment, and anything else that you might have overlooked.
2. Not Being Packed When Movers Arrive
Believe it or not, one of the most common mistakes is only being partially packed. This is a surefire way to see an increase in your final bill.
Professional movers are going to show up assuming that your boxes are sealed, labeled, and ready to load. If the crew arrives and you still have random items on the countertops and open boxes in rooms, or last-minute piles that haven’t been sorted, the timeline for the day is going to stretch.
Even an extra 20 minutes of packing can mess with the entire schedule. Multiply that across the house in each room, and the difference can really get out of hand. If you’re doing the packing yourself, you’ll want to aim to be completely finished the night before moving day—not the morning of.
3. Not Having a Parking Plan for the Truck
Shorter carry distances mean faster loading and unloading. Unfortunately, figuring out the truck access often gets overlooked until the last minute.
It’s a good idea to confirm where the truck will park at both locations before your moving day. Then you’ll be able to clear the driveways (when possible) to get as close as possible to the entrance. Sometimes there are HOA restrictions or issues with downtown access that need to be worked around. Be sure to check about whether you’ll need a street permit to keep the moving day on schedule.
4. Poor Communication About Specialty Items
Large or specialty items can dramatically impact the logistics of a move. You need to be realistic. Even experienced movers are going to need a little extra time to handle pianos, safes, oversized sectionals, heavy gym equipment, and fragile antiques. Sometimes they may even need extra crew members. If you don’t share those details ahead of time, your moving crew might arrive underprepared.
If you want to avoid that extra labor time—or even the need to reschedule certain items—you’ll need to be specific about your inventory. Then if there’s something that’s unusually heavy, bulky, or valuable, your movers can confirm that they’ll have the right plan in place to keep everything to one day.
Avoid These Mistakes—and Get Settled In Fast
Good preparation and being honest and upfront are the best defenses against a move that’s more expensive than you’d budgeted for. When you’re accurate about your home size and include every area being moved, you’ll be in a much better position to have an accurate quote.
Communicate about specialty items or access challenges like tight stairways. Finish packing ahead of time. Figure out the truck parking in advance. And be sure to hire movers that have great reviews! At Colt Moving, we know how to deliver smooth moving days. But it’s still a team effort. When your expectations match reality, the move can stay within your projected timeframe and your budget without any hiccups.