moving to another province - advice needed

[bargain_hunter_lola]

We rented PODS when we moved 2 years ago and they were fantastic! We only moved about 40 minutes distance though. Not sure if there are companies that will move PODS across country but if there are, it's worth looking into. You have more time to load them, and loading yourself limits things getting lost/broken and of course saves money.

Also, how much are you moving? If its only some boxes, Greyhound works great. We shipped 10 big boxes from AB to ON and it was less than $200.

Good luck on the move!


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[xlxo]

Here's a long distance mover horror story...
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/customers-left-...ness-1.1791306

[emma008]

Wow! There is so much horror stories with moving companies!!! I'm thinking renting a truck and moving the stuff yourself is a better way to go.

[CouponKitten]

sometimes things "go missing" when you hire movers. my advice is to do it yourself and get a u-haul or something.
and yeah, keep -all- receipts.

additional advice includes:
1. get rid of all your larger items like bed, sofa, etc. they will be a pain in the @$$ to haul and take up alot of valuable space in your u-haul. plus, you can buy those again in your new province. i can assure you that your new province will have big box store furniture stores like the brick, ikea, leons or whatever. dont forget about kijiji, both to get rid of your stuff and to get new stuff.

2. pack up everything in rubbermaid totes instead of cardboard boxes. this can seem expensive (check canadian tire and target for the best sales), but is well worth it. your belongings will be more secure in the totes than in the boxes, and will also be waterproof in case of emergency. just be sure not to pack the totes to heavily for their size. like, dont pack a large tote full of harcover books.

3. if you have framed artwork, wrap it in old towels and secure with a safety pin before placing into the tote. this prevents the artwork from scraping each other and gives some padding from bumps. pick up old towels at value village or other thrift stores.

[xlxo]

Wow! There is so much horror stories with moving companies!!! I'm thinking renting a truck and moving the stuff yourself is a better way to go.

The main thing is to check the Better Business Bureau for complaints and do your research. If you see a super low bid where they "try" to consolidate your stuff with other families going in the same direction.... AVOID. Your stuff will get misplaced or abandoned when someone feels they are not making enough.

[LocalPhotographer]

I would consider a discount truck. Moving your own belongings will give you peace of mind. I moved with my family about six years ago to the Sault and we used a moving company. The truck didn't show up till a day later. We slept on the floor of our new house and it was absolutely freezing. We had moved at Christmas. Move your own belongings especially across province.

[anastasia1009]

sometimes things "go missing" when you hire movers. my advice is to do it yourself and get a u-haul or something.
and yeah, keep -all- receipts.

additional advice includes:
1. get rid of all your larger items like bed, sofa, etc. they will be a pain in the @$$ to haul and take up alot of valuable space in your u-haul. plus, you can buy those again in your new province. i can assure you that your new province will have big box store furniture stores like the brick, ikea, leons or whatever. dont forget about kijiji, both to get rid of your stuff and to get new stuff.

2. pack up everything in rubbermaid totes instead of cardboard boxes. this can seem expensive (check canadian tire and target for the best sales), but is well worth it. your belongings will be more secure in the totes than in the boxes, and will also be waterproof in case of emergency. just be sure not to pack the totes to heavily for their size. like, dont pack a large tote full of harcover books.

3. if you have framed artwork, wrap it in old towels and secure with a safety pin before placing into the tote. this prevents the artwork from scraping each other and gives some padding from bumps. pick up old towels at value village or other thrift stores.

that is what we did all rubbermaid totes - blue ones or long ones - not one box was used.
easy to unpack, easy to tape paper on it for whats in it, waterproof and when you unpack they go into one another.

[emma008]

We rented PODS when we moved 2 years ago and they were fantastic! We only moved about 40 minutes distance though. Not sure if there are companies that will move PODS across country but if there are, it's worth looking into. You have more time to load them, and loading yourself limits things getting lost/broken and of course saves money.

Also, how much are you moving? If its only some boxes, Greyhound works great. We shipped 10 big boxes from AB to ON and it was less than $200.

Good luck on the move!


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How big of a POD or truck do you think I would need to move contents of a 2 bedroom house, no large appliances, such refrigerator, DW, Dryer, washing machine, and nothing from the basement other than some storage stuff?

[FallenPixels]

The truck companies have calculators like this one from Penske
http://www.pensketruckrental.com/truck-wizard.html

[emma008]

The truck companies have calculators like this one from Penske
http://www.pensketruckrental.com/truck-wizard.html

how wonderful! Thanks so much

[BC Gal]

I recently moved and had a ton of stuff including my stockpile. Good boxes were not always easy to find; the liquor store has great boxes for glasses, bottles and such. I also tried to get boxes of the same size so they stacked well. We rented a Uhaul; even the biggest one is not that expensive and holds quite a bit. I was not able to get a pod in my area or I might have done that and taken more time to pack and stack, but we did have the truck a day ahead of time and were able to load it then just drive and unload the next day. It worked out really well. Hope your move goes smoothly.

[Natalka]

We've used U-Haul our last two moves - for our move in the fall was just local, we went with a 24 foot truck. Our previous move was long-distance, and I think we had the same size truck.
Remember, rental of the truck is relatively inexpensive, so if you aren't sure of what size you need, go with a larger one. (also, someone with some experience should drive it!) We had heard Penske was good, there just wasn't a truck available for our date.

We did have a washer and dryer, and pretty much regular furniture out of a three bedroom house. My husband and son are very gifted stackers (would do great at Tetris!), so they really knew how to pack up the stuff in the truck for max efficiency.

Good luck!

[FallenPixels]

Good boxes were not always easy to find

Yes! We bought some from U-Haul, they were about $6-10 (depending on size) for 5 boxes so not free but far from expensive

[Natalka]

Check for people giving away boxes on Kijiji and/or freecycle - and ask.

Liquor store boxes are great. If you end up getting flattened boxes from a store or business, make sure you have good packing tape to seal the bottoms up so they are sturdy.

We were SO lucky with our last move, our neighbour was moving out two weeks ahead of us, and moving slowly, so when she would unpack at the new place, she'd bring us back the empty boxes. It was so nice of her - our living room and other places were full of empty boxes before we began packing, but it was all good.

[Zonny]

When my Dad and his partner were moving here years ago, they used Rubbermaid bins, and she numbered every bin and knew what was in them. This turned out badly when they ended up here, my DH and i were helping to unpack. We knew there was a bottle of Crown Royal in bin 43, but wasn't that damned bin in the back that we didn't get to access until the next day!

U-Haul, I've moved a couple of times, and for longer distances, wasn't impressed. The A/C failed in one, the mirror kept flipping back in the wind as we drove on highways. They never offered any refunds, not when we asked for it either.