We all have heard stories about moving gone terribly wrong… How to avoid being the next story to be told? Here is a reminder list that can strongly help you get ready.
3 months before
- Ask for at least three quotes from moving companies or moving truck rentals.
- Check the insurances offered by the moving companies (breakage, bedbugs, etc.).
- Ask permission from your future landlord to access the apartment in order to take some measurements to make sure that your furniture fits.
- Inform your employer; it is possible that you have the right for a paid day off.
- Enroll your children in a new school or kindergarten.
1 month before
- Go through the things that you want to keep and the things that you do not need anymore.
- Sell, give or donate the things that do not suit you anymore. This way you will be able to estimate the size of the moving truck needed.
- Start collecting boxes; some grocery stores give away boxes when people ask for them.
- Start saving your fliers and your old newspapers for wrapping purposes.
- Reserve a moving dolly or some forearm forklifts if needed.
- Notify your bank, electrical, phone, cable, internet and insurance companies of your new address.
- Subscribe to the online Québec Services for address change to transfer your new information to the ministries.
- Forward all your mail via Canada Post to your new address for the duration of the first 6 months following your move. This way you will avoid having to rely on the kindness (and the rigor) of the future tenant…
- Start eating the food in your freezer and your fridge to avoid moving too many.
- Give back everything you have borrowed from your neighbours…
1 week before
- Remove all your frames and pictures off the walls and start plastering the wholes if needed.
- Prepare your boxes and write on the sides and not on the top what they contain and in which room they should be deposited.
- Confirm attendance with the good souls who volunteered to come and give you a hand.
- Plan the meals that will be served to your friends.
- Check if your new apartment is empty so you can start cleaning before moving in.
- Ask your current landlord how and when he would like to pick up the keys to the apartment.
The day before
- Confirm the exact meeting time with the moving company and/or your friends.
- Dismantle all the furniture that can be disassembled. Do not forget to store the screws and bolts in a Ziploc bag taped to the furniture to avoid losing them.
- Gather everything that you need to have the next day and leave them within reach: cleaning kit, markers, scissors, tools, etc.
- Take pictures of the current state of your furniture in order to verify later on whether they got accidentally scratched during moving.
- Get your plants ready by wrapping their pots in bags to avoid any damage.
Moving Day
- Place in your car the most fragile items and articles and everything that you would need on the spot once you arrive to your destination.
- Vacuum clean the apartment out of respect for the new tenant.
- Have fun as much as possible!
