Hire Professional Movers or Do It Yourself? The Pros and Cons
Moving house or office can make for a daunting process. Deciding to hire those who do it for a living or doing in yourself usually comes down to the cost. However, there are other factors to consider when deciding on the best option for you in each step of the moving process.
Packing
Arguably the worst part of relocating is packing up years’ worth of furniture and possessions. The pros of doing this yourself is that you know your things more personally than anyone else and therefore can work out in your mind a packing configuration that makes sense to you. You’ll know where everything is by packing it yourself. Also, you don’t have to be embarrassed by a stranger seeing the dust gathering in unused parts of the house!
The cons of DIY include not packing in the most efficient way, and causing physical strain or injury by lifting a lot of heavy items without adequate help. Professional movers are trained to pack efficiently to prevent boxes from falling apart and to avoid damaging items. They are also trained on correct lifting techniques (which is harder than it looks) to prevent injury or strain.
If you’re keen on a compromise between the two options, some removals companies offer sturdy storage boxes that they drop to you and pick up once you’ve packed yourself. So you eliminate the risk of breaking boxes by avoiding the old cardboard ones, and avoid the risk of causing injury from heavy lifting, but get the benefit of sorting through your things yourself.
Delivery Options: Borrow, Hire, or outsource entirely?
It’s fairly cheap to hire a ute or truck and drive it yourself come moving day. As long as you or a friend can drive manual, the process is straightforward and there are a lot of easy-to-navigate options available, whether you hire directly from a company or borrow from a friend.
However, the downside is that doing the delivery yourself is that you can’t guarantee the safety of your possessions. If something breaks during the move, you’re going to be out-of-pocket replacing the broken item. Reputable professional removalists come with the assurance that anything damaged will be covered by them. Of course, this comes at a higher initial cost for the service itself, but depending on the extent of your expensive home or office valuables, it might be worth springing for it.
Another upside for hiring professionals is that they’re more efficient for time-sensitive moves. If you need to be out of your residential or commercial space due to a lease being up, it can be awful to find yourself at midnight cleaning and finishing up the move, or dragging yourself back the next day to do it. Going the professional route means you know with certainty that the move will be completed in the specified timeframe.
Storage: at a mate’s place or a storage facility?
If you need to pack away and store your things for a few weeks or months, there are different options available to you. Sometimes you might be lucky enough to be able to leave some boxes at a friend or family member’s place. This has an obvious cost benefit to you: I am personally hard-pressed to refuse the free option.
However, this options isn’t generally viable for loads of furniture, and not remotely ideal for commercial items, including sensitive documents. There are lots of commercial storage options available for your particular needs. Some self-storage facilities, offer specialist storage options for things like pianos, artworks, and sensitive documents that take temperature and security into account. Do your research, and you should be able to find an option that is both suitable and not too costly.
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