Moving Guide

Moving can be a stressful process, and it helps to be prepared! Here are tips from pros with decades of experience under their belts — everything you need to know, from packing to moving day to the weeks after the move.

Take inventory of everything you own. Decide what items you want to keep and get rid of things you don’t want by having a garage sale or donating them to a local charity. If you don’t want it, put that old, pesky couch (will it fit in your new unit?) on OfferUp or Craigslist!

Don’t forget about your storage unit! If you have on-site storage, remember to include this in your inventory. If you have storage needs, Eco Movers has a large storage facility in Queen Anne.

Will you need to reserve a parking space for our moving truck? Check with the city about guidelines for reserved parking spaces. Seattle guidelines can be found at www.seattle.gov/permits-and-services/permits/parking-permits/temporary-no-parking-permits. Give enough lead time for the no-parking easels to be set up.

Move prep: One Week

How will you be packing? If you’re packing yourself, make sure you use sturdy, high-quality boxes or moving containers. This helps protect your belongings and adds to the ease of the moving process. Eco Movers specializes in offering eco-friendly reusable moving boxes – perfect for moves of all sizes. Boxes can be reserved online.

If you do choose cardboard boxes, choosing standard size boxes makes packing and moving easier. Most small boxes are about 1.5 cubic feet, medium boxes are 3 cubic feet and large boxes are 4.5 cubic feet. Don’t forget tape, bubble wrap and markers for labeling the boxes!

Eco Movers also offers packing services, which allows you to be up-and-running in your home as long as possible before moving day. We prefer to use our Eco Boxes, but we can also use cardboard supplies on request.

Move prep: Four Days

Time to Pack

• Prioritize! If there are items you don’t use often or won’t need for the next few days, pack these things first.
• Be sure to use the right size box: small boxes are best for heavy things like books. Use large boxes for lighter things like pillows, blankets and stuffed animals.
• If the item can fit in a box, put it in a box. This helps our crews to best utilize space in the truck.
• If you can, fill empty space in boxes with newspaper to prevent items from moving inside the box.
• Unless you have a very large closet, don’t worry about packing hanging clothes. We have reusable wardrobe boxes for your hanging items, and we can pack them on moving day.
• Leave important items like toiletries, medications, credit cards and cell phone chargers until last.

Move prep: Two Days

Check in with Eco Movers

Update your inventory with us! We tailor each moving experience to fit our customers, so it’s important we have the most recent information. The inventory doesn’t need to be perfect, but check to be sure that the number of boxes and other items are close. If you have any extra-heavy items — over 200 pounds — or a piano, make sure it’s marked on the inventory.

Reserve Parking for Eco Movers

Especially for apartment moves, check in with your building managers (current and future) to see if you can reserve a loading dock or parking space for the moving truck. Also check to see if you can reserve an elevator. This greatly speeds up the moving process.

File a change-of-address with the post office

Unless you have a PO box, let your local U.S. Post Office know about your move a few days before you’re ready to go. They’ll tell you everything you need to know about updating your address.

Move prep: Moving day

Arrival

We give each customer an arrival window, either morning or afternoon. One of our crew members will call at least 30 minutes before the truck arrives at your home to begin moving day.

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Eco Movers will typically empty the boxes out of your home first to make room to prep furniture and other items. We use special floor runners to protect your home from dirt and damage. Once the boxes have been cleared, our crew members will begin padding and protecting your furniture.

How to help

Our crew members can help with dis-assembly and reassembly of beds and other items, but having items disassembled ahead of time is a great way to speed up your move. Keep one small box aside until moving day – this is for hardware from around the home, and other small last-minute items. You can also hit us up on Instagram, @ecomoversmoving, while we’re working! We love to hear from our customers.

Unloading

Once you’ve arrived at your new home, we will bring large items in first – the couch, the bed, etc. This allows us to place those items where you’d like them to go before bringing boxes in from the truck. Under most circumstances, the move-in is considerably faster than the move-out.

Wrap-up

Is everything out of the truck and in place? Great! We’re almost finished. The crew lead will have some paperwork to sign while the rest of the crew brings our tools and supplies back to the truck.

Post move: One Week

Unpacking tips

• The last things you packed should be the first things you unpack: food, toiletries, medications, and things you’ll need right away.
• Set up bedrooms first! A good night’s sleep is the best way to recover from a long moving day.
• Use brackets to anchor tall bookcases to the wall before unpacking books.
• If you used our Eco Boxes, call us when you’re ready to have them picked up. Remember, we rent Eco Boxes one week at a time.
• If you used cardboard, check online to see if someone needs moving supplies. It’s better to re-use those boxes than have them go to waste!