![It's crucial to prevent property damage when moving.](https://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/prevent-property-damage.jpg)
Highlights
- Property damage during a house move will incur unforeseen expenses and headaches.
- In order to avoid property damage when moving you need to plan ahead and prepare well – pack with safety in mind, ensure reliable moving help, provide effective protection to your property, etc.
- To successfully protect your property from damage on moving day, you’re advised to cover floors, stairs, walls, and doors with protective materials, use proper moving equipment, and use safe lifting and carrying techniques.
- Hiring professional movers to do the work for you will reduce the risk of property damage to a minimum.
There is a lot to deal with when moving house – financial issues, laborious work, emotional challenges, etc. The last thing you want is to deal with property damage too.
When moving out, you need to leave your old home in perfect condition:
- If your old property is going for sale, you will want it to be in great condition so you can get more money out of it;
- If you’ve already sold your old home, you won’t want the new owners to bring a claim for damages against you, because when they first came to see the house, there were no broken banisters or knocked-out door frames, for example – so, you need to keep the place intact;
- If you’re moving out of a rental, you need to leave it in the same condition it was when you moved in in order to get your security deposit back.
When moving in, you want your new place to be in excellent condition, of course.
If any damage is inflicted during the move, you will have to waste a lot of time, money, and nerves on unplanned repair works – so property damage is really bad news. You need to do everything possible to prevent it.
While it’s indeed difficult to keep the floors, walls, doors, etc. safe and intact when hauling heavy items around, with careful planning and proper preparation you can successfully protect your property from damage on moving day. Read on to find out how:
How to Avoid Property Damage When Moving
In order to keep your old property safe on move-out day – and your new property safe on move-in day – you need a safe moving strategy:
Trust a moving company
![Using professional movign services reduces the risk of property damage to a minimum.](https://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/safe-movers.jpg)
The easiest way to avoid damage to your property when moving is to hire trustworthy movers to load and unload your items for you. They have the specialized equipment and expert skills required to move household items without causing any damage. Professional movers have enough experience to foresee every potential risk, so they can take adequate measures to ensure the safety of your home and your belongings.
Professional moving services come at a price, of course, but the extra cost is worth it – not only will you not need to worry about property damage, you won’t need to worry about anything at all. The pros will do all the work for you and will guarantee your safe, smooth, and successful relocation experience. You’ll be glad you spent the extra money.
You can use our free moving calculator to get an idea of your approximate moving costs, so you can decide for yourself if hiring movers will be worth it.
Pack your items properly
The way you pack your belongings will considerably increase or decrease the risk of property damage during the move. To reduce that risk to a minimum, you’re advised to:
- Use quality packing materials – sturdy moving boxes (that won’t fall apart and spill their contents during the move), padded moving blankets (that will cushion hits and prevent scratches), quality packing tape (that will keep the protective materials in place), etc.;
- Be careful not to make the boxes too heavy – Heavy boxes are difficult to lift and carry, so they’re more likely to get dropped during the move – resulting in damage to both their contents and the floor. Besides, overloaded boxes can break under their own weight when lifted;
- Reinforce the bottoms of cardboard boxes – just to be on the safe side;
- Wrap larger household items in moving blankets – especially protruding parts and sharp edges that can cause scratches and dents.
Related: Fundamental packing rules for safe and efficient packing
Use appropriate moving equipment
Using specialized moving equipment to take heavy boxes and items in and out of a home is essential for preventing property damage during a move.
Professional movers have the necessary equipment and use it to make things safer and easier on moving day.
If you’re moving without professional moving help, it will be up to you to get the right equipment for the job:
- A moving dolly – You can load bulky furniture and appliances on the dolly and move them without any risk for the floors;
- Moving straps – Furniture lifting straps allow you to lift heavy objects with ease and help keep them secure – and away from the floors and walls of your home;
- Furniture sliders – You can use pads to slide furniture across the floors without scraping or denting them.
Use safe lifting and carrying techniques
When performing a self-move, you will have to do a lot of heavy lifting. It will be very strenuous and may easily result in an accident – and, therefore, in property damage.
![When moving heavy items you can easily hurt yourself and cause damage to your porperty.](https://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/heavy-lifting.jpg)
To reduce the risk of accidents – and any resulting injuries and damages – when moving heavy items, you need to use safe lifting and carrying techniques:
- Get a firm footing and good grip on the item you’re about to lift;
- Lift with your legs, not your back;
- Keep the heavy item close and centered to your body;
- Walk slowly and carefully.
See also: How to properly lift and carry heavy boxes and furniture
Provide protection
Last but most importantly, in order to avoid property damage when moving, you need to protect your property with adequate protective materials:
- Furniture blankets – Moving blankets are extremely useful for providing protection during a house move – on one hand, they protect the item wrapped in them; on the other, they can be draped over walls, doors, banisters, and railings to protect them from damage on moving day;
- Plywood sheets – Plywood sheets are great for protecting floors – especially hardwood floors and tile floors that are extremely susceptible to damage. The panels can also be leaned against walls to protect them against scratching, scuffing, and dents;
- Floor runners – Floor runners are especially designed to protect floors during a house move – they provide padded protective covering and have adhesive backing (so they won’t slide around when walked over) and anti-slip surfaces (so they’re safe to walk on);
- Plastic film protectors – Plastic film creates a protective layer over the surface that keeps dust, dirt, and water away. Keep in mind though that it provides little protection against scratching and impact damages;
- Large cardboard pieces – Cardboard pieces can be placed on the floor (or on walls, doors, etc.) and taped together to create an effective protective covering;
- Corner guards – Corner guards protect wall corners from dents and prevent chipping;
- Foam padding – Foam padding provides excellent protection to door frames, wall corners, railings and banisters, etc.
Old blankets and clothes, non-slip canvas drop cloths and plastic drop cloths also work well for protecting floors and stairs from damage during a move.
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