Materials only
Cartons, paper, bubble, tape and wardrobe boxes dropped off in advance. You pack; we bring more if you run out, which most people do.
Packing & storage
Packing, and somewhere to wait
Two services that belong together, because the households that need one usually need the other. Packing is what makes a move survivable; storage is what makes a slipped completion survivable.
Four levels, and how to choose
Most people underestimate packing by roughly half. Not because they are careless, but because a kitchen looks like one room and packs like three. Pick the level honestly rather than optimistically.
Fragile packing
The crew packs the kitchen, the glass, the pictures and anything else that would keep you awake. You do the books, the clothes and the loft.
Full packing
Everything, room by room, usually the day before loading. You are left with the things you would rather handle yourself — documents, jewellery, the cat.
Unpacking
Cartons opened, contents placed on surfaces, packaging taken away. Useful after a long move, and the option people most often wish they had taken.
What goes wrong when people pack themselves
- Books in big boxes. A large carton of books cannot be lifted by one person and will fail at the bottom. Books go in small cartons, always.
- Plates flat. Plates travel on edge, wrapped individually, like records. Stacked flat they break from the middle of the pile outwards.
- Half-full cartons. Air is what collapses a box. Fill the gaps with paper or linen.
- No labels. "Kitchen" on the top and one side. Not on the bottom, which is where it will end up.
- Leaving the loft. The loft is always bigger than remembered and always packed last, in a hurry, badly.
Storage, and why Watford needs it
This town sits in long chains — commuters buying and selling on both sides of a line to Euston — and long chains slip. The gap between having to be out and being able to get in is the most common reason a Watford household ends up in store.
Goods are inventoried as they are loaded, held securely, and redelivered when you say. You get a copy of the inventory. It turns a crisis into a scheduling decision, which is all it ever should have been.
Packing for storage is different
Worth saying plainly: a carton that survives a short journey across town is not necessarily a carton that should sit sealed for months. Things need to be dry going in, clothes are better boxed than left loose in furniture, and anything with a residue on it — a barbecue, a vacuum, a half-used tin — causes trouble later.
We pack to that standard when we are doing the packing. If you are packing yourself and it is going into store, tell us and we will be specific about what to do differently.
What we will not store
Nothing perishable, flammable or corrosive: no fuel, gas bottles, paint, solvents, fireworks, plants or food. Documents, jewellery, cash and irreplaceable papers are better kept with you. Ask before the collection if you are unsure about something specific.
Storage usually arrives attached to a house move or a move abroad. Tell us the whole picture and it gets quoted as one job.
Worth knowing
Packing and storage, in plain terms
What does full packing include?
Materials, labour and labelling. The crew brings cartons, paper, bubble, tape and wardrobe boxes, packs room by room, and marks every carton with the room it belongs to at the far end. You are left with the things you would rather handle yourself.
Can we pack ourselves and still use you?
Of course, and most people pack at least some of it. We will drop materials off beforehand and tell you plainly what tends to go wrong — books in big boxes, plates flat instead of on edge, and cartons filled to a weight nobody can lift.
How does storage work between completions?
Goods are inventoried as they are loaded, held securely, and redelivered when you are ready. You get a copy of the inventory. It is the standard answer when a chain slips, and it means you move once rather than twice.
Is there anything you will not store?
Nothing perishable, flammable, corrosive or living: no fuel, gas bottles, paint, solvents, plants or food. Documents, jewellery and irreplaceable papers are better kept with you.
Does the packing need to be different for storage?
Yes, and it catches people out. Things need to be dry going in, clothes are better boxed than left loose in furniture, and anything with a residue on it is a problem waiting to happen. If you are packing yourself for storage, say so and we will be specific.
If the dates look shaky, say so early.
Storage arranged in advance is a line on a quote. Storage arranged on the morning of a failed completion is a scramble for everyone.