So it’s true – you’re moving to another house pretty soon and you’re still wondering how to best organize the scary process of packing so that you have enough time to finish all the packing tasks on time. Some of these very tasks seem pretty straightforward (packing up your books, for example) while others don’t really appear that straightforward at all (packing all of your clothes). The bad news is that there are some items (garage tools) and some areas (storage areas, especially your garage) which will surely prove to be one of the toughest packing challenges you will meet during the preparation period.
In reality, to pack up your garage for a move is not overly complicated if you care to follow some basic rules for packing a garage. To help you finish that seemingly frightening packing job easier, faster, and safer, we have gathered for you the top 25 tips for packing a garage for a move.
Advice on how to pack a garage for moving
1. As part of your storage areas, your garage will require a long time to be sorted out and packed up safely. This is why you need to initiate the packing process as soon as your residential move has been confirmed to guarantee yourself as much time as possible for the tough job ahead.
2. Get your moving calendar and make sure the entry pack garage has a top priority status in it. Remember that if you leave that task for much later in your preparations, you run the risk of being too low on time, energy, and motivation to do what’s required of you. And it’s never any fun to be behind schedule.
3. It’s time to get down to work. The first step is to supply the proper packing supplies as no packing job can begin without them. You will need cardboard boxes, rolls of bubble wrap, moving blankets, packing paper and/or newsprint, packing tape, plastic re-sealable bags, numerous zip ties, and a set of color markers.
4. The best way to pack a garage is to have the packing materials mentioned above. If you can afford to purchase them brand new from a local moving company or a specialized store, then you should do it. If you can’t, there are a number of good ways to get your hands on free moving boxes, for example.
5. Get hold of cardboard boxes that are in good overall condition, and most importantly – strong. Most garage items are heavy so you need sturdy boxes to hold them safely. Also, it’s important to have moving containers in different sizes because of the various shapes and sizes of the things you’re about to pack inside them.
6. You will need bubble wrap for the more fragile and valuable items found in your storage area. The air-filled plastic material is considered by many to provide unrivalled protection for delicate and breakable things. So, if you’re worried about the survival of some of your garage items, wrap them up well in bubble wrap to avoid accidental damage or breakage.
7. What will prove very useful during the garage packing process are moving blankets. Their protection is excellent, and the great thing about them is that their protective area is big enough to keep larger items perfectly safe during transportation. Specialized moving blankets are ideal, but you can always use the much cheaper variant of using any old blankets you can find in your home as a substitute.
8. You will need plenty of small plastic re-sealable bags to keep tiny parts from being lost while they are being transported together with the predominantly larger garage tools and garage items in general. The small elements /bolts, nuts, screws, etc./ should accompany the main object they are taken from, either taped directly on it or placed beside it in the same moving box.
9. A set of color markers will do you a world of good when you’re labeling your already packed cardboard boxes. In addition to using different colors for easier post move identification, the markers will prevent mistakes regarding what’s what in each container, which in turn will cause you to lose additional time.
10. Sort out all the items in your garage. This sorting task will take time but you just have to do it because of the fact that storage areas usually contain either extremely useful things or extremely worthless ones. Designate two large zones and place all the items you’re taking with you in one zone, and then leave the rest into the second one.
11. Be mindful that some garage items are forbidden for transportation for safety reasons, and your movers won’t move them for you. Items such as fuel, oils, paint and paint thinners, propane tanks, chemicals, car batteries, cleaning supplies and others are considered dangerous. Contact your movers and ask them about the list of forbidden items for transportation.
12. Having found out which items you are not supposed to pack due to their hazardous nature /flammable, corrosive, or explosive/, you have a few good options to get rid of them prior to the move. You best option is to give them away to friends or neighbors, but if that is not worth it for whatever reason, then you can just throw them away for recycling.
13. Before you learn how to pack your garage, it’s time to decide what you will do with all the non-hazardous things you don’t need anymore, and therefore won’t move to your new home. This time, your best bet is to organize a moving sale and attempt to pocket some cash from the possessions that still have a decent market value.
14. And now that you have sorted out your garage items and gotten rid of the ones you either don’t need or are not allowed to transport, let’s describe the best way to pack a garage for moving. The very first garage packing tip? Place all smaller hand tools you have /screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, etc./ in your toolbox and keep them there during the house move.
Advice on how to pack garage tools
15. How to pack garage tools? If no special-purpose toolbox is available, you should use sturdy cardboard boxes of small to medium size to accommodate your garage hand tools. Such tools are known to be fairly heavy, so don’t pack them in large boxes because they will quickly add to the overall weight and may cause the container to break and thus, compromise the moving day safety.
16. Take extra precautions when packing sharp-edge garage and garden tools such as saws and knives of different kind, gardening sheers, pickaxes, rakes, hoes, scythes, etc. Use old blankets, old towels or sheets of bubble wrap to cover the sharp edges or blades, then secure the wrapped up parts with pieces of string, rope, or even zip ties.
17. Also, any garden tools you own with long handles should be grouped together and tied as a tight bundle, as well as protected with blankets or towels as described above. Before you do that, however, make sure they are clean /you don’t want to transfer dirt into the moving vehicle, for example/ and their cutting areas are made safe for transportation.
18. If you own any electric power tools, then you only need to find their original packages for best protection. If not, then detach any removable parts (batteries included), coil the power cord around the tool, wrap the entire body in bubble wrap or a piece of clothing of the right size, and place the bundle into a moving box of suitable size.
19. Moving companies won’t transport any gas-operated equipment you own /lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc./ until you have completely out drained their fuel. If there’s plenty of fuel left in the tank, siphon it out with the help of a hand pump. Keep in mind that it’s dangerous to leave even a small amount of fuel in the tank of gas operated machinery during transport.
20. If used practically as a storage area, your garage may have all kinds of odds and ends. In which case, the very question of how to pack up your garage for a move basically comes down to knowing how to pack the various items found inside it. The task of packing up your garage will be a success as long as you stay away from the top 9 common packing mistakes when moving house.
21. If you own a bicycle or bicycles, then you should know that there are special bike boxes you can purchase from your nearest bike shop. However, you should know that there’s a special way to pack up your bike, and that packing method is not straightforward in any means. The good news is that most of the times you won’t need to do that as your bike can be simply loaded into the moving vehicle as it is.
How to pack a garage to move
Original packaging always proves the best protection during transportation.
22. Not surprisingly, the thing you will mostly find inside a garage is a car, and sometimes even a motorcycle. Now, if you choose not to drive your own motor vehicle to your next destination, then you will need to contact a top rated auto transportation company to arrange the details. But before you do, here is some good advice on how to prepare your car for shipping.
23. Use the power of photographs to your advantage! Before you disassemble a garage item to its detachable elements, you might want to take photos of how it’s assembled, especially if it consists of numerous complicated parts. These photographs can help you tremendously later after the move is over when you’re about to put back the item in question.
24. When packing a garage to move, it’s essential that you label properly the packed boxes so that no mistakes or identification errors occur when the time comes to unpack them. Take your black marker pen and write GARAGE on all of the boxes, including their detailed contents. Moreover, it’s a good idea to write down any special handling instructions, such as FRAGILE or THIS SIDE UP, if necessary. Follow the link to learn more about how to label moving boxes like a pro.
25. The above tips for packing a garage will help you do a fine packing job all by yourself. Still, if you feel like that particular task is too tough for you, or if you don’t have much time to do it on your own, then it’s best if you get in touch with professional packers and movers.
