Relocating statistics say that Americans tend to move up to 12 times in their life, so relocations are a common thing, and you shouldn’t fear them. When we’re about to leave the old home we’ve been living in and head into unknown surroundings, anxiety about moving out may kick in for various reasons. But there’s one thing most of us dread when facing a move, and it’s the part where you have to place the whole household into packages, crates, and suitcases. And the question we’re going to answer is – how long does it usually take for people to pack up a house for a move?
How Long Does It Take to Pack a House When Moving Across the Country
Let’s face it – relocations are always complex. Although they require good organizational skills, it’s something you can manage. But perhaps the most crucial initial step is to determine just how long does it take to pack a house so you can handle it well and stay on top of all the things you have to do.
How Long Does It Take To Pack a House? It Depends on the Size of Your Home
We struggle to deal with relocating stress because we have a lot on our minds. We try to determine where to live, and we’re trying to find a job when relocating to another state or to follow residence hunting tips. Add the packaging process on top of it, and the tension just keeps adding up, while we forget that a move is the beginning of a real adventure in your life.
What bothers us the most is the fact that we usually don’t have a clue about just how long does it take to pack up a house we’ve been living in. It’s not the same to pack a studio apartment and figure out how long does it take to pack a 4 bedroom house because a large place with a family living in it has much more stuff to pack.
Parents of small kids are more than aware that packing toys can be a real struggle. A studio or a one-bedroom apartment may require 6 hours to two days, while cross-country movers can do it in under 4 hours. Now let’s see how to organize your move and implement some good old relocating tips to pack your life-worth of belongings in an instant.
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Before You Begin, Make Sure You Get Rid of Excessive Items
Can I pack a house in 2 weeks? The answer is that you can if you do a few preparatory steps first. Before you can begin the packing process, make sure you determine what to keep and make piles of what to get rid of before you leave your old home. It’s best to get this over with at least a month before you get on the next stage of your relocation. Keep in mind that downsizing for a move will be of real help when you want to reduce costs when relocating.
The easiest part is when you start throwing things away. Make sure you stock up on garbage bags and that you get rid of stuff remorselessly. The next step is to set aside things you could give away, but make sure you get informed where to donate furniture before you relocate. A good choice would be to contact the Salvation Army or Goodwill. The final step (and this one is optional) is to sell the items in good condition, but which you don’t require anymore, and earn some money in the process.
If you need some new inspiration to guide you through decluttering, take a look at the following video.
Packing Takes a Lot of Time, so Make Sure You Don’t Wait for the Final Hours
There are many new tasks on your plate when you’re relocating to a new home. You have to remember to notify everyone, change your address to a new one, and grab the important documents so you can place them in a designated binder. And then, there’s packing on your to-do list. One of the common relocating mistakes is to put this off until you don’t have enough space in your schedule to do it properly, and you feel like you’re doing everything last-minute.
So, when should you start packing to move? It’s important to give yourself enough time to do it because you can’t pack in a day, and it won’t take a year either. Keep in mind that the answer to “how long does it take to pack a 3 bedroom house” is that it most likely takes at least three to five days. Parents are even worse off with their schedule; with taking care of their toddlers, they’ll require even more days to handle it all.
Before You Start Packing, Obtain All the Necessary Materials
Before you plunge into packing work and taking care of your belongings, you should acquire different types of packing materials and tools, so you can adequately secure everything. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Get enough boxes and crates so you can fit the whole household into them. The best-sized boxes are medium ones, but make sure you obtain a few large ones and smaller ones for all the heavier stuff.
- You’ll need some sturdy, heavy-duty tape so you can secure the lids of each box and avoid damage to your belongings.
- Look for suitable cushioning materials, such as bubble wrap, packing paper, and foam peanuts, because you’ll need to fill each package so there’s no shifting inside.
- Furniture blankets are a tremendous relocating hack for keeping your furniture unscathed during transport.
- If you don’t have the proper tools, you won’t be as efficient, so get your hands on a high-quality tape dispenser, scissors, and a marker.
- Additional materials include pool noodles for framed artwork, photos, mirrors, and plastic wrap, which will come in handy for many things.
If you want to save up a bit on your packing materials, you can use household softies for cushioning (towels and old t-shirts) and suitcases to pack books.
Quicken the Unpacking Process – Label the Moving Boxes by Room or Use Washi Tape
One of the hacks that will help you unpack after relocating fast is labeling the packages as you close them. You can mark them by the room they belong to or by category. Another great idea is to use the color-coding system for your boxes so the long-distance movers can unload them to their proper place. If you don’t know how to do it, you can use the colorful Washi tape and designate a color for each room. Make sure the packages from the bedroom are labeled with the same tape while you mark the kitchen ones with another.
When you arrive at your new place, stick the tape to the doors that lead into rooms, and the cross-country moving company team will have no trouble finding where the packages go. If you have enough time on your hands, you can create a photo inventory of each package, but you should also number the boxes for easier finding.
How Long Should It Take to Pack a 4-Bedroom House?
Packing a four-bedroom home isn’t an easy feat, but, judging from experience, it can be done in a week at most. However, if you don’t get the preparations on the way, it will take you much more than three to seven days to handle it. So, how can I pack my house up fast? – you may ask. Even if you have a smaller household to handle, there are a few things that can help you do it swiftly.
A note to all parents that are relocating with kids – you should find a sitter to watch the kids while you pack or if they are old enough, let them pack their belongings. They’ll feel included in the move, and you can then focus on being quick and efficient.
Preparation Is the Key to Swiftness
If you want to pack like a breeze, one of the best tips for packing quickly is to make sure you prepare all the boxes you may need before you start placing anything into them. Build each package by securely taping the bottom lids several times to make sure they don’t open up at the most inconvenient time – while the boxes are being carried. Also, cushion the bottoms, so everything is ready to grab and go when you start to pack.
Consider a Few Awesome Packing Strategies
When you want to be quick, you should avoid wasting time on things that could be done differently. But what does it mean in terms of packing? The best way to pack furniture with drawers is to leave the contents inside. Instead of taking everything out and placing it inside a box, take out each drawer and wrap it thoroughly with plastic wrap. After you put it back in, cover the whole dresser to keep the drawers in place. You can do the same with chests and smaller wardrobes.
A good strategy is to go room by room and not leave until everything is packed. You can start with the attic and the garage, and all the other rooms which are less frequented. As soon as one of these places is finished, it can be used as a spare space where you can fit all the boxes.
Disassemble the Bulky Pieces of Furniture
Relocating furniture is much easier if you take everything apart. Grab a toolbox and disassemble anything too bulky to fit into the back of a truck. After you take apart a piece, make sure you place all the belonging hardware into a ziplock bag and use the tape to stick it to the corresponding part so that it won’t get lost. It will make reassembling a piece of cake.
Mind the Way You Fill and Place the Boxes
All your smaller and more delicate possessions should go into smaller boxes. It’s the best way to pack fragile items because they will be much easier to carry. Large packages should be kept for lighter items, such as clothes, rags, and towels. But most of your household will go into the medium ones. When you start to load them onto a truck, make sure that the heavier stuff is placed on the bottom and not the other way round. It will keep those lighter boxes from crushing under the weight.
Hire Professionals to Give You a Helping Hand
Following the advice we’ve given you will ensure your packing is as swift and easy as pie. But some people do have a lot of things to handle and don’t have enough time on their hands. If you think that you won’t make it, the best choice is to invest some money in long-distance moving services and pay for the packing service by experienced relocation specialists. A reliable company will also provide you with state-of-the-art auto transport service for your vehicle and highly secured storage service for your belongings. With professional help, and with a trained hand of a mover, your packing and relocation will most likely be done in a jiffy.
