How to protect walls when moving

When it comes to moving day, your biggest concerns are likely about something happening to your stuff or something happening to the house you’re moving out of that day. That’s because many times, furniture and heavy items can bump your walls and cause damage to a house that you’ve already sold.

On the other hand, you may be worried about damage to the walls of your new home you just purchased and the work and money that would go into repairs. The good news is that you can take some precautions to greatly reduce the likelihood of damage. Take a look at the best ways to protect your walls during your move.

Protect your walls

There are different ways to go about protecting your walls during the move. The simplest way to start is to make sure everyone is wearing proper attire, with things like loose chains, large zippers, and large rings removed to avoid something rubbing up against a fragile surface. Wrap the items you’ll be moving out and into the new place with proper plastic, shrink wrap, padding, and soft fabrics to avoid damage if something rubs up again your walls. 

Next, contact your local Chicago moving company or pick up your own supplies that would help cover the walls before the move. You’ll find that cardboard or Masonite is a great solution for protecting the walls. You can also try furniture pads, especially for areas like the stairs or underneath banisters, since these are easy to hang and drape.

Another way to protect your walls during the move is to cover the walls in drop-cloths that will help prevent scratches during the move. Sharp corners will need extra padding to avoid marks on the walls while you’re moving out items like the bed frame or the armoire. Consider other options like cardboard, wooden boards, or bubble wrap for wall protection in narrow rooms. Even brown paper grocery bags on the walls will work and will save you some cash if you already own them.

Make sure everyone is taking plenty of time to move heavy or large furniture, especially when going through doorways. You’ll want to measure the areas you are taking them through and have enough movers to help with awkward and heavy items.

Sometimes dismantling an item is the best plan of attack and using proper equipment to assist you with the moving process. Make sure any items that can be slippery are not dirty or wet to avoid dropping it or slipping, such as kitchen appliances and pack away your fragile items in advance. Then, make sure your pathway is clear of debris, rugs, and mats.

Don’t forget your carpets and floors

One area you may have forgotten to address is your carpets and floors. Make sure you’ve applied some self-adhesive plastic covering to your carpets to keep clean of dirty shoes, tears, or spills, and then protect the hardwood floors with cardboard or felt to avoid denting or scratching. You can also use rug-runners over hard floors and Masonite boards over carpets.

While you may be most concerned about protecting your household goods and don’t want to spend additional money to protect your walls and floors, you may want to give this area more thought.

Consider the difference in costs between adding safety precautions to the home you’re moving out of and moving into, versus the cost of repairing the walls, the carpets, or the floors. Protecting your home may be one of the best investments you make when it comes to your upcoming move. Use these tips to properly prepare for your move so that you are not left with a repair bill afterward.

Top 7 Tips for Moving with Your Cats

For those moving, the process can be overwhelming, but it’s even more so if you’re traveling with pets. For cat owners, making the big move needs to be done with consideration about the health and safety of your furry one with things like a proper pet carrier and trying to keep up feeding routines. Your cats will find a move stressful, but you can make it a calm experience by using a few strategies. Take a look at these 7 tips for moving with cats.

Maintain routine

The simplest way to make a smooth move with cats is to maintain your current routines. This means that your feeding schedule remains unchanged, habits throughout the day continue, and you maintain the same level of attention you normally would. When your cat notices even the slightest of alterations in the routine or their surroundings, they will start to get stressed. Even if things change on a moving day with the feedings or playtimes, you can maintain the routine every day before then for the best results.

Lower the stress

Your cat will be looking to you for guidance and reassurance. Be sure to keep your cat calm by being the constant they need during all of this change. Be sure to speak to your cat, keep strangers away from him or her, and keep a calm demeanor around the cat as to not frighten your cat further. This means that no use of a distressed tone of voice or allowing your moving company to pet the cat when he or she is easily frightened.

Get a pet carrier prepared

You’ll want to start training your furry ones to get used to a pet carrier now. Cats need a little more security and protection during a move compared to dogs, which makes a pet carrier the perfect solution. Make sure it’s large enough that your pet can stand, lie down, and turn around easily. Make sure it’s made of solid materials like plastic or metal, you can latch the door, and that it has plenty of ventilation. Having them in a box is cute, but definitely not safe for your fur baby.

Visit the vet

A checkup with the vet before your move is a great idea. You’ll want to ensure your cat is in great health and can handle a long drive or flight. Get a medical check-up, a copy of your cat’s vet records, and ask for any tips from your vet about how to keep your cat happy and healthy for the move.

Moving day safety

On the day of the move, you’ll want to make it a smooth transition. You can want to have a friend or neighbor keep your pet during the day or designate a room where your cat can have distance from all of the moving activity that no one will enter. Your cat may want to retreat to the pet carrier for safety. Have a bag of essentials in the car like water, a favorite blanket, and food. Some anti-anxiety medicine from your vet may come in handy.

Acclimating after the move

Once you’ve arrived to your new home, make a designated room for your cat to acclimate with familiar food, toys, a bed, and a litter box. Once your cat has gotten used to the room, it will be a better experience allowing your cat into the rest of the house.

Watch for signs of depression

Lastly, watch for signs of feline depression. If your cat’s behavior includes aggression, excessive sleep, or loss of appetite, these may be signs that your cat has feline depression. Talk to your new vet about the symptoms and consider a pet-sitter for when you’re away.

Don’t worry so much about your upcoming moving day with your furry little ones. After you’ve hired the moving crew to handle your family’s belongings, take these steps to ensure your cat will have a successful moving experience too.

Proper Lifting Techniques Used by Professional Movers

When you hire The Professionals Moving Specialists, you don't have to worry using proper lifting techniques. Professional movers know how to use the right techniques to avoid injury and to get the job done quickly. Here's a look at some of the proper lifting techniques professional movers use when moving a home or business.

Start with a Plan

Putting together a plan for moving is vital to the success of the move. Before anything is lifted and moved into the truck on moving day, it's important to have a plan. Professional movers do this every single day and they always take the time to have a plan before they lift one single item.

Stretching before Lifting

It's important to stretch before lifting. If you were to go to the gym, you'd likely stretch as a part of your warm up before you start your full workout. Lifting is much like a workout and stretching first goes a long way to prevent injury.

Know What You're Lifting

Professional movers are very experienced and they don't move something without knowing what they are lifting. Even if it's boxed up, they know what's in the box; if it's fragile and how heavy the item is before they try to lift it.

Using the Proper Stance

Moving anything heavy requires the right stance before lifting. An athletic stance with your feet shoulder width apart is best. One foot should be just a bit further forward than the other, as well.

Bending with Your Knees, not Your Back

The fastest way to become injured is to lift with your back. This would be the wrong lifting technique. Professional movers will bend at the knees to protect their back. In addition, they will keep their back straight, shoulders back, chest out and eyes ahead while they are lifting and moving heavy objects.

Not in a Hurry

While professional movers want to get the job done on time, they won't be in a hurry when lifting and moving items into the truck or out of the truck. Instead, they will take the proper amount of time to move everything safely without injury to themselves or harming your precious possessions.

In addition, professional movers slowly lift with their legs as they keep their back straight during the process. By lifting slowly, movers can help to prevent injury, which could lead to harming your things.

Take Small Steps and Communicate

When you hire professional movers for your residential move, you will notice they take small steps when moving heavy items. They will also communicate with each other to ensure items are moved properly without injury. It's especially important to communicate when two people are moving a larger object together.

Moving can be dangerous. Without the proper lifting techniques, trying to move on your own could lead to injury. At the very least, you'll end up rather exhausted. There's no reason to risk it. Hire a professional moving company for your move and you'll ensure all your items are lifted and moved with the proper techniques.

Benefits to Moving in the Spring

Winter is nearly over and spring is right around the corner. Spring brings with it plenty of wonderful things and it's one of the best times of the year to move.

Many homebuyers start shopping in the spring. If you're looking for a new home, you want to make sure you're ready to move in, as well. Hiring a professional moving company for your residential move in the spring is the best way to go.

If you're planning to move this spring in Chicago, make sure you book The Professionals Moving Specialists ahead of time. Here are a few of the benefits you'll gain by moving during the spring season.

Weather is Better

Compared to the frigid winter and the scorching months of summer, spring provides mild weather for moving. Sure, there's a chance of rain often, but when it doesn't rain, you usually get the perfect temperatures for moving. It's not too hot, it's not too cold and if it doesn’t rain, you'll be grateful you decided to move in the spring.

One of the things you can do to combat the possibility of rain is watching the weather. The week before you plan to move, check the weather and prepare accordingly. If it looks like rain, make sure you have the right supplies to protect your things. Professional movers will already be prepared to help you, even in the rain.

More Flexibility with Professionals

Outside of a couple of specific weekends when college students are moving like crazy, there's a good amount of flexibility with movers in the spring. Summer in Chicago is by far the busiest time of the year for movers. By moving in the spring, you won't be fighting with the crowds of homebuyers shopping in the summer and others deciding to move during the summer months.

Spring Cleaning is Easier

When you move in the spring, you don't have to worry so much about spring cleaning. You can clean your new place before moving in and before you have a ton of things in it. The same goes with your old home. You can clean it once everything has been loaded into the truck.

Spring Break Offers Benefits

Instead of going on vacation on spring break, you can use it as the time to move into your new home. Since the children will be out of school, you won't have as many things to deal with and it can allow for an easier transition if they will be attending a new school after the move.

Not only will the children be out of school, but you will also have an entire week to get the move done. Consider taking vacation time from your job and using the entire week to make the move easier and more organized. By the time spring break is over, you can be settled in your new home and ready to get back to regular life.

Moving in the spring comes with plenty of benefits. If you're preparing for a residential move in Chicago, make sure you consider moving in the spring. You'll get better weather, more flexibility for movers and many other benefits.

Top 5 Moving Tips for Newlyweds

Congratulations! You just got married and now you get to deal with moving all your thing to a new location. Whether you're the one moving in with your spouse or you've decided to get a brand new place for the two of you, moving can be stressful.

Of course, you can take the stress out of your residential move by hiring a professional team to help with packing, moving and unpacking. Regardless, you still need a few tips to help make the move go smoother. Here are a few great moving tips for newlyweds.

Create Your Plan in Advance

You'll be planning a wedding, combining all your things and moving all at once. This can be a very stressful time, even though it's supposed to be the best day of your life. When you have a plan, it becomes less stressful.

Book your move with professional movers ahead of time and make sure you have everything planned out. If you will be doing the packing, have things packed up before the wedding day or at least before you leave for your honeymoon. 

Work Together

Married life is all about compromise, communication and working together. During the moving process, make sure you have each other's back and you'll get through it without killing each other. You can split the tasks and have one person pack the kitchen, while the other packs the living room.

Make sure you stay calm, be nice to each other and keep the disagreements to a minimum. Remember, there are far more important things than which one of you gets to keep your couch. Take breaks and joke around with your partner.

Consider the Wedding Gifts in Your Plan

As you plan for your move, as newlyweds, you want to consider the wedding gifts in your plan. If you will be moving shortly after the wedding and you will be moving to a new home together, make sure you consider the wedding gifts. You will need room in the truck for the gifts and you will need to make sure you have room in your new home.

Minimalize Before You Marry

The wedding day is fast approaching and you want to make sure things go as smooth as possible. Weddings are stressful all the way up until you meet at the altar. You don't want to add any additional stress to the day. Take the time to minimalize for the move before your wedding day.

Remember, you can have a garage sale, donate items and throw out things not in good enough condition to sell. The less you have to move, the better, as it will make it easier on the movers and on you.

Hire Professionals

While moving things yourself may seem like the best option, it's not, especially when you first get married. If there were ever a time to hire professional movers, this is the time. It may just help save your marriage from struggling right from the beginning.

Professional movers will come in and pack up everything, load it into the truck, unload it at your new destination and unpack it for you. This takes the stress out of moving and allows you to keep the honeymoon period going after your wedding day.

If you're getting married or just got married, use these tips and a professional moving company to ensure your move doesn't become overwhelming.