As you discovered in our previous blog, winter is the hardest time for a relocation. You also learned a few perks to moving in winter, as well as some helpful tips to make your winter move more efficient. For this blog, we will continue to provide more tips to ensure a successful winter move by focusing on safety.
Keep Walkways Clear
The winter season is a time of increased danger, whether you’re driving or even just walking down a few simple steps, the biggest r
isk factor being slipping due to ice and snow. Along with these potentially risky activities, moving also poses many dangers, from injuring yourself to breaking valuable possessions. This is why safety is such an important factor when moving during winter.
One of the best ways to provide winter moving safety is by clearing all major walkways, like the driveway, sidewalk and other areas around your home that accumulate snow and ice. A failure to clear these spaces greatly increases the chance of someone slipping while carrying a heavy box or bulky piece of furniture. This can lead to bad falls and serious injuries. The best way to avoid injuries and damaged items is to break out a shovel or snow blower and some bags of salt or sand, then get to work.
If you are moving locally and have access to your new property before the move, you should go ahead and free important areas of snow and ice. Also, don’t forget to clear a designated space for your moving truck so you can quickly and easily get to work when moving day begins.
Keep Your Home Safe and Clean
If you followed our first safety tip, all major walkways are clear of hazardous snow and ice. Now that the exterior is taken care of, it is time to focus on securing the interior.
On moving day, many areas of your home will be heavily trodden on by a countless number of feet repeatedly going in and out. This will bring in snow, sleet, sand, water and so on. As a result, safety is put at risk. The best way to eliminate interior injuries during your move is to use preventative measures.
One preventative measure you can take is placing large pieces of cardboard on the floors of high-traffic zones, and securing their edges with tape so they are unable to move. This simple trick will do two things:
- It will increase traction between you and your movers’ feet so the risk of falls is decreased.
- Floors will be protected from damage.
Dress Appropriately
When moving in winter, it is very important to dress as appropriately as possible in order to protect your body from moving injuries as well as from the climate. But dressing for a winter move can be somewhat difficult. You don’t want to be too cold when you go outside, but you also don’t want to burn up when working inside. Here are some tips:
- Don’t overdress, because you will risk sweating too much and potentially catching a cold.
- Protect your fingers and hands with durable work gloves.
- Wear protective shoes that provide traction and support.
- Wear semi-loose clothing so your movements will not be restricted.
Turn on Major Utilities
When all is said and done and you have managed to transport all of your belongings to your new home, there is one thing you will hope you didn’t forget to do – turn on all major utilities. This task is extremely important because if you fail to have your utilities turned on at your new home prior to moving in, you will be without electricity, heat and water – a major problem when moving in cold, wintery temperatures.
When having your utilities connected, be sure to have them turned on at least one week prior to moving day to ensure they will be up and running when you arrive at your new home.
For more moving tips and tricks, check out our blog, here.
The winter season is quickly rolling in. For many, this means frigid temperatures, icy rain and snowfall that grows from a few flakes to a mountainous pile outside the front door. One activity that can be hard to accomplish in winter is moving. In fact, a winter move is the toughest type of relocation there is. But it is not always avoidable. If you are planning to move this winter, it is a good idea to prepare ahead of time for the tasks to come. Here are some tips to make your winter move a success.
you may be, there is something you may not have considered before, and that’s packing for winter verses summer, or other milder season. The main difference when packing between these two seasons is that temperature plays a very big factor in how certain possessions should be packed. While your home may be warm, outside temperatures can drop extremely low, even inside a moving truck. As a result, delicate and fragile items are put at a high risk of being damaged or broken – especially when in transit. Some items to keep in mind when packing for a winter relocation, include:
related tasks. Along with key issues to take care of, like these, you also need to gather all of the necessary paperwork. All things considered, paperwork may seem like the simplest task to complete on your moving checklist, but it often proves to be more time-consuming and nerve-wracking than originally anticipated. Not only does collecting and organizing all records and papers need prior, during, and immediately after your relocation take time, effort and diligence, but you also need to keep it safe. It is important to keep in mind that procedures for issuing and/or updating documents can take a long time to complete, so preparing paperwork as early as possible is your best bet to eliminate any potential problems when moving day arrives.
