Tips to Prepare your Car for Auto Transport

Sometimes it just isn’t possible to drive your vehicle to its new home. While your Castlegar movers at Kootenai Moving can get your household items there, cars require some special attention. This means that you may need to employ an auto transport service to get the job done for you.

Generally, these services do not drive your car to your new home. Rather, they load it onto a car carrier and transport it that way. This means that you need to do a little preparation of your vehicle to ensure that it arrives safely.

Give it a Thorough Cleaning

The first thing you are going to want to do is make sure that your car is cleaned inside and out. A clean car is much more likely to show any damage that occurred during transport. Dust and dirt can conceal dents and dings.

Your car is going to be jostled around during the transport as well, which can mean that things on the inside get shifted about. Cleaning the inside of the car and removing anything that isn’t necessary will prevent that from happening.

Turn Off the Alarm

The truck driver is not going to be very happy with you if your car alarm is going off for his entire drive to your new home — at least until the battery in your car dies. Disable your car alarm if you can. If not, you may be able to disable it by unhooking the battery. Make sure to check with the driver of the truck before doing this, as it may be necessary to drive your car onto the carrier.

Drain the Tank

You are going to want your vehicle to travel with as little fuel in it as possible. Since it isn’t being driven there, you are going to want your tank to be as light as it possibly can. Gasoline weighs a lot, and having a full tank can add risk to the move. For these reasons, keep your tank as empty as you possibly can without draining it completely.

Check your Tire Pressure

If your tires have too much or too little air in them for the trip, it can cause problems during transport. Just like you wouldn’t want to drive your car around with under or over inflated tires, you don’t want your car transported that way either.

Lock the Car

Once your car is all loaded up, there is no reason to invite people to go looking through it. Lock it up and, if you need to, provide the truck driver with the key. It may be necessary for him to move it around during transport.

For everything else you need during your move, consider hiring the expert Castlegar movers at Kootenai Moving. Contact us today for a quote on your move. We can help you with any move, short or long distance!

Don’t Forget These Moving Day Essentials

Moving day is here! You have your boxes (mostly) packed and you are waiting for your Castlegar movers to show up to get your things on the road. There are a few things that you might need while your things are being taken from one place to the other, as well as items that you should have easy access to you as you walk in the door of your new home. Here are some moving day essentials to have available to you.

Medicines

When packing up the bathroom, don’t pack away any daily medications that you need to have. Set those aside, possibly using the same packing method that you would for a long vacation or trip. You can also make up a medical kit prior to move day so that all of these items are in a central location for you to quickly grab.

Take time to consider things that you might need other that your prescription medications as well. First aid items, quick cold or allergy cures as well as painkillers are all moving day essentials that can be very useful to you. Try to put them in a place you have access to them throughout the move.

Items for the Children

Kids can make a move interesting. It is just as exciting for them as it is stressful for you. Excitement can quickly switch to boredom during a long drive or while you are trying to figure out just how you got that couch in here in the first place. Having snacks and their favorite toys available to them can be a welcome distraction for both them and you. Games for the road or electronic devices are also a great way to keep them occupied during a long drive to their new home.

Extra Packing Materials

A box might break, or you might find some last minute items buried in a barely-used closet. Either way, having some extra packing supplies around to handle any emergent packing work is a great idea. A few spare boxes, tape, bubble wrap and shrink wrap are all great things to have on hand.

Pet Supplies

Just like the kids, your pets are going to have special needs of their own. Unlike the kids, pets are not going to understand what is going on. Make sure to take care of your furry family by having travel food bowls, food and water for them when they need it. If you have cats, you might need to rig up or purchase a temporary litter box as well. If having pets underfoot during the move is going to be too difficult, consider setting them up in a pet hotel or kennel for a few nights. This can remove some of the move stress from you.

Having these moving day essentials readily available can make your move a much smoother process. Even with these tips, moving is hard enough; why do it without help? If you are looking for Castlegar movers, then look no further than Kootenai Moving! Contact us today for a moving quote for your move.

Storage Unit Organization 101

Are you moving from a larger space to a smaller one? Maybe you need some time to figure out where you are going to be living permanently and need somewhere to keep your things in the interim. No matter what reason you have for getting a storage unit, you are going to want to make sure the things you store there are easily accessible, protected from damage and easy to get back out when you want to remove them from storage. Here are some tips for organizing your storage unit.

Make an Inventory List

Not knowing where something is can be frustrating enough when all of your things are in one place. If you are going to be living in one place while having other items in storage, it can nearly drive you insane. If you have an inventory of what things you have in storage, it can make managing your things much easier. Use whatever method you prefer, electronic or hard copy, but start the list when you are moving your things into storage. If you add or remove items, remember to update your list. Otherwise, it becomes less and less helpful.

Labels, Labels, Labels

Another great organizational method for your storage unit is to keep things labeled. You are going to want to have all of you boxes and bins arranged so the labels are clearly displayed and readable. Make sure to keep this concise but also meaningful. Having four boxes labeled kitchen won’t tell you which box your cast iron Dutch oven is in when you need to get it. It defeats the purpose of having labels if you have to root through your boxes to find what you need. You can even match your labels to your inventory by coding the boxes and then having your master list show what the contents of each box is.

Heavy Stuff on the Bottom

Your things are going to be in storage for at least a month. This means that having heavy boxes on top of light boxes is going to get your light things crushed. When moving your things into storage make sure to keep the more weighty items on the bottom and lighten up as you stack. You might also want to make sure that your bottom boxes can withstand the weight of everything that is stacked on top of them. Use heavy duty packing bins or cardboard for that bottom layer.

Keep Frequently Used Things Up Front

If you know you are going to be heading back frequently in order to pick up certain items, you want to make sure those items are stored in an easily accessible place. Put those items up front or in an aisle that you can get to with minimum effort.

Kootenai Moving are your Castlegar moving experts. Contact us with any of your moving or storage needs and we can help you get the right storage unit in addition to keeping all of your things inside safe. 

Packing Small Appliances

How would we be able to cook without all of those useful kitchen gadgets? Toaster ovens, blenders and mixers are what make most kitchen masterpieces possible. When it comes time to move them though, what is the best way to do it?

It is tempting (and almost seems to make sense) to put them all in their own box. That can get expensive quickly, as all of that space adds up. Here are some tips and tricks for moving your small kitchen appliances.

Make Sure Everything is Clean and Dry

The first step is to make sure that you have cleaned everything thoroughly and dried it off. No reason to take breadcrumbs or pudding from your old house into your new one. When you are cleaning them, make sure that they are unplugged and only submerge them in water if the manufacturer says that is okay. Make sure you give them enough time to dry off, as packing wet appliances can lead to weak boxes.

Prepare the Appliances for Packing

If you have the original boxes for your appliances, that is the ideal situation. Repack them the way that the arrived to ensure that they do not get broken on the move. If you have chosen to toss out the original boxes, you just need to make sure that your appliances are wrapped up tightly and cushioned. Use newspaper and bubble wrap for this purpose.

Get Your Boxes Ready

Now it is time to get the packing boxes ready. Remember that your appliances are going to have some weight to them, so packing a large box full of appliances is a good way to end up with a broken box. Stick to medium sized boxes and take the time to reinforce the bottom for the extra weight. Do this by using extra tape as well as taping the sides and corners for added support.

Pack Your Appliances

Start with the heavy ones and put them at the bottom of the box. This helps to stabilize the weight in the box as well as prevent smaller appliances from getting squished. You can take the time to play a little Tetris as well. It may take some moving around to maximize the space in your boxes to pack the most appliances in there you can.

Fill In Empty Spaces

You need to prevent your appliances from shifting around while they are being moved. This means filling in all of that empty space with something. Use your packing paper, foam peanuts or other packing filler fill in all the empty spaces in the box. Then tape the box closed. Make sure to mark it which way is up so things do not get smashed by people carrying a box upside down.

Sure you can do all this, or you can let us do the packing for you. Kootenai Storage and Relocations are your expert Castlegar movers. Contact us today for a quote on your move!

Making a Moving Budget

When purchasing or renting a new home, don’t forget to make sure that there is enough money left over to cover your moving expenses. Even if you are choosing to move yourself, there are costs associated with moving. The best way to manage these expenses is to build a budget. This will ensure that you are not caught needing money that you don’t have or prevent you from spending more money than you need.

Figure Out Your Spending Limits

You need to start by figuring out what kind of money you have to spend on your move. Depending on your financial situation, you may have to postpone your move (if you can) to ensure that you have enough to cover your costs. Remember, if you are cutting it close, or even under funded for your move before you start, things are only going to get worse.

Planning a spending limit can also help you from spending too much on a move. If you set a limit to what you are willing to spend, you will be much less likely to go over.

Include the Costs of Your First Month

If you are moving into an apartment, you may have to cover the first and last month of rent, as well as a security deposit. This initial outflow of money might leave you strapped, so be sure to include this in your moving budget. You are most likely not going to have access to the money from your previous security deposit return for this move, so plan for that. These initial costs may help you to better schedule your move to time with a paycheck or bonus.

Plan a Safety Margin

No matter how thorough your quote for the move is, there are going to be some additional cost. You may have forgotten something critical, or the mover may have to charge extra for one reason or another. Having a margin of 10 or 20 percent will ensure that you have extra money available for those little things that were missed. It also makes a good pizza and snack fund for all the folks who are helping you move.

The Cost of Kids

If you have children, there may be additional costs for getting babysitters or other things to keep them occupied during the move. You don’t want to have rowdy kids in the middle of a move that you are trying to coordinate. Happy kids are worth the extra cost.

Transportation Costs

The cost of the van or truck is not the end of the costs of your transportation to your new home. Every car or truck that will be traveling with you is going to need gasoline. Depending on how far away you are moving, those costs could add up quickly.

Once you have your budget set, consider the best movers in the Castlegar area, Kootenai Moving! Contact us today for a quote on your move!

What Movers Cannot — or Should Not — Move

Even if you have decided to have movers do the heavy lifting for you, there are some things that they are unable to move for you. When you are making your moving checklist, you need to make sure to take care of these items yourself. As long as you are aware of what these items are and have them on your checklist, you can properly prepare to move them to your new home.

High Value or Irreplaceable Items

Any items that you feel are of exceptionally high value or that cannot be replaced you need to prepare to move on your own. These items can be as simple as family heirlooms that hold sentimental value. Any items that you identify as high value you will want to make the moving company aware of or possibly set aside in one place with a note to the moving company to skip loading those items.

Having good communication with your movers on these items is critical to making sure that they are moved by you and not by the movers.

Foodstuffs and Perishables

While this may not be a problem for a short term move, it is a generally good practice to have any perishable items either properly cooled and transported by you or disposed of before the move. Perishable items have a potential to ruin items they are shipped with, or even leave horrible smells and stains on clothing or other items they are shipped near.

A good tip for getting rid of perishables is to eat them in the days and weeks coming up to the move, and not replacing them until you are in your new home. This way you aren’t wasting anything because of your move, and you will avoid having to deal with them as an added obstacle.

Hazardous Materials

Take a quick walk through your garage. If you see a gas can, paint or fertilizer, these can all be considered hazardous materials. The list is not limited to just these items, however. Hazardous items can include:

• Corrosive materials
• Anything flammable (liquids or gasses)
• Explosives like fireworks
• Industrial cleaning chemicals
• Bleach
• Weapons and Ammo
• Car batteries
• Charcoal
• Lamp oil
• Pool chemicals

Movers are not allowed to pack or even move these items. When you are making your move day list, make sure that you include these items on it and ways to handle moving them yourself or disposing of them properly before you do move.

Remember this list can extend to motorized equipment that has not had its fluids properly drained. Lawn mowers, tractors and snow blowers all fall into this category.

Plants

Moving companies are unable to move large plants. This can include indoor potted plants and planters. Make sure that if you have a particularly long move to either give these plants away or have alternate shipping methods available to you.

If you are looking for Creston movers, then Kootenai Moving is where you should be looking. Contact us today for a quote on your move.

7 Tips for Moving Abroad

Moving is often dubbed one of life’s most stressful events. If that is the case, moving abroad may be one of the most difficult tasks you undertake, though the excitement and experience is unmatched. When you decide to take the leap, pack up your life and move to another country, it is critical that you learn some essential tips for moving abroad.

1. Research the Location

Deciding on such a huge change of scenery is not as simple as pointing to a location on a map and buying a plane ticket. To be successful in your new environment, you need to know what you are getting into. Learn if your community is rural or in a city setting, get familiar with seasonal weather and research local forms of transportation. It is much easier to settle in a new place when you arrive knowing the basics of a location.

2. Find a Residence

As soon as you are certain that you will be moving abroad, begin searching for a new residence. Living in a hotel for an extended amount of time is not pleasant, and you will feel more at home if you actually have a place to call “home”. Consider a short term lease on an apartment if you feel more comfortable taking your time to view housing options. Research locations online and network to get advice on good areas from locals.

3. Learn the Culture

Learning the culture of your new community is very important. You should familiarize yourself with the customs and expectations of the groups of people you will be living among. Learn about the music, food and clothing styles popular in your new area. If a different language is spoken than your own, it is important that you begin to learn that language before your big move.

4. Connect Online

The internet is a worldwide connection between people. Use it to your advantage and meet others in your new location before you move. They will be able to help you better understand the culture and give you necessary information on the area. It is also nice to have a few friends before you arrive to your destination.

5. Save Money

It is important that you have your finances in order before you move abroad. Strive to exceed your savings goals. Unexpected expenses are common when traveling abroad, and you do not want to be unprepared for any near immediate setbacks.

6. Stay Organized

Keep your passports, visas and move information readily available and well organized. Have a copy of your medical records, any pet information and all information on potential jobs and housing on your person and in a folder.

7. Stay Connected

Before your big move, write down the addresses and phone numbers of your friends and family members. Find them on social networking pages and make a commitment to stay connected despite the distance. Modern technology makes it easy to have regular communication with your loved ones even from halfway across the world.

Kootenai Moving representatives are available to assist you with all of your long distance moving needs. For more information on moving abroad, visit our long distance estimate page.

5 Tips for Moving with Children

Moving is normally a huge life event, even for adults. Big moves can be especially hard on the younger members of your family. From announcing to organizing, moving with little ones is a tough task to accomplish. Make your family’s next move smooth by following these 5 tips for moving with children.

1. The Big Announcement

It is very important to communicate effectively with your children when you have made the decision of life events occur that cause you to relocate. Calling a family meeting to sit everyone down and formally explain the situation is a great approach to announcing you will be moving. Be sure to have all of the information, and do not leave anyone in the dark. Know where you are going, when and be prepared to explain why. Tell them how you are feeling about the move and allow them to voice their feelings and concerns as well. As adults, we often forget that our children have built their whole lives in the area they are currently living in. While some may be excited about going to a new place, others will find the experience traumatic. It is important you communicate as effectively as possible to keep the move positive.

2. Keep the Kids Involved

Keeping the kids positive and excited is a big deal. Having them involved in the moving process, from home selection to packing, will help them feel like this is their move, too. Even simply being able to select their new room can help bring some normality to an event that is a big change in their lives. If you are moving to a new city, be sure to take virtual tours beforehand, then visit locations when you arrive in the area. Show your children their potential schools and extra activities that would be available.

3. Cut the Clutter

Packing a family is a huge task. Now is the time to cut the clutter. Have your children go through their things and donate or toss any items they no longer use. You do the same – save yourself the extra time and work packing things you no longer need. Having a yard sale if you have the time is a great way to involve the kids and make a few bucks.

4. Plan the Rooms

After you have found a new home for your family, let the children help with planning the rooms and decor. This will be their house as well and they need to feel like it is home. Creating a safe place for your children in the middle of a big change will insure they do not feel lost in the chaos. Let them help you put together a home that you will all be proud to call your own.

5. See You Later

The hardest part of moving for children is often leaving behind friends or family. Having a party to tell everyone goodbye is a great way to positively leave behind the people you have grown close to. Make sure that you take this time to exchange information so that your kids may keep in touch with each other for years to come. Make moving from your children’s friends “see you later,” not “goodbye.”

Moving can be a huge, life changing event for children, but it does not have to be a negative experience. By following these 5 tips for moving with children, you can help your next big move go smoothly. For more information, speak with a Kootenai moving rep and visit our moving page.