Materials only
Cartons, paper, bubble, tape and wardrobe boxes delivered in advance. You pack; we bring more when you run short.
Packing & storage
Four levels, and somewhere to wait
Packing decides whether moving day finishes at a sensible hour. Storage decides what happens when a chain slips or a tenancy ends before the next one starts. In this county both come up constantly.
Fragile only
The crew packs the kitchen, the glass and the pictures. You keep the books, the clothes and the loft.
Full packing
Every room, usually the day before loading, leaving you with documents, valuables and the cat.
Unpacking
Cartons opened at the far end, contents set out, packaging taken away. Worth more than people expect after a long day.
Choose by what you will finish
The reliable pattern is a household two-thirds packed the night before, finishing the kitchen while a crew stands in the hall. It turns a planned day into a long one.
Pick the level for the time you actually have rather than the time you would like to have, and tell us a week out if it is slipping. Adding a packing crew late is easier than recovering a late start.
What goes wrong most
- Books in big boxes. Nobody can lift the result and the base gives way. Small cartons, always.
- Plates stacked flat. On edge, wrapped individually — flat they break from the middle outwards.
- Half-filled cartons. The gap collapses under the weight above it. Fill it with paper or linen.
- Labels on the lid only. Write the room on the top and one side; the top ends up face down.
- The loft last. Always bigger than remembered, always done in a rush.
Storage, and what it is for
Three situations, repeatedly. A chain that has slipped and a household with nowhere to be. A tenancy that ends in June with the next starting in September — which is most of the student work in the county. And a renovation that was going to take a few weeks.
Goods are inventoried as they load, held securely, and redelivered when you say. You keep a copy of the inventory, and access is by appointment rather than a walk-in arrangement.
Packing for storage is different
Everything dry going in. Clothes boxed rather than left loose in furniture. Nothing with a residue, no fuel, no batteries left in appliances. A carton that survives an hour on a van is not necessarily a carton that should sit sealed for a season.
What we will not store
Nothing perishable, flammable or corrosive: no fuel, gas bottles, paint, solvents, fireworks, plants or food. Documents, jewellery and irreplaceable papers are better kept with you.
Storage usually attaches to a house move, a long-distance job or a move abroad — describe the whole thing and it is quoted as one piece of work.
Worth knowing
Packing and storage, in plain terms
What are the packing options?
Materials dropped off for you to use; fragile-only packing of the kitchen, glass and pictures; full packing of the whole house, usually the day before loading; and unpacking at the far end.
How much do people underestimate?
About half, consistently — a kitchen looks like one room and packs like three. If you are behind a week out, say so; a packing crew costs less than a loading that starts late.
How does storage work?
Goods are inventoried as they load, held securely and redelivered on the date you set. You get a copy of the inventory, and access is by appointment rather than a walk-in arrangement.
Is packing for storage different?
Yes — everything dry going in, clothes boxed rather than left loose in furniture, and nothing with a residue, a fuel tank or a battery left in. Tell us the load is going into store and we pack to that standard.
What will you not store?
Nothing flammable, explosive or corrosive; no gas bottles, paint, solvents, fuel or fireworks; no perishables, plants or living creatures. Documents, jewellery and irreplaceable items stay with you.
If the dates look fragile, arrange storage now.
It is a line on a quote when it is planned, and a scramble when it is not.