Materials
Cartons, paper, bubble, tape and wardrobe boxes dropped off beforehand. You pack; we bring more when you run out.
Packing & storage
Packing, and the gap in the middle
Almost nobody in this postcode moves out of one place and into the next on the same afternoon. There is a gap, and the only question is whether it was planned for or not.
Fragile only
The kitchen, the glass, the pictures and the record collection. You do the clothes and the books.
Full packing
Everything, usually the day before loading, leaving you with documents and whatever you would rather handle.
Unpacking
Cartons opened at the far end, contents out on surfaces, packaging taken away.
Storage, and why SE15 needs it
Tenancies here end on a Saturday and begin on a Tuesday. Sales complete late. Shares fill in sequence rather than all at once. The result is a gap of days or weeks between one place and the next, on a majority of the moves we do.
Goods are inventoried as they load, held securely, and delivered when you say. You keep a copy of the inventory. Arranged in advance it is a line on the quote; arranged on the day it is somebody's living room.
Packing for storage is a different standard
Everything dry going in. Clothes boxed rather than left loose in furniture. Nothing with a residue on it, no half-used bottles, no batteries left in appliances.
A carton that survives a twenty-minute run across the borough is not automatically a carton that should sit sealed for a season. Tell us the load is going into store and we pack to that standard.
The five mistakes we see weekly
- Books in big boxes. Nobody can lift the result and the base fails. Small cartons, always.
- Plates stacked flat. On edge, wrapped individually — like records, which most people in SE15 already know how to pack.
- Bags instead of boxes. Bags do not stack, do not protect anything and always get dropped.
- Labels on the lid only. Write the room on the top and one side; the top ends up face down.
- Leaving the kitchen. It is one room and it packs like three.
What we will not store
Nothing perishable, flammable or corrosive — no fuel, gas bottles, paint, solvents, fireworks, plants or food. Documents, jewellery and irreplaceable things are better kept with you.
Storage usually attaches to a flat move, a share move or a move abroad. Describe the whole picture and it is quoted as one job.
Worth knowing
Packing and storage, in plain terms
What packing options are there?
Materials dropped off for you to use; fragile-only packing of the kitchen, glass and pictures; full packing of the whole place, usually the day before loading; and unpacking at the other end.
How does storage work?
Goods are inventoried as they load, held securely, and redelivered on the date you set. You keep 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, nothing with a residue and no batteries left in appliances. Say 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 things stay with you.
How much packing do people underestimate?
About half, reliably. A kitchen looks like one room and packs like three. If you are behind a week out, ring — a packing crew costs less than a loading that starts late.
Gap between tenancies? Say so now.
Storage planned in advance is a line on a quote. Storage arranged on a Saturday morning is everybody's problem.