Packing and unpacking in Hemel Hempstead, Watford and West Herts

What does a packing service include?

A firm that packs for you arrives before moving day, often the day before, and wraps and boxes what is in each room. They bring the cartons, the tape, the paper and the tall wardrobe boxes that let hanging clothes travel on their rail. Kitchens, bookcases and ornaments take the most time, and a crew that packs every day will do in hours what takes a household a fortnight of evenings.

Some firms offer a partial service, where they pack only the kitchen and the breakables and you do the rest, and some offer the reverse, where you pack and they only supply the materials. Say in the enquiry which you have in mind.

Is it worth paying someone to pack?

It depends on your time, your back and how much you own. Packing is the part of a move most people underestimate. The furniture is obvious; the loft, the cupboard under the stairs and the drawer full of cables are not. Having a crew pack also means that anything they wrapped and boxed is plainly their responsibility if it arrives broken, whereas a box you packed yourself is a harder case to argue. Ask the firm how their cover treats owner-packed boxes before you decide.

Where money is tight, a middle path is to pack the easy rooms yourself and let the firm do the kitchen, the glassware and the pictures.

What should I always pack myself?

• passports, birth certificates, deeds, tenancy papers and anything else you would struggle to replace
• cash, jewellery and small valuables
• medicines and prescriptions
• laptops, phones, hard drives and chargers
• keys for both homes, the car, and any bikes or sheds
• a bag for each person with clothes and washing things for the first night

Keep these with you, in the car or in a bag you carry, not on the lorry. Most firms will say the same, and some will refuse to carry them.

How does unpacking work?

Unpacking is the mirror image: the crew open the boxes at the new home, put things on to surfaces and into cupboards where you direct them, and take the empty boxes and paper away. It is not interior design. They will fill the kitchen cupboards you point to, but deciding where the mugs live is still your job, so it helps to have a rough plan before they start. If you only want some rooms unpacked, say which.

Where do the boxes come from, and where do they go?

Firms generally supply their own cartons when they pack, and some will deliver boxes in advance if you are packing yourself. Ask what happens to the empties afterwards: some firms collect them once you have unpacked, some sell them to you and some lend them against a deposit. A handful of flattened boxes will go in kerbside recycling, but forty boxes from a four-bedroom house will not, and it is better to know the plan beforehand than to live with a wall of cardboard.

What about fragile and awkward things?

Televisions travel best in their original box, if you kept it, or in a flat carton the firm supplies. Pictures and mirrors go in picture cartons or between sheets of card. Lampshades, plants and the contents of a drinks cabinet all need a decision: some firms will not carry open bottles, plants or anything flammable, so ask what they exclude. Fridges and freezers must be emptied, defrosted and dried before anyone can move them, and that is a job for you the day before.

How do I keep track of what is in which box?

Number the boxes and keep a list, or let the crew label by room and add your own notes to the boxes you care about. Mark which way up anything fragile should sit. If a box holds something you will need in the first few days, write that on it in large letters, because on arrival every box looks the same and the one with the kettle is always at the back.

What should the enquiry include?

• how many rooms, and whether you want full or partial packing
• whether you want unpacking at the new home
• a rough idea of how much is in the loft, garage and outbuildings
• anything that needs special wrapping: artwork, a dinner service, a collection of some kind
• both postcodes and your likely date

With your consent, the enquiry goes to one local removals firm covering your postcode, if one does. The firm will tell you what they include and what it costs; we give no prices.