Ideally, you’d have plenty of forewarning to prepare for dampness on moving day so you can pack and plan accordingly. If, however, a spring storm strikes without warning, use the following guidelines to ensure that your belongings and movers weather the bad weather both while moving out and while moving in.
While Moving Out of Your Current Home
You may need to deal with poor weather conditions at your current house, your new home, or throughout the day. Use the following tips if a spring storm begins around the same time as you begin moving.
Cover Your Boxes or Pathway
When you know to expect precipitation when moving, you incorporate weatherproofing into your initial packing. When you haven’t taken this step, you may look at your cardboard boxes and visualize them disintegrating before you even get to the moving truck.
To avoid this issue, wrap individual boxes with garbage bags, plastic wrap, plastic sheeting, tarps, or other waterproof coverings. Alternatively, if your pathway is short enough, you may be able to cover it with a canopy.
Locate Your Inclement Weather Essentials
As you packed up, your inclement weather essentials may have become mixed in with your other belongings. Before you venture out in the storm, find all the items you would need in the case of a serious weather emergency like a tornado.
These essentials may include battery packs for your personal electronics, a radio, 72 hours’ worth of food and water, or flashlights. Make sure you know where these things are.
Set Up a Drying Station
Even if moisture doesn’t penetrate your moving boxes, it can cause issues in your moving truck that may carry over into your new home. For example, a damp container can leave puddles that create potentially dangerous slick areas on truck beds and hard flooring alike.
If you know your boxes will get wet on their way to the truck, have at least one member of your moving team stay in or near the truck with a supply of towels to dry items off as they arrive.
While Moving Into Your Next Home
If the storm has not abated by the time you arrive at your new home, use the following guidelines.
Lay Down Flooring Protection
Before you leave your current house, you must attempt to keep your belongings dry. Once you arrive, your next concern is to keep the interior of your new home protected from the effects of unwanted moisture, including water intrusion and damage.
As you begin to bring in boxes, lay down moving blankets or other flooring protection to absorb any water on your boxes and furnishings.
Stay Aware of Slick Surfaces
Just because you don’t have to go out in the rain anymore doesn’t mean you don’t have to deal with its effects. As you move items around in your house, ensure that every member of your moving team stays alert to potential slip and fall hazards.
Where possible, wipe up puddles as soon as they form.
Unpack Damp Items First
Moisture becomes most destructive when allowed to sit uninterrupted for long periods of time. If you suspect that water has seeped into any boxes, unpack these containers immediately. Lay out any damp items to air dry, especially if the items are made of paper or fabric.
Throughout the Moving Process
In addition to the time-specific tips listed above, you should also use certain practices throughout a moving day affected by an unexpected spring storm. Use the following guidelines:
- Check the weather forecast. Not only can tracking the weather allow you to predict the best time to move vulnerable items, but this essential step also ensures that you can head to shelter should the need arise. Always prioritize safety over your original timeline.
- Dress according to the weather. You may need to alter your wardrobe multiple times if the weather changes during your moving day. For example, galoshes work well during active rain but could actually encourage falls once the skies clear.
- Give yourself additional time. Once storm clouds threaten your move, plan to give yourself extra time for every step of the process. You may need to take additional steps and practice more care.
If you’re working with professional movers, work closely with the team to ensure that everyone involved with the process is on the same page as the day progresses since a storm may change the timeline of the day significantly.
Use the tips outlined above in case inclement weather threatens to derail or delay your move.
For professional moving help on any spring move, whether springtime brings you temperate temperatures and sunny skies or dark storm clouds, trust the expert moving team at Bekins Van Lines Inc.
