Preparing your New Home for Moving House

Posted on 28/04/2016

When moving house, there seems to be an endless list of tasks you need to get finished before moving. Packing, contacting utility companies, potentially changing your children’s school and booking a removal company are just a few of the steps you need to take before the big move itself. On top of this, you also need to prepare your new home for moving in. Moving day is stressful enough without having to arrive at a dirty house without heating or water. If you make a list of tasks you need to do regarding your new house, it’ll make the job seem slightly less daunting and you can even get family members or friends to help. Here are some steps you can take before moving to ensure your new home is ready for your arrival.

Safety

The most important step before moving in is checking that your new home is safe. Months before moving house you should hire an expert to examine the building to ensure there are no weak points, exposed cables or leaks. Ideally, your estate agent or landlord should either have had these fixed or notified you before striking a deal for the property. However, if you’ve taken the building on knowing its faults, it’s useful to have a professional check these for you and inform you what it’ll take the fix them. Even if you’ve been reassured the building it’s safe, it’s always sensible to gain a second opinion.

Clean

You may want to hire a deep cleaning company when moving house to check the building’s in tip-top, sparkling condition before you move in. They will make sure there’s no dust, which is likely to have built up while the property has been on the market, and eliminate any musty, stale smells before you arrive.
If you’re working to a strict budget and therefore have to clean it yourself, you’ll want to do this a couple of weeks before you move in when you have a spare day. Then, closer to moving house, give the house another quick clean. This will break up the job a bit, making it seem like less of a mammoth task.

Ready to live in

Some key aspects of living that we take for granted are hot water and electricity. Make sure all are in working order and any utility bills are up to date before moving in. Have the house checked for gas leaks in advance and contact the companies to let them know you’re moving in, just in case the supplies have been switched off. It’s also useful to contact them in advance to switch over your bills.
Fix any cracks in the ceilings, door hinges and other superficial imperfections so that you don’t have to worry about these when you’re moving in.

Plan

One of the most fun aspects of moving house is planning out what your new home is going to look after you’ve moved in. Where will your furniture go? Which room will be your bedroom? Which way will the sofas face? If you’re redecorating, do this before you move in so there’s no furniture in the way and to give yourself time to air out the house so there’s no paint smell when you move in.

Take pictures of the rooms and draw up a floor plan. To make life easier, you can give the floor plan to the removal company so they know what furniture to put in which room. This will prevent you from having to lift any heavy items and make the process quicker in general. Label your boxes clearly so the movers know what’s inside without having to guess.