Moving in the Rain

Moving can be really stressful and exhausting as it involves careful planning and execution. Right from packing your largest things like furniture to the smallest of items like your shoes, you need to take care of everything. After packing all your belongings in their respective moving boxes and securing your precious items like furniture, dishes, paintings, etc., you’re almost ready to load your things onto the moving truck. Everything seems to be perfectly planned and suddenly it starts raining! What will you do when it starts to rain right when you’re about to move?

Although rain on your moving day brings along a great deal of challenges with it, with proper precautions, you can still carry out your move. Worried about how you’ll move when it rains on your moving day? Here’s everything you need to know if you’re planning on moving in the rain.

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The Planning

Whether it’s a heavy rainstorm or a slight drizzle, rain on your moving day can cause you a lot of trouble, maybe even more than you anticipated. First of all, all of your precious belongings are at a huge risk, as even a single drop of water can ruin their packing. Also, it’s going to be really difficult to load your belongings and transport them because of the risk of accidents due to rains.

One of the most important things you need to do on your moving day is to check the weather forecast. In case there’s a rainfall warning in your area, you can either ask your moving company to reschedule your move or take adequate precautions while you execute your move. Having a moving checklist for rains will definitely help you plan and organize your move while avoiding all the risks that could happen during rains. So just grab a notepad or your phone and get started by noting down the following moving checklist for rains:

Moving Checklist for Rains

In case you’re planning to move during the rainy season, you need to start planning and preparing for your move at least 2 to 3 months in advance. Make sure you keep the following things in mind before hitting the road on a rainy day:

Consult Professional Movers

Most moving companies provide moving services when there’s a light rainfall. But if the weather doesn’t work in your favor and it rains heavily on your moving day, you need to consult your moving company and be in touch with them. That’s why it’s best if you keep a track of the weather forecast as that will help you efficiently execute your move with your company.

Should you find yourself trapped in an unfortunate situation when it rains right when you’re about to move, it’s best if you cancel or reschedule your move. If you cancel or reschedule your move because of the rain, your moving company may charge you a certain fee. It’s a bummer, yes, but your belongings are always at a risk especially in rains and so rescheduling your move is definitely worth it. You can carry out your move if there’s little rain and no lightning or thunderstorms.

When you hire a moving company, you must always check their insurance policy, especially their policy regarding the weather conditions and the safety measures they would undertake. Don’t forget to ask them about their cancellation and rescheduling policies as well if you’re planning your move in the rainy season.

Here are some important things you should ask your moving company before your moving day so that you are prepared for unforeseen circumstances due to the rains:

• Does the company provide services in the rain?
• Do they charge extra fees for providing moving services in the rain?
• Does the company offer packing services? What are the rates?
• Do they have storage facilities to accommodate your items due to weather conditions?
• Do they offer insurance coverage? What items would be covered under the insurance?
• Do the movers have any experience of moving in the rain?
• What is the company’s weather cancellation policy?
• What precautions will the company take to protect your items in bad weather conditions?

Gather All The Essential Rainy Supplies

Sometimes, canceling or rescheduling your move may not be an option and you may still have to move on a rainy day if your landlord gives you strict deadlines for emptying your old house. In such times, you need to be prepared with all the essential rainy supplies that will help you carry out your move despite the bad weather conditions. Make sure you purchase the following rainy supplies:

Rain Gear: You’ll need to wear a raincoat, umbrella, hat, rainy footwear, and gloves if you’re carrying out your move in the rain. This appropriate clothing will protect you from the rain and you can comfortably do all the lifting and moving.

Plastic Covers, Stretch Wrap, Garbage, And Ziplock Bags: Plastic covers and stretch wrap act as a protective shield to your items like furniture, antiques, frames, etc. They will prevent the rainwater from damaging your items. For packing your toys, kitchenware, or bedsheets, you can use garbage bags or ziplock bags.

Plastic Bins Or Containers: If you use moving boxes during the rainy season, your items are at risk as the boxes are made of corrugated cardboard and the water can easily enter the boxes and damage your things. So plastic bins or containers can come in handy for items like your camera, books, toys, antiques, etc.

Moving Blankets And Towels: There are chances that even a plastic cover can trap the moisture and damage your items. That’s why you will need moving blankets and towels to wrap your items like furniture, moving equipment, or wooden frames.

Canopy Tent: Moving your belongings from your house to load onto the moving truck can be a daunting task in the rain. You can set up a canopy tent that will secure the passage from your house to the truck, allowing you to safely load all your belongings.

Tip: Amazon, U-haul, U-pack, Walmart are some of the best places to rely on for purchasing essential rainy supplies. You can also ask for your moving company and check if they can provide you with supplies for your belongings.

Check Your Route For Transportation

Unforeseen weather conditions can always cause mishaps or accidents, which is why you need to be mindful of the damage rain can cause to your move. Along with keeping a track of the weather conditions, you also need to check the routes in your area and check whether any accidents have taken place due to rains.

The roads tend to be slippery in the rains. Also, if there is a thunderstorm, there are chances that the trees may fall and block the roads. So make sure you watch the news and weather forecast and inform your moving company about the same. Don’t forget to check if the roads in your area are clear so that you can transport your belongings safely to your new home. Whether you’re seeking help from movers or moving by yourself, you need to keep yourself updated with the conditions of roads in your area, the availability of gas stations, and accommodations on the route you’re planning to take.

Take Care Of Your Little Children And Pets

Moving in itself is stressful and when you have to move in the rain, it can get even more tedious. While you already have a lot of things to take care of, your little children and pets surely can’t be forgotten. Keeping your floor from dirt and mud during the rain is inevitable, that’s why you need to be extra careful with your children and pets moving around especially on your moving day.

Just like you book your moving company and plan the move in advance, you also need to make arrangements for the safety of your little children and pets.  What’s better than seeking help from someone familiar to you and your children? That’s right, you can approach your neighbors, friends, or relatives in advance so that they’re available on your moving day. You definitely don’t want your pets and children to run around in your house while you're packing and loading things. So it’s better if you leave them in trusted hands while you carry out all your tasks related to moving.

Make Sure You Don’t Run Out Of Utilities

We want you to take care of minute details regarding your move as a little carelessness can affect your entire move. Make sure that you don’t run out of utilities during your move and when you reach your new home. That includes the gas for your car, essential moving equipment like hand trucks and dollies, etc. Speaking of utilities in your new home, make sure that there’s electricity and water at least a day prior to your moving day.

It’s important that you consider these things before executing your move. Once you’ve figured this all out, you can go ahead and execute your move.

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The Preparation

After you’re done ticking off all the things mentioned on your moving checklist, it’s time to get started with some of the hard work involved with your move. The first thing you need to do is check whether you have all your essential supplies and moving equipment at hand. Once you have everything you need right next to you, you can start preparing for moving in the rain.

Get Some Helping Hands

Even if you’ve hired professional movers to help you with the move, it’s always helpful if you have a few extra people with you to help you pack and load your items. In situations like bad weather due to rains, you may need help from your neighbors and friends. To make things easier and organized, you can designate specific tasks for your people. Also, divide your helpers into two groups, one which will pack your things and one that can help you in loading the items. That way, you can minimize the amount of dirt and mud from outside dirtying your floors.

Protect Your Floors

If it rains on your moving day, it’s inevitable to keep the dirt and mud from entering your house. If you have a marble floor or tiles, then you can clean the floors, but if you have a carpet, then the water can damage your carpet. You don’t want your movers to trip and fall with your precious belongings. So to avoid such accidents and injuries, you can use old towels, rugs or blankets to protect your floor.

Make A Safe Path To Move Your Belongings

So many obstacles can come your way due to rains, one of which is moving and loading your belongings onto the truck while it’s raining. That’s why you need to make a mental note of the puddles outside your doorstep and guide your moves carefully to the moving truck. Since there’s a high possibility of the ground being slippery, you can set up a canopy tent from your house to the moving truck. That way you can easily move and load your belongings onto your truck, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.

Ensure The Safety Of Your Valuable Items

Regardless of whether you have insurance for valuable items like your furniture, TV, appliances, etc., it’s good to take precautions for their safety, especially on a rainy day. If there's heavy rainfall on your moving day and you don’t want to risk moving your valuable items, we suggest you wait until the weather clears. In worst-case scenarios, if you have a deadline to clear the house, you can speak to your landlord and ask for an extension or ask your neighbors to keep a few of your valuables with them until the rain stops.

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The Execution

Now that you’ve learnt everything about how to plan and prepare for your move on a rainy day, let’s look at some of the important tasks concerning your move. Even if you’ve packed your belongings in moving boxes, that won’t be enough to help battle the bad weather outside. Here’s what you need to do to have a safe and successful move:

Packing Appliances And Furniture For Moving In The Rain

Your appliances like fridge, TV, and other valuables like artwork are at a huge risk if at all they come in contact with the rain. To make sure these valuable items don’t catch any moisture, it’s best to pack them in their original boxes or special moving boxes.

Make sure you create a soft padding inside the box with bubble wrap or packing paper and secure the box with packing tape. To add an extra layer of protection from the rain, you can use moving blankets or old bedsheets to wrap the boxes and then add a layer or plastic cover. Finally, don’t forget to label the box as ‘Valuables’ or ‘Extra Care’ so that the movers transport these boxes separately after the weather is clear.

When it comes to packing furniture for moving on a rainy day, you need to be extra careful as the rain might damage the wood and metal pieces. The surface of the wood may catch moisture and get damaged. To avoid all this, the first thing you need to do is disassemble whatever parts you can. First, cover the furniture with a moving blanket and then use plastic wrap over it and secure it with packing tape.

Make sure you don’t tape the surface of the furniture as the adhesive can damage it. Having said that, it’s better to wait for the rain to stop than moving your furniture in the rain with great risks that can damage it forever.

Packing Your Wardrobe And Books

There’s no way your cardboard moving boxes are able to fight the rain and keep it from entering inside the boxes. That could totally ruin your clothes, shoes, books, and other items. The best way to pack your wardrobe, books, and other items is by keeping them in garbage or ziplock bags. You don’t even have to remove the clothes off the hangers, just keep them in the garbage bag and make a hole at the top through which you can have access to the neck of your hanger.

If you don’t have garbage bags, you can still store your items in a cardboard moving box. Just make sure you wrap it with an old bed sheet or moving blanket and cover it with a plastic cover. That will serve as an extra layer of protection.

Try Using Plastic Bins Rather Than Cardboard Boxes

Although you can use cardboard boxes for moving by wrapping them with a plastic cover, still it doesn’t really guarantee the safety of your items. That’s when plastic containers will come to your rescue and save your day. You can accommodate various items like your books, shoes, clothes, toys, cleaning supplies, sports equipment, etc. in plastic bins or containers. Just keep in mind that you secure the lid of the bins tightly before loading it onto your moving truck. The best way to do that is to seal the lid with packing tape.

Label All Your Items

After packing all your belongings, don’t forget to label them using labels and a permanent marker. To separate your valuable items from the other belongings, you can label them as ‘Extra Care’ so that your movers know they have to be careful with them. Just make sure you ask your movers to keep your valuables away from the doors and windows of the moving truck to prevent your items from catching moisture that can damage them.

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Things To Keep In Mind When Moving In The Rain

• Remember to get a few extra essential supplies like raincoats and gloves for your friends and family members who are helping you with your move. Also, get a few extra rainy supplies like plastic covers, plastic wrap, bins, and containers. You never know what item of yours might need some additional packing.

• Make sure you check your moving equipment prior to your moving day. Check if your trailers and dollies are in good working condition. Don’t forget to ask your moving company to clean the moving truck and make sure the interior is dry to accommodate your items.

• Before you load your boxes onto the truck, check the boxes for any tears or gaps. If you find any, grab a packing tape and seal those gaps and spaces. Don’t forget to check the bottom and corners of your moving boxes and secure them with packing tape. Make sure all your moving boxes are covered with a plastic cover before they are loaded onto the truck.

• In case any of your boxes get wet, don’t lift them from the sides. Make sure you hold and secure the bottom of the box so that the cardboard doesn’t tear off and your items don’t fall down.

• Consult your moving company in advance and have a backup plan for bad weather. That can include availing of the company’s storage services, purchasing insurance for your valuable items, or preparing a cancellation policy. Don’t forget to discuss all these things with your moving company well in advance.

• Don’t forget to take precautions when you reach your new home. First and foremost, make sure you lay down some rugs or old carpets to keep the mud and dirt off your floors. Check the passage from your doorstep to the moving truck and then unload and move your belongings safely.

Conclusion

Moving in the rain can be really tedious and scary at the same time. First of all, there’s the risk of your items getting damaged due to the rain. Then there are chances of the roads getting blocked or thunderstorms causing it difficult to transport your belongings. All of these can be really nerve-wracking as you have to take care of so many things altogether. That’s why we suggest you either seek help from professional movers or avoid moving in the rain. If you do want to move while it’s raining, make sure you take all the necessary precautions.

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FAQs

What If It Rains On Moving Day?

Moving already is stressful and if it rains on your moving day, there will likely be lots of obstacles on your way like accidents and injuries. That’s why it’s good to wait till the weather clears and then move. If there’s a light rainfall, then there’s no harm in moving provided you take all the necessary precautions.

Is It Bad To Move On A Rainy Day?

Rain brings along a lot of challenges with it and so your items are always at risk to get damaged. So try to avoid moving in the rain as much as possible. But if there’s a slight rainfall, take adequate measures and go ahead with your move.

How Do You Move When It’s Raining?

The best way to move when it’s raining is by seeking help from professionals. You can also take extra precautions by wrapping all your items in plastic covers or storing items in plastic bins to protect them from getting damaged in the rain.

Also See: What to Wear on Moving Day?