Who should do the cleaning? That’s one of the more common questions asked by people who are moving. Are they the ones who are supposed to tidy up a place after they have vacated it? How about the place that they will be moving into? Should the landlord be the one to clean it?
If you are moving out of an apartment or a rented house, it would be your responsibility to clean the place and leave it in the same order that you got it initially. You should repair any minor damage that was done during the time that you spent there and make it as presentable as possible. Most commercial landlords would have that as a requirement for people who are moving out and they would expect that from you, before you can get your deposit back.
It really isn’t that much of a trouble if you have kept the place clean and orderly while you were using it. Things would be different though if you rather neglected its upkeep while you were there. You might have to spend a whole day in bringing it back to order and since you are too busy settling down in the new place that might mean hiring professional cleaners in order to do it for you.
Here are some tips that you can follow in cleaning up when you move out from a house or an apartment:
- Remove all the nails and staples that you have placed on walls.
- Make sure that you clean the kitchen thoroughly and see to it that the sink is free from clog and any unseemly smell.
- Wipe the inside and the outside of the cabinets using some mild cleaner.
- Sweep and clean the floor as thorough as you can. The best practice is to move the heavier furniture first so you can access the unexposed parts of the floor.
- Make sure that you clean the whole bathroom. Use a disinfectant there to make sure that all germs and unwanted smell can be removed.
- Clean all of the windows in the house and take down the blinds and wash them with soap and water to remove all the dust that has started to build-up there.
- Replace any fixture and blinds that might have been damaged during your stay.
- Once you are done cleaning, make sure that you take out all of the garbage inside.
- Take pictures of the inside the apartment. That’s just to make sure that you have proof that you left the place clean and orderly.
When you move from one location to another, you might have to hire a home removalist to help you out. That’s because transferring your house means so much trouble. There are so many things that you would have to keep in mind that it might probably be beyond a single person to handle all of it. That’s why hiring a removalist makes sense. But what are their duties and responsibilities? How can you be sure that they would be doing the right thing?
So that you would not be kept in the dark, here are some ideas about the duties and tasks of removalists:
- Their number one task would be to check and inspect the pickup location. They need to look at the things that would have to be moved and transferred and assess the amount of work that it would require the size of the vehicle to be used and the cost of the service.
- They could help with the packing of the things to be moved. They would have a great amount of experience in this, just as in other aspects of moving.
- They could also provide the packing materials. They would know the right quality of materials to be used for this purpose.
- They should be the one to load the materials onto the vehicle, making sure that no damage would be done to the furniture. They can use tools or it can be done by hand.
- Transport the stuff from the pickup point to the drop-off point, while making sure that minimal damage is done to the furniture.
- They should use pads and straps for loading and securing the belongings inside the vehicles in order to make sure that they will not move inside the vehicle while in transit.
- They should unload all the materials at the drop-off taking the same amount of care not to damage them.
- They should also provide help when it comes to the unpacking of the belongings and placing them in the desired spot if it is required, though that might mean that there would be some additional costs.
- They should keep an inventory of all the materials that are under their care during the transport and make sure that none of those are lost or damage.
- Provide any further assistance that might be required by the client.
These are just some of the responsibilities that you can expect from a home removalist.
There is no doubt that moving is one of the more difficult tasks that you can perform at home. There are so many things to remember and do. That’s the reason why it can be so stressful and tiring. What happens though when the place that you are going to move to is an apartment that is in the same place where you are staying right now? Will it be easier then?
Of course it would be a lot easier than if you would be moving to a different city, or some other place that is a few hours away. The preparation time would be a lot less and you might be able to save a lot more money for your move.
What to Do? – So what should you do when moving to a different apartment in the same building? There are a couple of advantages of this situation over transferring to a different location. Here are just some of them:
- First of all the amount of time that you would have to spend in preparing is a lot less.
- You might not have to spend too much on packing materials since you do not have to put most of your belongings on boxes.
- You don’t have to spend time packing your belongings.
- You might not even have to hire movers. There would be no need for vehicles.
- There would be no time spent in unpacking things.
- Settling down would be a lot faster.
You should start moving your belongings the moment that you can. You can begin with the lighter stuff that you don’t use much. You can use a couple of boxes in order to make the moving a lot easier and a handcart. You can just reuse the same boxes so you don’t have to buy a lot of them. You should do it in small amounts until all that would be remaining are the heavier stuff, such as your furniture and some appliances. Now when it comes for the time when you really have to move, you could invite a few friends over to help you out in lifting the heavier things.
Of course you could still hire a home removalist in order to assist you. Though there would be no vehicle transport involved, but they could assist you in lifting and moving the heavier stuff. They are still the best people to do that.
Most people would agree with the statement that home removal is one of the most stressful activities that you can engage in at home. The reason why it is so stressful is because there are so many things that you would have to worry about when doing it. It becomes even more stressful if you do not organize the way that you would be making your move. If it is going to be just a haphazard activity then you might some problems with it.
One of the best ways that you can organize your move is by using a checklist. With a checklist, you would know the things to do at exactly the perfect time for them. Here is a simple checklist that you can use for your move:
Eight Weeks Before- This is the time when you should start your preparation for the move.
1. Go thought all of your belongings and sort the ones that you can leave from the ones that would be included in the move.
2. Start looking for a good home removalist that you can hire.
3. Start using a binder where you can keep all of the paperwork needed for your move. That should include all of the receipts and documents that would be involved.
Six Weeks Before- This is the time when you should start packing your things.
- Start buying up all of the supplies that you are going to use for the move. The most important supply would be the boxes to be used for packing.
- Start to pack your belongings. Start with the ones that you do not use on an everyday basis.
- Start using the perishable supplies and food that you have.
- Get the measurements of your new place and see to it that all of your belongings would fit in.
Four Weeks Before- As the day of the move comes closer, the things that you have to do become more complicated.
- 1. Choose the mover that you are going to hire and make arrangements with them.
- 2. It is a good practice to label all of the packages and boxes that you have so you can easily identify their contents. You should also see to it that the labels are clear for everyone to understand what they contain.
- 3. Start separating your valuables from your other possessions. You should not entrust those to someone else. You ought to be the one to handle them.
- 4. Start having all of your medical and dental records forwarded to your new location if you have a doctor or a dentist there already.
On the Day of the Move- The actual day of the move itself can be very hectic, but if you follow these steps it would be less troublesome for you.