After months of weeks of organisation the day for your big move finally dawns and the removalists truck is heading down the street to your gate. You’d be delighted except for one thing. The rain is belting down with evil intensity, bent on destroying your well-laid plans for getting all your worldly goods onto – or off – the truck in good time. So what do you do?
Calling the whole thing off and going back to bed is not an option, even though it sounds like a sensible plan. What you have to do is work out a way to protect your precious stuff from the rain while its being loaded or unloaded. Of course, if your home has a covered outdoor area with a high roof joined to the house, the truck can park under that while it’s being loaded. Most people are not so lucky. Some may not even have a cement path for the removalists to walk on. Why does this matter? They have boots, right?
Yes, and those boots will track their muddy or wet prints all over the floor and carpet while their owners are too busy lifting and carrying to even notice. You might want to rush off to the nearest paint supply shop and buy a couple of tarps to protect the carpet. If there is none close by, you’ll need to grab the box of towels out from all your packing and lay some down in the walkways.
It won’t matter if they get dirty because they are easily washable. Towels and sheets flung over your lounge chairs or other furniture will save them getting wet in light rain, but are not so useful if it’s teeming. In fact, since you’re reading this before you move, it’s a good idea to watch the weather forecast for the week you are going to move and be prepared ahead of time. How?
- Purchase light plastic painting tarps to cover the furniture, sticking it down securely so it doesn’t slip off.
- Go to stores that sell mattresses and ask to purchase the plastic bags their mattresses come in. They should have plenty and may even give them to you for nothing. If not, it’s still worth the cost to save your mattresses getting damp and going mouldy.
- Purchase plenty of strong, wide tape to seal the bags around the mattresses.
- Slip large plastic bags over the chairs and other small pieces of furniture.
- Find plastic bags that will fit neatly over the top and sides of your packing boxes. While cardboard can protect the goods to a certain extent from rain, if a box gets too wet it won’t be strong enough to withstand the weight of anything stacked on top of it.