Technical Packing up a garage to move insight needed...

HI Hamb Folks

We are still about a year off but...

It looks like we will be moving to a new county actually only 4 towns (45 minutes away) over but still we gotta pack it all up and shuffle off to the next place...I have been at this place since 2001 so the garage is full of stuff...not a lot of car parts...maybe some small trinkety stuff from each project I have had over the those years...all my tools and such need to go too...

So I am looking for any insight...I was wondering...I am going to be trying to sift and sort and (ugh ugh ugh)...throw stuff out that I cant use again...

Should I just hire a POD to get dropped off and then throw all my garage stuff in and then just hope for the best on the other end as far as setting up a new garage??...the garage I am in now was my first "real garage"...before that it was just like open barns and carports and such...

Kinda at a loss as to the correct way to move shops...

Any insight would be a wonderful thing...

Mike C

P.S. if this is in the wrong spot admins please move...

 

We will all face that someday. I can't process it right now. The pod seems like a good approach.

 

We moved 450 miles north to the cottage a few years after I retired. Moved some things on our regular trips up here, but when we got serious and decided to sell the house, I bought a 24’ enclosed car trailer with a 12k gvw. Made two trips with the trailer, and sold it for what I paid at the end of summer.

Also used it for a couple trips to Goodwill as we were emptying the house. Purge is a good word here.

Most of the car parts made the ride in the back of the truck, and I made probably three or four trips with cars or project cars on an open car trailer. The open trailer pulled better and consumed a lot less fuel than the enclosed.

I wouldn’t rent a pod partially because of cost, but more importantly because it puts you under a timeline pressure.

The only mishap in the move was a tipped over toolbox and a few scratches on the furniture.

 

I've moved about the same distance a few times. Said I won't need this anymore. Wrong.

 

If you have a lot of stuff you are not missing, box it up and donate it. Then do the long form on your taxes.

 

I did a similar move before. I loaded up what I needed and took it all to the new place.

I had a yardsale after all the stuff we wanted was gone.

What was left I had a small dumpster delivered and loaded it up.

Funny, I had junk in boxes that hadn't been opened in 10 years.

I don't miss a thing.

Now, issue is, I've got 3x the amount of crap to move now...

Mercy.

 

We moved in 2015 from Chicago after living there for 54 years, to just west of Denver. I had amassed a whole ton of stuff so I called my closest friends and had them come over to take anything that “I” (notice I said I ) deemed not needed anymore. Ths left me with a few less car parts but still all my tools, welders and work benches/tool boxes. All fit into my enclosed trailer and van, so it all went in one trip. My new garage is a smidge bigger than the old one but has a flat roof hence no attc for storage so ended up bulding a shed to help with storage. As it turned out I gave away some things that I really could use now, oh well, it all works out in the long run ! Good luck with the move, Mitch.

 

You could also buy a container, and use it for storage after the move. I have been thinking really hard about doing that.

 

I'm just going to burn the house down next time I have to move.

 

That's the best idea I've heard all day......

 

I just moved last July, had a 1500 square foot shop & had been there 10 years. I started selling, scraping & packing 6 months prior to the move. We hired movers (one truck for the house & one for my shop) I moved my vehicles myself, it went well & hiring the movers was worth the $$


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I'm staying here til I die then let my family worry about all the junk

 

I feel your pain... went through that 8 years ago. I had my nephew come and pick up a van load of parts I finally decided to let go of. It was all usable stuff and I figure it all went to a good home. Then scrapped a lot of junk and moved most of my large tools to my sons house. And now... with the '40 project underway the garage at this place is crammed. Guess I never learn...

 

Ya, my Dad always joked "this will all be yours someday" ...a few years after he passed I started hauling out stuff out back...13/14 ton of scrap...this is on a 1 acre lot, 55 feet wide, 800+ deep.

Still looks a mess out back, but at least I can walk through it.

Been making piles the last few years, not leaving it up to my kids to deal with.

 

I'm not ever moving. my kids can clean my junk out and I'm a packrat

 

I'm down sizing from a 3,200 sq. ft. shop to a 1,400 sq. ft. Making the hard decisions on what is really necessary to keep. But, I'm 78 and probably not building any more frame off rods so lots of stuff I was holding can go. Listed stuff on HAMB, set up at a couple of swap meets, couple of loads to the scrap buyers. Gradually paring down. Advice: don't wait until the last minute. Go through stuff now. Put what you make on sales into an envelope. Once you've moved and discovered something you should have kept, open the envelope and buy it.

 

@Fat47 has it right. But dont let your age dictate it....right? Just do what ya have to do!

 

A year away? Start sorting the house and garage now! Don't wait until a month before the move to get started. As you go through boxed/stored stuff that you'll keep rebox and label it so it's ready for the move. Do a big yard sale this Spring.
Make 3 piles;
1)Keep
2)Sell
3)Donate/dump
How are you moving the household? Yourself or hiring a mover?
Can you move it yourself with some help or will you end up breaking your back? Be honest with yourself. Hire some help, preferably someone you know or someone close to you who can make a reference. Maybe a couple of High School athletes or College kids that would love to make some extra cash. Personally, I'd be leary of hiring someone I didn't know or even a Moving Co. to move all my garage tools and equipment, etc., because they'll know exactly what you have and where it's going. Furniture is one thing. My gear is another.

45 minutes away? Unless you already have a truck and trailer, consider renting a box truck for the weekend with electric lift gate-they're fairly inexpensive and can hold/haul a lot of stuff. Put all the heavy garage stuff on wheeled carts or use a hand truck to minimize lifting/carrying. Hopefully you can back the lift gate right up to the garage.

 

Think "categories". Pack accordingly.
Tools, power tools, bodywork stuff, chemicals, electrical, etc. That will make it easier to set up the new place.

 

You can look at this as a terrible job that has to be done or a great opportunity to get organized, clean house and possibly make a little money and also make a few other individuals happy. The real secret is being honest with yourself of what you really need versus what you think you need. Keep what you really need box it up and label everything. Sell items you don’t need or give them to someone who really needs it. Scrap the rest. When you move into the new place make sure it’s organized it will be a freeing experience.

 

Hitting 65 pretty soon and need to shed myself....had moved my shop over to the new place - scraping' a lot and shedding three complete parts cars....was able to get some stuff back off them from my scrap friend when the dust settled....now trying to complete the move of stuff from another 40 year homestead....try the container thing....load it up and have it moved !

 

Around 2005 we sold our house and my shop and moved 1/2 way across the state of Missouri. The house we bought was 75% furnished so we had a huge yard sale, priced things to sell and sold most of it. The remainder we donated to a charitable resale shop and they picked it all up.

My shop was a different story. I had a 32 X 48 shop where I ran a small fabrication business. We were spending some time at our original house and part time at the new place (lake house) so each trip I moved more stuff. I finally borrowed a heavy step van to finish the move of big, heavy items. It probably drug out a couple months, but doing it a little at a time made it less painful and I don't know if you have the option of time. All of the shop stuff pretty much filled a 15' X 60' storage unit. I had about 15' X 20' of it available to use as a "shop".

Crazy thing is that 8 months after the move we decided we didn't want to live at the lake after all. Fate led us to buy back our "old" place, which was built by my parents when I was 1 year old. So, we reversed the process and moved everything back again!

The best parts about the whole deal are that I'm pretty much sure we are where we are meant to be and we really purged a lot of stuff we didn't need and would have never used again through the process of moving two times in one year.

Best wishes on your move!

Lynn

 

Since it's a relatively short 45 mins away, I'd get a storage unit near your current house.
Fill it with the stuff you don't need in the immediate future, house stuff included (holiday deco's ect.)
Move the essentials, get settled and organized.
Then start emptying the storage unit, on free weekends, one load at a time, and make decisions on what you want to keep and what to purge.
IMO, it's less overwhelming to slowly absorb stuff into the new house, then move everything all at once.
It also gives you a chance to realize how much stuff you can live without.
Also, some unit managers will give you a discount if you pay for 6 months upfront.

 

Truth is, we could live without all the crap we have collected. Hell others live prosperous lives without having a garage and basement full of automotive crap we might use someday.
Theres probably a therapy for hoarders like us, maybe a twelve step program that gets us of hording parts we don't need but are powerless in buying them.

 

I'd say start now and sort out the actual parts and pieces that are designated for current projects.
Then sort for the swap meet (sell somehow) pile and the scrap pile from there.
Get rid of the broken power tools that you have thrown under the bench because you might need a part off one.

 

Throw out sentimentally and eyeball everything with two questions.
Need and want.

 

Yep, me too.

 

I am in the process of moving from Anchorage Alaska to Reno Nevada. Have accumulated a lot of valuable shop equipment and a hand full of cars. I decided to take the extreme route. Retired , got my CDL and went out and bought a Freightliner highway semi and 53' stacker van. The economy here is tanked and could not even get ten cents on the dollar for the stuff . So far I have made 3 trips and feel that 2 more will get it. A bit extreme but in the end I feel that I will come out OK.
Vic

 

One of the first things if I were you , would to take an assessment of your new shop. Think about items you wished you had in your present shop they would be an improvement. Install electrical outlets, panel upgrade, extra 220 outlets on each side, lighting,plumbing for air and or water ,paint/insulation, floor export or a couple of had floor rings. After the projects, tools and parts are in place isn’t the “WOW , I could of had a V8 “ commercial moment.

 

You do not want to be the guy in porknbeaner’s avatar .