Moving FAQ

When it’s done right, moving to a new home can be an adventure for your whole family. To help make your experience a great one, we review everything you need to know with you before moving day.

Here are some of the most common questions we get from our customers. If you don’t see the answer to your question below, please contact us.

1. What Measures Do You Take to Keep Everyone Safe from COVID-19?

We do everything we can to keep everyone safe from the virus— for example, if one of our crew members has the slightest symptoms, we send them home for 14 days. Our crews have PPE for every move (masks, gloves, and plenty of hand sanitizer), and have all received training sessions on social distancing and other aspects of COVID-19 safety.

The day before your move, your planner will call you to confirm all the details for your move. As a part of this, we ask some questions and provide recommendations about maintaining COVID-19 safety during the move.

2. Are You Insured?

Yes. Your home and belongings are covered by cargo protection (in the moving industry we call it “valuation protection”). This gives you financial compensation in case of damage while the moving crew is in your home and while the truck is on the road.

The coverage amount depends on how much you have to move. We provide full details when we visit your home and give you the estimate for your move.

If you have valuable items, you can ask for extra coverage for them— again, we can walk you through the options when we plan the move. Some items, like jewellery or collections of exceptional value, are best moved by you in your car.

Please note that your items are covered only if we provide our professional-level packing services. If you pack your own boxes there is limited liability, as we can’t control how well your belongings are protected.

We’re also often asked if our trucks are insured. As a licensed commercial vehicle, they are always insured.

3. How Much Will it Cost for My Move?

The cost depends on how many belongings you have, and the type of move you need.

• Local moves (within 2 hours drive of Ottawa) work on an hourly rate. The rate depends on how much you own, and how many people we need to move it all within one day.
• Long distance moves (across Canada or to the continental USA) are determined by the weight of your goods multiplied by the distance you’re moving.
• International moves (overseas) are based on the volume of your goods, in cubic feet. This is because everything needs to be packed in a shipping container.

In order to give you a complete answer, we send an estimator to your home to review what you have. We then give you an itemized estimate in writing, and the final price is guaranteed to be within 10% of that estimate (unless you add items).

4. Are Your Moving Crews Bonded?

Yes. When hiring new team members, not only do we make sure they are trustworthy, we secure a bond with our insurer in case a customer ever files a claim.

In order to get the security clearance needed for Government of Canada moves, the RCMP does a full background check on our new candidates.

5. Are Your Moving Crews Careful with My Things?

Absolutely! We’re very proud of our moving crews. We hire experienced people with a great attitude and great customer service skills, and we put a lot of work into training them.

Not only are all new hires fully trained in our processes, we also do mandatory yearly refreshers on packing skills with everyone, and hold additional workshops as needed. New people are always paired with experts to ensure there’s no guesswork needed, and that they don’t hurt themselves or damage your property.

6. How Do You Protect My Floors During the Move?

At the start of the move, we put down runners to protect your floor. We also protect your bannisters with padding.

7. Do You Use Wardrobe Boxes?

Yes we do! They’re made of sturdy cardboard to protect your clothing, and if we’re unpacking for you, we recycle them. Due to COVID-19, we are no longer offering second-hand boxes to our customers.

 

8. Do You Use Plastic Covers for Soft Furniture and Mattresses?

Yes we do! For COVID-19 safety and general hygiene reasons, we use new plastic for every move.

9. What Can I Do to Help Ensure the Move Goes Efficiently?

Here are some essential tips:

1. Be prepared to move when we show up— there have been many times when we’ve arrived at the agreed time, only to find out the customer is still in bed!
2. Move your cars out of the way so our truck can get access to your home.
3. If an elevator is needed, make sure it’s booked and the super has given you access by the time we arrive. Unfortunately, we can’t be responsible for any delays from the need to wait for the key.
4. If you’re packing any boxes yourself, ensure they are shut and ready to go by the time we arrive.

10. Is There Anything I Need to Know about Managing My Kids and Pets on the Day of the Move?

For the safety of your kids and pets, please ensure they are out of the way of our movers and our truck. We’ve seen more than one frightened pet escape the home, leading to lost time as the homeowner searches the neighbourhood.

Some of our customers book a sitter for children and take their pets to a kennel for the day. Other customers like to divide and conquer: one parent takes the kids and pets out of the home, while the other parent stays on hand for the move.

The fewer people in the house, the safer and more efficient your move will be.

11. What Do I Need to Keep with Me on the Day of the Move? 

Keep your wallet, cellphone, and car keys with you at all times, not in a box or a drawer or even on a counter. It can really slow things down for you if they are accidentally packed!

Ensure anything valuable that we can’t pack or move, especially jewellery, coin collections, baseball card collections etc., are loaded into your car.

12. Is There a List of Things you Cannot Move?

In a nutshell, we cannot move anything under pressure, anything that’s combustible, or any dangerous chemicals. Think spray cans of any kind, BBQ gas tanks, cans of gasoline, cleaning agents like ammonia or bleach, solvents like nail polish remover, etc. By law, we need to avoid these items to protect our drivers and the public in case the truck is damaged during a traffic accident.

We have a license to move firearms but not to store them, so we ask our customers to move these items themselves in their car.

13. Do You Move Cars or Other Vehicles?

No, unfortunately, we don’t. We do provide vehicle storage, however.

14. Are There Any Days of the Week You Don’t Provide Moving Services?

We can do your move on any day from Monday to Friday. On a case by case basis, we occasionally do Saturdays (but this requires our approval in advance).

Why don’t we do weekends? We have a great moving crew that works really hard all week. Letting them get the rest they need means they’re ready to go on Monday.

15. I’m Trying to Save Money on My Move. Do You Have Any Recommendations? (I’m Willing to Do a Bit of Work!)

We have a great DIY shipping container service. Here’s how it works: first, we deliver the container to your driveway, then you pack your belongings and load everything inside. When you’re ready, we move the container to your new home where you can take as much time as you need to unpack. People also love these containers for temporary storage when renovating, or for staging their home.

Unfortunately, it’s against the law for customers to “help the crew” during a regular move. As an untrained person, we can’t insure you in the event of an accident.

16. Is Your Warehouse Climate-Controlled?

Yes. Our indoor facility is clean, free of vermin, climate-controlled, and fully secured by an alarm system. We provide residential and commercial storage, and inventory management services for businesses.