With all the planning, packing up, boxing, taping, labeling, and actual relocating involved, moving can really take it out of you! Just the thought is enough to send you running for the hills in search of the best moving company to do all the work for you. If you’re like some folks, the challenge of moving is something to rise to, not shirk away from. But even the biggest, burliest and strongest among us fall when it comes to these most difficult to move items!

Aquariums and Fish

You would think that Nemo and friends would be incredibly easy to move. Maybe so much so that you left them and their aquarium for last on the list of things to clean, disassemble, pack and move. But fish can be quite finicky creatures, oftentimes unable to withstand the sloshing about and the changes in temperature.

If you’ve decided to keep your fish--most movers sell or give away their entire aquarium because a simple car ride could kill them--there are a few things to do to raise the survival rate of your exotic fish. First, transfer the fish into a holding container and drain the aquarium, keeping only a little water in order to preserve the bacteria colony. Set some of the water aside for use later.

Store filters in a chemical-free canister, and if your aquarium has plants, store them in a ziplock bag with some of the drained water from the aquarium. Put the aquarium in your car instead of the moving truck, and set it up in your new home as soon as possible.

Pianos

Whether it’s a baby grand or a full 1,200-pound grand piano, this is one of the most difficult items to relocate to a new home. Beyond the gargantuan weight, pianos are oddly-shaped, oftentimes too big to fit through doors. New homes with height pose a real challenge. Cranes have often been used to move pianos in through windows.

To top it off, you have to be extra careful so as not to damage either the piano or your home (old and new) while moving it. You might’ve been able to get away with moving the aquarium, but you may just have to cave and call some professionals to move a piano.  While many factors round out a quote, it’s safe to dedicate at least $300 for professional piano movers.

Let Black Tie Moving make your relocation easier. Call us at 844-920-2966 for an estimate!

Plants

You probably didn’t expect to see plants on this list, but it can be really hard for a plant to thrive during a move. You’ll need to plan it weeks in advance if you wish to have your plants arrive to your new home alive. Move your plants from ceramic planters to plastic planters long before the move to allow your plants to naturally adjust to the change.

Pack away your ceramic planters and keep the plants in a cool environment at all times. When actually relocating, make sure your plants are with you in the car, and only once the car is cool enough. Since our plants and animals are living creatures like us, it stands to reason that a rapidly changing environment would negatively affect them.

Living Room Furniture

This almost seems like it shouldn’t be on this list because it’s such a common move. Everyone gets it done, with a varying degree of success, but it’s really hard to source movers who can do it right and with minimal damage. Not only do you want to protect the sofa, chairs, love seat and tables from scratches and dents, you want to protect both your old home and your new place from cracks and scuffs in the walls and door jambs.

If you choose to move by yourself or with friends, get a lot of blankets to move furniture that you wouldn’t want scratched. Tape the blankets on the extremities of the furniture. Measure your furniture pieces and your doorways, map out a route if the sofa can’t fit through the front door. You may have to use a utility entrance, or even a window.

Televisions

With TVs, bigger is always better. The only time it isn’t better is when it takes two strong people to carefully move it from your old place to your new living room. Big, heavy, and extremely delicate, flat screen televisions tend to strongly shift your balance when you attempt to move them. Because of their technology, a decent ding against a door or a sharp left in the moving truck could render it incapable of function. And your insurance probably won’t cover any damage if it wasn’t packed in a specific way.

If you were able to retain the television’s original packaging, use it to relocate your TV, making sure you pack it well to reduce movement and absorb impact. If you don’t have original packaging, you’ll want to either purchase a flat-screen box (can usually be sourced for less than $100), or tape blankets over the screen and move it very carefully where it won’t be damaged. You’ll be able to gauge for yourself which option to take.

There are five more items that are the hardest to deal with when moving. Whether you're relocating to a different state or just moving to a different neighborhood in the same city, these items are the most difficult to manage before, during and after any move. Black Tie Moving has moved the biggest items to the most fragile, all successfully. If you're having trouble planning a move, or just getting furniture into your new home, call Black Tie Moving.