Let the professionals move you

It may not be a very widespread service. Still, there are a handful of companies offering household or domestic removals, which is what you may need if you are moving house. If efforts to get a hold of them are anything to go by, they are also quite busy. The bulk of their clientele is the expatriate community.

Challenges
A growing number of Ugandans are starting to embrace the service though. Raymond Wamalwa of Handy Movers says the reason their services are not that popular could be because many Ugandans still see it as a little pricey.
“But it is also very convenient. With movers, you can simply walk out of your old house to your new house which is already habitable,” he says.
If you have done the do it yourself move before, you already know what that option entails.
Here’s what you need to know about using a professional house mover.

1.The cost is according to volume, not distance or how much they think you can possibly pay. At least that is what Wamalwa says his company does.
“We come and assess what needs to be moved, room to room. We look at how many materials are needed to pack, move and setup at the new location,” he said. The more items and furniture you have to move, the more you pay.
However, this applies if you are moving within the greater Kampala area. Distance comes into play if you have to move long distances, meaning outside Kampala or the country.

2. Everything is packed in boxes and the actual moving happens in a covered truck. Babirukamu says with some movers, you may agree to get the moving truck from else-where while they do the packing and unpacking for you at a cheaper fee.

3.The amount of time you are fully packed up and ready to move, and also the amount of time you are fully unpacked in the new location depends on what has to be moved naturally.
“It can take a long time to pack, sometimes six to eight hours. Some moves take us upto three days,” he says.
Do not panic though, your fee to the moving company which you pay after the move covers all the costs and you do not need to worry that this is extra cost for you.

4.Moving team includes handymen to take apart furniture that needs to be taken apart, set up electronics and so forth.
Wamalwa says a moving team must include these technicians for those difficult items to move whole. At no extra fee.

5.Your fragile items are safe, or rather safer than they would be handled by that rag tag team of loaders one just happens upon.
The packing involves cushioning with bubble wrap and blankets. Wamalwa says the knowledge that breakages and damages may affect their image pushes them to be extremely careful. “Incidents are very few if at all,” he said.

COLLINS BABIRUKAMU’S EXPEREINCE

Collins Babirukamu, an IT specialist, has tasted both worlds. The do-it-yourself moving and using professional movers. He shares why he prefers to pay a moving company when he needs to move house.

I have moved four times in the past nine years. I have used professional movers three of those times. The first time I moved, I did it normally, where you pack everything yourself, look for a truck, loaders and then later do the unpacking yourself.
A friend who had used a moving company recommended using professionals for my second move. I did and I have never looked back.
The movers were a different experience. By the time they were done, my new house was about 80 per cent ready to live in.

Contacting them
I contacted them on phone, when I found a new house. Then they sent someone to assess what had to be moved and to where. On the appointed day, they arrived very early in the morning with their trucks and packaging materials, boxes and cushioning for fragile items.

Professionalism
From the moving companies I have engaged with, I have realised the best movers also work with people who are handy with certain things. For instance carpenters to help take apart furniture like beds, electricians for appliances like washing machines and people who can set up cable TV. So it was a team that arrived at my house.
They asked what I wanted them to start with and got to work. I did not bother packing at all because they took care of everything. They labelled the boxes according to its contents. In the new house, they unpacked room by room and set up. By evening, they were done and I was safely settled in my new house. They left only a few things to unpack, which did not take me too much time.

Advantages
However, this was not the case when I moved myself. It took over a week to settle in.
Using professional movers was definitely less labour intensive than the traditional way of moving. I did not have to enlist the help of relatives or friends to help me move. Or even struggle to pack up and unpack my whole house. I did not have to get those random porters/loaders into my house.

The cost
True, I had to spend a bit more than I would if I did the packing myself. I normally spend between Shs400,000 to Shs700,000 for one move. But my last move cost Shs1m. But the professionalism I got was worth every penny. On the first day of moving in, my TV was set up, my kitchen was unpacked, like I never moved at all.

Damages
I only had a few incidents of damages. But they were minimal and I chalk those under the inevitable if you are moving. I have never really tried to pursue compensation so I do not know if the companies give it or not.
Before they start packing, I always take out my sensitive documents and put them in a folder but I trust the moving companies with everything else. I have not lost anything yet.

Settling into the new house
When we arrive at the new house, I stay around and supervise. I think it is better when you are there to say what you want where and how. The three times I have used this service, the move was done in one day and I was able to move during the day, something I was not able to do before. It is no longer a question of whether I will hire a moving company or not. If I need to move, I am using a professional moving company.

Don’ts

Do not wait for the moving day itself to start packing unless you have already contacted a moving company. Trying to pack everything up, is how things get broken, lost, damaged, misplaced and forgotten. It is how you get to your new house and cannot trace the cutlery, or TV remote.
Wamalwa recommends that you start packing room by room beginning with the things you do not use often. You can leave out only the items you constantly need like toothpaste, toothbrush and some kitchenware till the last minute.

HOW TO MOVE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

Even if you are moving yourself, you can still apply some tried and proven tips Wamalwa shared.

Dos
1. Prepare adequately with packaging. Make sure you get boxes from supermarkets and shops plus padding material for fragile items like old blankets. Old newspapers can also work as cushioning.
2. Start packing early. You will manage better if you take your time and do not do it in a hurry.
3.Pack room by room. If you decide to start with the bedroom, then, pack it and label all the boxes according to which room they are from and also the contents. For example, Bedroom1: Shoes. Use the same principle for hassle-free unpacking.
4. Start packing items you do not use often. Only leave out items you constantly need until the last minute.
5. Cushion fragile items. Wrap each piece of crockery in paper before you put it in boxes and unwrap each carefully when at new location.
6.Pack heavy items in smaller boxes and put lighter items in bigger box, not vice versa. The logic is that the smaller box is easier to handle. A big box with heavy items is more difficult to carry.
7.Pack electronics in their original packaging. You can always save the boxes by flattening them out and storing them in a cabinet and reassemble when you need to resuse.

The numbers

Shs400,000
Minimum amount you pay for the services of a professional mover

Shs50,000
Minimum amount you pay for the services of a non-professional mover

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