Office moving can be a huge job, especially if your office has plenty of equipment. Furniture and special machines may come in various shapes and sizes, requiring extra care and attention when they are being packed up and transported. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for cargo to get damaged in the process of moving, resulting in hefty prices for replacements. If you are concerned about incurring damage to your equipment, check out these few quick tips that can help you prevent damage when relocating your office.
Plan How You’ll be Moving Everything Out
It can be tempting to just start packing right away, but don’t be hasty. If you will be moving a lot of furniture and equipment, take a moment to plan how you will be moving each item out. How much free space do you have in the room for packing and transporting? How many items do you have to move out, and how big are they? Will you be needing extra assistance for carrying certain heavy or bulky items? Don’t just estimate the size of large objects, measure them and the width of your doorway to ensure that they will fit through. If you have items that are too large to go through the door, try dismantling them first. This will also make the journey easier as these large items will be less likely to knock against other objects or fall over.
Protect the Floor
Prior to moving anything out of your old office space, be sure to protect your floor from potential scrapes, scratches or dents. While there are commercially available floor covers just for this purpose, you can also use a carpet, blanket or similar material – even flattened cardboard boxes should suffice. Line your floor with the cover, especially the route along which your equipment will be transported out of the old space. Smoothen out any bubbling and make sure that the edges of the cover are firmly secured in place, as the last thing you want is for the cover to slide when your equipment is being moved out, which could potentially result in crashing or injuries. This way, even if anything slips or falls, your floor will suffer minimal damage.
Pack Fragile Items First
Fragile furniture, equipment or machinery are usually the last to be packed up. However, there is merit to packing these delicate items first. For one, your office space is probably less cluttered and dusty than it would be if everything else was already in boxes, affording you more room to manoeuvre your fragile objects around. Additionally, getting your fragile equipment out of the way first makes it easier to pack the rest of your cargo without the fear of accidentally damaging anything.
Wrap Your Cargo Up
In addition to protecting your cargo from getting damaged during the transportation process, wrapping your cargo up in cloth, plastic, bubble wrap or other protective material helps to protect the walls and floor of both your old and new office from getting scratched by sharp edges. Furthermore, wrapping up items such as shelves can prevent loose parts from falling out and getting damaged or lost. It is best to wrap them a few times over for maximum cushioning and support. You may also want to get some cardboard boxes to place your wrapped cargo into, and secure them tightly with packing tape.
Cover Your Doorframes and Railings
While you’re wrapping your cargo up, you may also want to cover the doorframes and any protruding walls of your old office with protective wrap, just in case any objects happen to bump into the sides of the door as they are being moved out of the room. Any railings or bannisters should also be protected as they are especially susceptible to being bumped into and suffering damage.
Take Safety Precautions
Above all, your safety and that of anyone else moving the objects should be your utmost priority. Avoid taking risks that could result in injury or harm to the people involved in the moving process. For instance, be sure to have two or more people carry long or tall objects. Turn the object on to its side and have one person lift each end. This lowers the object’s centre of gravity and makes it less likely to fall over.
It is also a good idea to have some specialised equipment at the ready, especially if you are moving large or irregularly shaped items. Relocating an office is a physically strenuous task that can take a toll on anyone. To be safe, you can buy or rent some trolleys for an easier time moving your objects around. These can be obtained from office moving service providers.
Do all these seem like too much of a hassle? Fortunately, moving your office does not have to be an arduous task. The best way to eliminate damage completely is to hire the services of an office relocation specialist, allowing you to enjoy the upgrade to a new office location without having to deal with the logistics of transporting everything there. Our moving team here at The Trio Movers has successfully helped hundreds of companies relocate their offices. Give our top-notch office moving services in Singapore a try and allow us to do the same for your office too.
