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This happens more often than people think. We arrive in the morning, walk through the home with the customer, look at the boxes, furniture and everything that needs to go into the truck, and then someone opens a storage locker, points to a balcony, or says, “Oh, and these things are coming too.” Sometimes it is three extra boxes. No big deal. Sometimes it is fifteen boxes, a bicycle, two chairs, a desk and half of a garage that were not included when we prepared the estimate. Usually nobody is trying to hide anything. When you live in a home for several years, it is surprisingly easy to forget how much stuff you actually have. You see a closet. We see what will eventually become six boxes, three bags and a vacuum cleaner. So, what happens if moving day arrives and there is more to move than originally discussed? Here is how we usually handle it.
Why You May Have More Items on Moving Day Than Expected
The biggest reason is simple: people underestimate small things. When customers describe a move, they usually remember the obvious pieces first: sofa, bed, dining table, TV, a few dressers and maybe 20 or 30 boxes. But moving volume is often hiding in places nobody thinks about until packing starts. There is the hallway closet with winter jackets and boots, the kitchen cabinet full of small appliances, the laundry room, the balcony, the garage shelves and the storage locker downstairs. Suddenly the “few things” in the basement become another dozen boxes. We have also seen plenty of last-minute changes. A customer planned to sell a desk, but the buyer never showed up. Someone was supposed to pick up an old chair, but cancelled. A family planned to take several boxes in their own car and then realized there was no space left after putting the kids, luggage and dog inside. None of this is unusual. The important question is not whether the original inventory was perfectly accurate. It rarely is. The important question is how different the actual move is from what we planned.
What to Do If You Notice the Extra Items Before the Movers Arrive
Call us. Seriously, that is usually the easiest solution. If your move is tomorrow and you suddenly realize there are 15 more boxes than you expected, just let the moving company know. The same applies if you decided to take a dining table, barbecue, bicycle or another piece of furniture that was not on the original list. You do not need to send us an inventory worthy of a warehouse manager. A simple message is usually enough: “We finished packing and have about 12 extra boxes, two patio chairs and a bike.” Even better, send a couple of photos. Photos are extremely useful in moving. We can often look at a room for a few seconds and get a much better idea of the volume than we would from a long description over the phone. If we know about the change early, we can check whether the planned truck is still appropriate, whether the crew needs extra time, and whether anything special is required. And yes, even a message the evening before the move is better than finding out when the truck doors are already open outside your building.
How Extra Items Can Affect the Cost of Your Move
A few extra boxes usually do not turn the entire move upside down. If our crew arrives and there are four more boxes than expected, we are not going to stand in the driveway with a calculator. We load them and keep moving. The situation is different when the amount of work changes noticeably. For example, imagine that an estimate was based on a two-bedroom apartment with around 35 boxes. On moving day there are actually 60 boxes, a full storage locker and several pieces of furniture that were never mentioned. Now the crew has more to carry, more to protect, more to load and more to unload at the new home. The truck also fills up faster. On a local move, that often means additional time. And time matters because every item has to make the same trip: out of the home, down the hallway or stairs, into the truck, across town, out of the truck and into the new place. Large additions can also affect truck space. This is something customers do not always think about. A moving truck may look huge when it arrives empty. After a sofa, mattresses, tables, dressers and rows of boxes go inside, that empty space disappears quickly. If the move is significantly larger than the information used for the original estimate, the final cost may change as well. We would rather explain that before loading starts than surprise someone at the end of the day.
What Happens If the Extra Items Are Discovered During the Move
This is where communication matters. When we arrive, we normally want to see everything that is moving before we really get started. It helps us understand the layout of the job and plan how to load the truck. If there is additional furniture or a lot more boxes, show the crew right away. Why? Because loading a moving truck is not just throwing things inside until the doors stop closing. There is an order to it. Large furniture, boxes, fragile pieces and awkward items all need to fit together safely. If we know about a large cabinet at 9:00 in the morning, we can plan for it. Finding the same cabinet at 11:30 when the truck is almost full is a different story. Most of the time, extra items can simply be added to the move. If the difference is larger, the crew will explain what changes. Maybe the job will take longer. Maybe some furniture needs to be disassembled. In some cases, another trip may make more sense for a local move. What we do not recommend is waiting until the end and then saying, “There are just a few more things in the garage.” We have learned to be slightly suspicious of the phrase “just a few things” (moving-company experience).
Which Extra Items Can Create Additional Challenges
Boxes are usually predictable. Furniture is where things get interesting. A few extra cardboard boxes can normally be stacked and loaded without much trouble. A large glass table, treadmill or oversized sectional is different. Some items take up much more truck space than people expect. Others require wrapping, disassembly or careful handling before we can even move them through the door. We often pay extra attention to large mirrors, televisions, patio furniture, bicycles, gym equipment, heavy toolboxes, large plants and awkward furniture. Loose items can also slow a move down. For example, 10 packed boxes are easy. Ten grocery bags, two laundry baskets, loose shoes, a lamp without a box, kitchen appliances and random cables spread across the floor are technically the same belongings, but they take more time to move safely. Storage lockers are another classic. A customer might say there are “some things in storage.” We open the door and find winter tires, camping equipment, shelving, Christmas decorations and boxes stacked almost to the ceiling. Again, it is not a problem by itself. We just need to know what we are actually moving.
How to Avoid Surprises When Getting a Moving Estimate
Before asking for an estimate, do one proper walk-through of your home. Not the quick version where you stand in the middle of each room and think, “Yeah, that’s about it.” Open the closets. Look under the beds. Check the balcony. Go into the garage. Open the storage locker. Look at the basement shelves. Think about anything that still does not have a final plan. If you are deciding whether to keep a desk, mention it. If the barbecue might be coming, mention that too. It is easier for us to estimate a move with a few possible extra items than to discover a completely different inventory on moving morning. Photos help a lot here as well. When customers send us clear pictures of the rooms, furniture and packed belongings, we can build a much more realistic picture of the move. That helps us plan the truck, crew and expected time. And if things change after the estimate, tell us. Moving plans change constantly. People pack more than expected, decide to keep furniture, empty storage rooms and discover boxes they forgot existed. We do not expect you to count every book, plate or winter boot in the house. We just need a reasonably accurate idea of the amount of work. So if it is 8:00 p.m. the night before your move and you suddenly look around and think, “There is definitely more stuff here than we told them about,” do not panic. Take a few photos. Make a quick list. Send it to your moving company. It is much easier to adjust the plan before the truck arrives than while everyone is standing beside a full truck wondering where the last armchair is supposed to go.
