Garages fill up with the things that have no other home, and by moving day many homes have more in the garage than in the living room. The job is mostly decisions. Once the piles are sorted, the packing is about weight, length and sharp edges.
Sort before you box
Walk the garage with three bins: keep, give away and dispose. Anything you have not touched in two years is a candidate for the donation pile, and a garage sale or a charity pickup before the move keeps boxes off the truck.
Walk through the estimate with your estimator, including the corners of the garage, the attic hooks and the shed. Everything on the written estimate is accounted for.
Chemicals, fuel and paint
Moving companies cannot carry flammables, corrosives and pressurized containers. The U.S. EPA lists household hazardous waste, including paint, solvents, pesticides, propane cylinders and car batteries, and recommends taking them to a local collection program instead of the trash.
Check the list in what movers will not move before you pack, and drain fuel from mowers, trimmers and generators. Dispose of the rest at a household hazardous waste collection.
Hand tools and small hardware
Small tools go in small boxes, because metal is heavy. Fill a toolbox, close the lid, and tape it shut. Loose screws and bolts go in labeled zip bags, and the bags go inside a coffee can or a plastic jar with a lid.
Wrap blades and chisels in a rag or cardboard and tape the wrap so edges cannot cut through the carton.
Power tools, long items and bicycles
Keep power tools in their cases when you have them, and wrap cords. Long-handled tools, rakes, shovels and brooms bundle together with tape or rope into a single package, which loads in one motion.
Bicycles travel best with the pedals removed or turned in, the handlebars turned parallel to the frame and the seat lowered. A bike box or a moving pad keeps the chain grease off the other loads.
- Label each cord with the tool it belongs to.
- Drain gas and oil from lawn equipment.
- Remove batteries from tools and tape the contacts.
Furniture, workbenches and the shop
A workbench can often be taken apart with a wrench. A shop vacuum, shelving and a heavy tool chest are bulky items that go on the written estimate.
For the rest of the house, see packing room by room. If you are sending garage contents into storage first, how to prepare furniture for storage is a useful companion.