Home/Removals/Moving Day
Moving Day Checklist

The day itself, hour by hour.

Everything earlier belongs in our moving house checklist. This page starts when you wake up on moving day and ends when both sets of keys have changed hands.

  • Who needs to be home, and for how long
  • Where the truck sits, and what it needs
  • Final readings, the walk-through, then keys
A PicUp hauler carrying a wrapped chair down a front path on moving day

Three things fix the day

Both ends need someone

One person with authority stays until the truck is closed, and one meets it at the other address. Two ends, two people, or one who rides along.

Parking sets the pace

The carry begins wherever the truck stops. Empty the driveway the night before, and if the kerb outside is contested, say so at booking.

Readings, then keys

Electricity, gas and water read and photographed before you lock up. Keys and remotes go to the agent, never into a carton.

How moving day runs

A move happens in three blocks: load, drive, unload. What goes wrong sits between them, and most of it is decided before the crew knocks.

So today is about being ready and being reachable. What follows is only the day itself.

The shape of a moving day.
StageWhat is happening
First hour awakeBeds stripped, chargers bagged, a clear path to the door
The crew arrivesWalk every room with the lead hauler, name the fragile pieces
LoadingStay out of the carry line, keep one person free for questions
The truck leavesRead each meter, check the roof space, lock every window
At the new placeStand at the door and call the room for each carton

Who is home, and when

One name has to be answerable at each address. Children and pets are better off elsewhere while the doors are open.

Who is needed, and where.
WhoWhen they are needed
You, or one adultThe whole load, then the final lock-up
A second personAt the new address from the first delivery
Kids and petsOff site while the carry is running
Your building managerFor the lift or dock window at either end

What stays out of the boxes

Some things should never see the inside of a truck. Put them in one bag and keep that bag in your car.

What rides in the car instead.
ItemWhy it travels with you
Keys and documentsNothing can be handed over without them
Medicine and glassesNeeded the same day, not the same week
Chargers and cablesFlat phones end moving days badly
Kettle, mugs, teabagsThe first thing anyone wants at the far end

Readings and the handover

The last twenty minutes decide whether the bond or the settlement goes through quietly. Read, photograph, walk, lock.

Before you lock the old place.
CheckWhat to record
Electricity meterA photo of the dial with the date visible
Gas and waterThe same again, and the number for the account
Every cupboardDoors open, roof space and garage included
Keys and remotesCounted, then handed to the agent or buyer

How a truck fills decides whether the house goes in one run. How to pack a moving truck covers that part.

Where the day loses time

Long moving days have the same few causes, and every one of them is fixable the night before.

Done before the crew knock

  • Every carton closed, taped and grouped by room
  • Driveway emptied and a clear path to the kerb
  • Lift or dock window confirmed at both addresses

The quote is set at booking: we price from the rooms and the access you describe, so the figure is known beforehand.

Flag the awkward pieces: beds, wardrobes and table legs come apart at the load and go back together at the delivery, if they were named up front.

What we do not do: no packing, no cartons supplied, and no pianos, pool tables or safes. Sizing the load is in how much removalists cost.

Numbers for the day

2 to 3
Haulers on a full home move
4 tonne
Pantech, fitted with a tail-lift
50,000+
Homes moved since 2020
4.6★
From 489 Google reviews
7 days
Support, 8am to 5pm

Google rating and review count pulled June 2026. The 50,000+ figure counts residential jobs since 2020.

Moving day questions

What time will the crew arrive?

You get an arrival window when you book, and a call from the driver once the truck is on its way. Early windows are taken first.

Anything that could shift that start is worth a call the day before, not on the morning. A gate code, a lift slot that moved, a neighbour's car left in the driveway: each one turns a prompt arrival into a wait. Support runs seven days, 8am to 5pm, so there is someone to tell.

Do I need to be there all day?

Someone answerable does, at both addresses. It need not be you at each end, as long as whoever is standing there can decide where things go.

Give that person the authority in advance and tell us their name when you book. Leave them a room plan, a list of anything that is not going, and a phone that will be answered. The usual failure is a willing friend who cannot settle a question, so the crew stops and rings you.

Who takes the final readings?

You do, and it takes two minutes. Photograph the electricity, gas and water dials with the date visible, before the last door is locked.

Do it once the truck has left, so nothing gets switched on again behind you. Write the account number beside each photo, since a reading with nothing attached is hard to place weeks later. Where a block has one dial per unit, make sure the picture shows which is yours.

When do I hand over the keys?

After the truck has gone and you have walked the empty rooms, not before. Count keys, remotes, window winders and mailbox keys, then hand the whole set over at once.

The walk-through is the point of that delay. A bare room shows marks a furnished one hides, and a scuff you touch up yourself costs less than one an agent quotes on. Photograph each room once it is empty, roof space and garage included, and send the set to the agent.

What if the new place is not ready?

Tell us the moment you know. A truck standing at a locked door is the worst outcome of any moving day.

There is nowhere to park a load overnight, because we offer no storage. What can usually be done is a later window on the same day, or the whole booking moved. On a late settlement the keys are the hold-up rather than the property, so ask your conveyancer for a time as well as a date.

Book the day itself.

Send the rooms, the access at both ends and the pieces that come apart. The price comes back in about a minute.