At the time of moving, the need to hire a professional packing and moving service might be the way to go. Keep in mind that there are lots of options available, from packing your entire household to packing selected items only. So, before you hire or even decide to hire, you'll need to weight your time and energy versus the cost involved in hiring professionals.

For me, if I have to choose between hiring professional packers or professional unpackers, I'd pick the unpackers. This is completely a personal choice, one I make simply because I can't seem to justify the cost of packers, while I can justify unpackers since, for me, I really don't like unpacking and never seem to find the time to do it. Also, after a move, I'm usually tired and, at the same time, excited to be in a new city or community that I don't want to spend the time needed to settle in.

First, the company will send out a surveyor to assess the details of your move. They'll list each item that needs to be packed, including furniture, cupboard contents and kitchen drawers. This is not only a way of costing out your move, but also will help the service find out what's of value and may need extra special care.

Valuables, including paperwork, artwork and jewelry will be discussed during the household survey, determining how these items should be handled. Usually, items that can be taken with you on move day, as opposed to being loaded in the moving truck, will be packed separately by the company and set aside for you to take with you.