Moving a home workshop
Discussion
We are planning to move house in the near future. Last time I moved house I only had about one car boot load of tools and moving it myself was no issue.
I have a family and a house full of stuff, so I'll be using a house moving company for the "normal" part of the move. I'm trying to come up with a plan for my workshop.
For my own sanity, my plan is to move it myself. So far I've come up with:
1) rent some storage once moving date is planned
2) box up tools in crates (leaving some basic tools that might be useful during the house move)
3) disassemble cabs
4) move everything in batches to the store prior to moving date
5) reverse of steps 2-4 with new house
6) end storage contract so I don't end up still having stuff in storage in 10 years time.
I'd do this over a period of a few weeks. Plastic crates for the tools, empty and disassemble roller cabs and so on, then transport everything by trailer (until I get pissed off and rent a Luton to do the remainder in one or two goes).
Has anyone done similar? Any pitfalls? I've no idea about the environment inside a closed ISO container. Obviously I SHOULD spray everything with lanoguard, wrap everything with VCI paper and put desiccant in every crate, but realistically this won't happen. Am I going to be retrieving big boxes full of rust?
I have a family and a house full of stuff, so I'll be using a house moving company for the "normal" part of the move. I'm trying to come up with a plan for my workshop.
For my own sanity, my plan is to move it myself. So far I've come up with:
1) rent some storage once moving date is planned
2) box up tools in crates (leaving some basic tools that might be useful during the house move)
3) disassemble cabs
4) move everything in batches to the store prior to moving date
5) reverse of steps 2-4 with new house
6) end storage contract so I don't end up still having stuff in storage in 10 years time.
I'd do this over a period of a few weeks. Plastic crates for the tools, empty and disassemble roller cabs and so on, then transport everything by trailer (until I get pissed off and rent a Luton to do the remainder in one or two goes).
Has anyone done similar? Any pitfalls? I've no idea about the environment inside a closed ISO container. Obviously I SHOULD spray everything with lanoguard, wrap everything with VCI paper and put desiccant in every crate, but realistically this won't happen. Am I going to be retrieving big boxes full of rust?
I'm probably missing something, but why don't you just move everything directly to the new house workshop, instead of going via storage?
Most decent removal companies offer industrial and commercial moving as well. They will be well used to moving workshop equipment.
JimM169 said:
Why not just get the house movers to do the workshop as well? Box up the loose tools but leave everything in the cabs in situ and they'll just wheel them into the van
This.Most decent removal companies offer industrial and commercial moving as well. They will be well used to moving workshop equipment.
Edited by Mont Blanc on Thursday 18th December 14:58
JimM169 said:
Why not just get the house movers to do the workshop as well? Box up the loose tools but leave everything in the cabs in situ and they'll just wheel them into the van
This is what I did and it makes life much easier.One house later I moved everything myself. I filled a 7.5t lorry with the garage/shed contents and it was a nightmare in comparison.
Also depends upon the scale: are we talking about lathes, mills and table saws?
When I did it, I put absolutely everything on to pallets. Pallet trucks are cheap and make life very easy at both ends. My table saw is still bolted to the pallet, keeps it easy to move if I ever need to.
And it may also make sense with "man-maths" to buy a couple more roller cabinets / permanent storage and put everything into those "forever", rather than pack 'n' times into plastic tubs.
When I did it, I put absolutely everything on to pallets. Pallet trucks are cheap and make life very easy at both ends. My table saw is still bolted to the pallet, keeps it easy to move if I ever need to.
And it may also make sense with "man-maths" to buy a couple more roller cabinets / permanent storage and put everything into those "forever", rather than pack 'n' times into plastic tubs.
I thought at first from the title you meant move an actual workshop rather than the contents of. Several moves ago we moved a large wooden workshop with us, never again. Would have been less effort to just sell and start with a nice new one that fitted the new place.
So as it's the contents we are talking about. On day 1 will they have a space that they can be moved to or does that workshop space need to be used or fitted out in some way before you fill it up? If the former then you can either have it moved as part of the 'removal' or just hire a big enough van and do that part yourself. If doing that then you have option of keeping the van for an extra day or something to allow you to move in slightly slower time. It saves a move to storage and then a move from storage to home. Just make sure you can secure the van. We borrowed one of the wheel locks they use on caravans and had 2 cars very close behind just in case.
So as it's the contents we are talking about. On day 1 will they have a space that they can be moved to or does that workshop space need to be used or fitted out in some way before you fill it up? If the former then you can either have it moved as part of the 'removal' or just hire a big enough van and do that part yourself. If doing that then you have option of keeping the van for an extra day or something to allow you to move in slightly slower time. It saves a move to storage and then a move from storage to home. Just make sure you can secure the van. We borrowed one of the wheel locks they use on caravans and had 2 cars very close behind just in case.
I moved stuff into storage when I rebuilt my workshop. I managed to fit it all in a 40ft container including a small car.
I bought a load of tote boxes off of Facebook which really helped as they are strong and can be stacked easily. I still use them now.
In your circumstances though I'd be tempted to get the same tote boxes for convenience and get the removals guys to do the lifting. Storage costs soon mount up and will outweight any additional the removal co which charge probably.
I bought a load of tote boxes off of Facebook which really helped as they are strong and can be stacked easily. I still use them now.
In your circumstances though I'd be tempted to get the same tote boxes for convenience and get the removals guys to do the lifting. Storage costs soon mount up and will outweight any additional the removal co which charge probably.
donkmeister said:
We are planning to move house in the near future. Last time I moved house I only had about one car boot load of tools and moving it myself was no issue.
I have a family and a house full of stuff, so I'll be using a house moving company for the "normal" part of the move. I'm trying to come up with a plan for my workshop.
For my own sanity, my plan is to move it myself. So far I've come up with:
1) rent some storage once moving date is planned
2) box up tools in crates (leaving some basic tools that might be useful during the house move)
3) disassemble cabs
4) move everything in batches to the store prior to moving date
5) reverse of steps 2-4 with new house
6) end storage contract so I don't end up still having stuff in storage in 10 years time.
I'd do this over a period of a few weeks. Plastic crates for the tools, empty and disassemble roller cabs and so on, then transport everything by trailer (until I get pissed off and rent a Luton to do the remainder in one or two goes).
Has anyone done similar? Any pitfalls? I've no idea about the environment inside a closed ISO container. Obviously I SHOULD spray everything with lanoguard, wrap everything with VCI paper and put desiccant in every crate, but realistically this won't happen. Am I going to be retrieving big boxes full of rust?
Pretty much what i'd do. I'd want time to paint the walls / sort out electrics / sort the floor etc. before I moved all my crap in...I have a family and a house full of stuff, so I'll be using a house moving company for the "normal" part of the move. I'm trying to come up with a plan for my workshop.
For my own sanity, my plan is to move it myself. So far I've come up with:
1) rent some storage once moving date is planned
2) box up tools in crates (leaving some basic tools that might be useful during the house move)
3) disassemble cabs
4) move everything in batches to the store prior to moving date
5) reverse of steps 2-4 with new house
6) end storage contract so I don't end up still having stuff in storage in 10 years time.
I'd do this over a period of a few weeks. Plastic crates for the tools, empty and disassemble roller cabs and so on, then transport everything by trailer (until I get pissed off and rent a Luton to do the remainder in one or two goes).
Has anyone done similar? Any pitfalls? I've no idea about the environment inside a closed ISO container. Obviously I SHOULD spray everything with lanoguard, wrap everything with VCI paper and put desiccant in every crate, but realistically this won't happen. Am I going to be retrieving big boxes full of rust?
Timbo_S2 said:
Pretty much what i'd do. I'd want time to paint the walls / sort out electrics / sort the floor etc. before I moved all my crap in...
That's part of it - we don't have a particular house in mind but it's likely my first workshop there will be the garage. So it would be easier to have some time to paint and install racking at the very least.JimM169 said:
Why not just get the house movers to do the workshop as well? Box up the loose tools but leave everything in the cabs in situ and they'll just wheel them into the van
This was part of why I was asking really; I don't know if house movers would get involved as I've never known anyone build up a workshop and then move house. 
I assumed house movers deal with the standard household stuff, and wouldn't get involved with shifting the contents of a workshop. Obviously I can put a lot of tools in totes and (within limits of weight) they'll shift them, but what about heavier dirty things like engines and engine cranes? I know that if I had a lathe it easily crosses the line into a specialist job (and I would definitely be enrolling a machinist friend for that).
Maybe what this calls for is a hybrid approach; totes for the smaller stuff and use my trailer to shift the weird stuff.
archie456 said:
One house later I moved everything myself. I filled a 7.5t lorry with the garage/shed contents and it was a nightmare in comparison.
Useful speaking from experience, thank you! I'd say there's a Luton van volume of stuff to shift, but wouldn't be doable in a 3.5t Luton purely due to weight.
I moved all my stuff. Removal company used a separate lorry from the house stuff. They picked it up the day before and it was at their yard overnight, two nights actually, came back to me the day after we moved in . They helped me pack and loaded it and then unload it at my house. A week or so later I delivered them back about 25 heavy crates they used to move the loose stuff.
I ended up moving twice in an 18 month period so they did it twice same company.
They also arranged a company to move three motorbikes and two cars for me the first time .
I ended up moving twice in an 18 month period so they did it twice same company.
They also arranged a company to move three motorbikes and two cars for me the first time .
I used Whites a couple of years ago to move my house and garage stuff, they didn’t blink an eye at the garage stuff, roll cab, metal cabinets/tall cabs/wall cabs, Pillar drill/milling machine, hydraulic scissor lift, lathe etc etc
Having it somewhere else while you sort out the new place would be very tempting though!
Having it somewhere else while you sort out the new place would be very tempting though!
donkmeister said:
We are planning to move house in the near future. Last time I moved house I only had about one car boot load of tools and moving it myself was no issue.
I have a family and a house full of stuff, so I'll be using a house moving company for the "normal" part of the move. I'm trying to come up with a plan for my workshop.
For my own sanity, my plan is to move it myself. So far I've come up with:
1) rent some storage once moving date is planned
2) box up tools in crates (leaving some basic tools that might be useful during the house move)
3) disassemble cabs
4) move everything in batches to the store prior to moving date
5) reverse of steps 2-4 with new house
6) end storage contract so I don't end up still having stuff in storage in 10 years time.
I'd do this over a period of a few weeks. Plastic crates for the tools, empty and disassemble roller cabs and so on, then transport everything by trailer (until I get pissed off and rent a Luton to do the remainder in one or two goes).
Has anyone done similar? Any pitfalls? I've no idea about the environment inside a closed ISO container. Obviously I SHOULD spray everything with lanoguard, wrap everything with VCI paper and put desiccant in every crate, but realistically this won't happen. Am I going to be retrieving big boxes full of rust?
Yup. Seems logical. I have a family and a house full of stuff, so I'll be using a house moving company for the "normal" part of the move. I'm trying to come up with a plan for my workshop.
For my own sanity, my plan is to move it myself. So far I've come up with:
1) rent some storage once moving date is planned
2) box up tools in crates (leaving some basic tools that might be useful during the house move)
3) disassemble cabs
4) move everything in batches to the store prior to moving date
5) reverse of steps 2-4 with new house
6) end storage contract so I don't end up still having stuff in storage in 10 years time.
I'd do this over a period of a few weeks. Plastic crates for the tools, empty and disassemble roller cabs and so on, then transport everything by trailer (until I get pissed off and rent a Luton to do the remainder in one or two goes).
Has anyone done similar? Any pitfalls? I've no idea about the environment inside a closed ISO container. Obviously I SHOULD spray everything with lanoguard, wrap everything with VCI paper and put desiccant in every crate, but realistically this won't happen. Am I going to be retrieving big boxes full of rust?
I've done this twice now and it helps that much of the stuff lives in plastic boxes on a racking system anyway. I then have a load of office moving crates that everything else goes into and some large boxes on wheels.
Step 1: General clear out and the stacking of the crates to clear the racking.
Step 2: Rent van, fill it with the racking and as many cases as will fit and go and set up the racking in the storage container.
Step 3: As many runs as needed to finish.
Storage container moisture levels aren't as bad as some may think. As it's short term there will be fewer diurnal sweat events and if you're putting dry stuff in then it's just atmospheric moisture, same as workshop at home typically. They're not ideal and this isn't the ideal time of year but a few months will be fine. Especially if you use a service which has given the inside of their containers a spray with that weird paint which most seem to now the market has grown.
As for why not just have the removals chaos move everything to the new workshop, I find that empty workshop space the best 'buffer' zone for the general house move. Moving is always easier when you allocate a room that isn't part of the main house to be where stuff can go and wait while other stuff is sorted.
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