apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

don't

find a friend with a truck or suv

I have moved several times. Over the past 10 years I have lived in 6 different places. I have done it all myself, I have used friends, I have rented U-Haul's. But hands down, and I can't say this enough, the best way is just spring for a professional mover team. The guys are strong and fast, nothing gets broken, and I'm not completely worn out at the end of the day.
If you're moving just one piece, use lots of blankets, lots of straps, and absolutely get a truck that isn't too small.

We lived in San Diego for awhile and constantly heard couches and other types of furniture and construction supplies mentioned on the traffic reports. (Blocking freeway traffic and causing accidents.)

Since we moved to another area of the country, we've never seen or heard of this in about four years.

It must be a Southern California thing.

don't know about furniture, but we snowboard and have a pretty big snowboard bag which often travels on the roof of the vehicle. Last winter in Utah it nearly flew off the roof of the taxi taking us to the airport. I had thought the guy did a bad job as I was watching him attach it, but I figured, hey, he's a taxi driver in Park City, he must know what he's doing. Nope.

There is a law in Washington State now that has harsh penalties for failing to properly secure a load. It was passed after a local woman was blinded and disfigured when an entertainment center flew off the back of someone's U-Haul and into her face. The driver of the U-Haul kept going. Because of the laws at the time, he was charged a fee I think and that's it.

Whenever I see what look to be poorly secured loads now, I get as far away from that vehicle as possible.

More info:

http://www.mariasmiracle.com/
http://www.peterhansen.com/suddenlyshattered.htm

not exactly furniture related by a story that goes good with it. I was driving on an expressway in Michigan. And i was behind a mini convoy it was one of those trucks with a wide load sign on it, then a semi with half of a manufactured home on it and then another wide load sign truck.

so we're going along and then the 2 sign trucks get off to the side of the road, i'm thinking this is kind of odd, they're not allowed to leave the main truck. then the semi with the house on it hits the bridge going over the road. The truck was a couple inches too high and just slams into it, shaving off a couple inches from the top of the house. it was like an explosion of particle board and shingles. I didn't know what to do so I just kept driving through it, I figured if i tried to get off I might hit something since i could barely see. eventually got through the storm of debris and got around the torn up house. an hour or 2 down the road cars would pass by me and i could see bits of wood and shingles stuck on to the front of the car, i knew where they'd been...

I was behind a truck hauling a boat and apparently they didn't tie anything down in the boat because a gust of wind sent their cooler, chairs, etc. straight towards my car. Ever since then I'm leary of getting behind ANYBODY hauling something.

I also STRONGLY recommend hiring professional movers, even for small jobs (check the classified section). It saves you a ton of stress and those poor guys are happy for the work. Plus, the moving company's insurance takes care if anything gets damaged.

Lots and lots on bungee cords. If it looks like a giant, multi-colored spider web, it's probably not going anywhere. ;)

It didn't happen to me but I never forget this story. My brother and his girlfriend were in college he was driving home on the worst expressway in NY - it is always congested with trucks as they are not allowed on Parkways - he was behind a truck that was hauling pipes, the truck in front of him came to a sudden stop and several long pipes came flying off the back straight through the windshield of my brother's car. Luckily my brother's girlfriend was quick and she pushed my brother's head down just as she ducked or he would have been decapitated. I always go around trucks, I don't even like them barreling down behind me.

Bungee cords and twine. Run the twine or string THROUGH anything you can multiple times and knot things 5-10 times. I've used windows partly open to wrap something around the roof of the car and then tied to the back hatch to counter that one and go the opposite direction. Anything you have to leave something open in order to haul, you have to secure the item first, then secure the opening. People just dont think before they act. I have an SUV and I'm still hesitant of hauling items unless I can truly secure them. I would never have hauled anything in my former tin can car though.

Tying down furniture is easy to do, you just have to learn how. You need to handle sudden load from any direction due to wind and acceleration or deceleration.

If you don't have real roof-racks you shouldn't be tying anything to your roof.

If you do have roof-racks learn how to tie a trucker's hitch and get to strappin'!

I use straps or rope rather than bungee cord as I trust my knot tying ability a lot more than a wound metal hook on a bungee cord.

The best way to start securing a load is to tie a bowlin on the rope and use that to create a slipping loop around your roof rack. Then pass the cord over your object and loop under the other side of the roof rack. Toss the line back over the object again (to the first side), loop twice around the rack and tighten down. Use a series of half-hitches to secure.

To secure front to back tie off on one side of the rack (use the bowlin trick) pass forward under the front of the object then over the top and down to the other side. Secure with more winding and hitches.

Repeat to secure the back of the object.

You should now be good to go.

I'm so happy with my Honda Fit, It can hold a double mattress and 2 ppl, or an 8 foot long desk. But if I needed something bigger to be hauled, I'd rent a truck

The movie director Alan Pakula (Sophie's Choice, All the President's Men) was killed when a metal bar came through his windshield.

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9811/20/pakula.obit.cnn/index.html

Years and years ago we tried to move one of those soft chairs that unfolded into a mattress on the top of the car. It kept sliding around and we literally had to try to hold it while we drove. Never done that again.

i once moved with just my vw beetle. i had a twin sized mattress, a box spring, a table, and a chair on top of the curved roof.

i learned how to do it from an engineer, my dad. you really need to not only tie things down from side-to-side (through the open doors or windows), but you need to find something to anchor the rope to the front and the back. and pull the rope tight!

oh, and also put towels/blankets down first so you don't scratch up the paint.

Ratchet straps. Twine can break and bungee cords can slip and become unhooked (they can also break, especially if they're old or over-used).
Also, if you're have stuff strapped to the roof or not covered in the bed of your truck... DO NOT DRIVE IN THE PASSING LANE (aka the far left lane).

The Honda Fit (Jazz here in Australia) is the greatest little car EVER! Like Hollie I couldn't be happier with it. Sure it's not the most powerful car around but talk about smallest/coolest.
Over the years we've fit an entire IKEA kitchen (including the 9 foot long benchtop) and all my eBay finds: a 6 foot long entertainment centre, a large dresser, large coffee tables, and 2 console tables without any troubles. I would never try to put anything on the roof without a roof rack though.
The only thing we moved that didn't totally fit inside the car was a 7 foot tall, 4 foot wide pantry. In that case we jammed it in the car, closed the hatch as much as we could and used bungee cords and rope to tie it down which we secured by looping them through windows, doors and hooks underneath the car. The bungee cords had too much bounce when going over bumps, so the rope kept it all stable.
In summary: Wagons/hatchbacks are super space efficient.

i was in that traffic jam grace! i am from santa barbara and we were making a day of it - ikea, la kings game, korean bbq and the bloody 134 traffic mixed us all up!!!! but we got to staples right on time and the kings won :)

A man was killed near Waterloo, Iowa in January when a couch in the truck in front of him flew out and he was unable to stop before hitting it.

I moved a double bed (mattress and box spring) on my car a couple of months ago. I was trying to save delivery cost. Actually, it went quite smooth, but I was a nervous wreck all 15 miles. I don't think I would ever try it again.