Your bags are packed, your entire household tucked away neatly in boxes and ready for the movers to whisk them away to your new home…..but wait! Are there items that movers can’t move for you? The answer is YES!

If you have propane BBQ, remove the tank before your movers arrive as Ontario Movers aren’t allowed to take the tank or the propane that may still be in it. No fuel or flammables can be transported by the moving company. Gas for your lawnmower, mini propane tanks for your camp stove, etc., are all included in this ban. So search your garage for these items and either move them yourself of give them to a neighbour.

Movers are also unable to move equipment which contain liquid, flammables (including matches) or fuel. So be sure to empty out your lawnmower, snow blower, etc. before moving day. Even those small butane lighters should travel with you, rather than with the moving company.

Paint is another item that needs to be transported by you, or left at the house you are moving from. A way to solve this is to leave the paint cans behind, but label them as to where you used each colour (i.e. living room, upstairs bathroom, etc.) so the new owners can easily touch up when needed. It can be frustrating when you love the colour your new living room is painted but have no clue what the previous owners chose. So this could be a nice and helpful “gift” for the new owners!

Some extremely large items which require special care, such as pianos, personal safes, fire-proof filing cabinets and pool tables, must be moved by either yourself (with help of course!) or a company who specializes in moving such items. A piano, for example, is extremely heavy and must be treated with kid gloves, so a piano moving company is your best bet. Such companies often will tune your piano following the move, which is handy as this should be done anytime a piano is moved.

So before moving day arrives, take a quick inventory to see if you have any of these items that need to be transported, and make arrangements for them. It will save you time and frustration by taking care of this beforehand, as you won’t need to scramble to find room in your car for them (especially the snow blowers and pianos!!).