Moving in a Connecticut winter

Clear every path the crew will walk

The single most useful thing you can do is shovel and salt the route from the door to where the truck will park, at both addresses, before the crew arrives. That includes the steps, the walk, the driveway apron, and the strip of street where the ramp will come down. A crew carrying a dresser cannot see its feet, and a patch of ice under a drop cloth is how furniture and people get hurt.

If you are moving out of a building, ask the management who clears the loading area and when. If the answer is nobody, plan to do it yourself or arrange it, because the crew will not start loading across ice.

Know the snow rules in your town

New Haven and most of the towns around it declare parking bans during snow emergencies, and cars parked on the wrong side of a posted street get towed. A move scheduled into a storm needs a plan for where the truck will go, and a move scheduled the day after one needs the curb to have been cleared of both snow and plowed-in cars.

Watch the forecast in the week before. If a real storm is coming on your date, call the mover early rather than on the morning. Rescheduling by a day is usually simple in winter; rescheduling at seven in the morning with the truck already loaded is not.

Protect the floors and the doorways

Salt, slush and grit come in on every trip. Put down runners or flattened cardboard from the door along the main route, tape the edges so they do not lift, and keep an old towel at each threshold. At the new place, do the same before the first box comes in. A crew that wraps furniture in blankets and stretch wrap, as the Major Movers crew does, is protecting the furniture; the floors are yours to protect.

Prop the doors if you can, but keep the heat on. Cold rooms slow everything down, and if you are moving out of a property that will sit empty, leave the thermostat set low rather than off so the pipes do not freeze between your move and the next occupant.

Separate what cannot ride in a cold truck

The back of a box truck is close to outdoor temperature. Most household goods do not mind, and some do: houseplants, liquid medicines, wine, paint, cleaning products, electronics with batteries, and anything else that a hard freeze would ruin. Pack these separately and take them in a heated car.

Appliances need a thought too. A washing machine that still has water in it can freeze in the truck; drain it the day before. A refrigerator should be defrosted and dried, which takes longer than people expect. The packing and unpacking page covers what the crew can take on if you want the kitchen done for you.

• Houseplants, and anything else alive
• Medicines, especially liquids
• Paint, adhesives and cleaning products
• Wine, canned goods and anything in glass
• Laptops, phones and battery-powered devices

Plan around the short day

Sunset comes early in a Connecticut January, and unloading in the dark on an icy walk is slower and riskier than the same job in daylight. Ask for an early start, have the exterior lights working at both ends, and keep a couple of flashlights near the door. The more of the move that happens in daylight, the better the day goes.

Dress for it, and keep the kettle on. The crew is working hard and will be fine; the person standing in the doorway directing boxes is the one who gets cold.