Custom Crating
San Diego
Some items can't be wrapped in a blanket and hoped for the best. Fine art, antiques, wine collections, irreplaceable heirlooms, and high-value electronics deserve custom-engineered protection. Our specialty crating team builds around your item, not the other way around.
What We Crate
Custom Protection For
Every Valuable Item
No two items are alike. Our custom crating service is built around your specific piece, its dimensions, fragility, material, and value all determine the crate design and materials used.
Fine Art & Paintings
Custom wooden crates built to the exact dimensions of each painting or sculpture. Acid-free padding, corner protection, and climate-safe materials used throughout.
Antiques & Collectibles
Irreplaceable antiques, ceramics, porcelain, and collectibles custom-packed using archival materials. Every piece assessed individually before packing begins.
Wine Collections
Temperature-stable wine crating for moving cellars, investment bottles, and rare vintages. Horizontal foam-cell dividers prevent contact and vibration damage.
Electronics & AV Equipment
Custom foam-fitted crates for large displays, servers, audio equipment, and sensitive electronics. Anti-static materials used where required.
Mirrors & Large Glass
Oversized mirrors, glass tabletops, and stained glass require corner cushioning, center support, and rigid wooden crate frames, we build all of it.
Sculptures & 3D Art
Three-dimensional art and sculptures foam-fitted in custom interior mounts that prevent any movement in any direction during transport.
Documents & Archives
Archival-grade flat boxes and crates for original artwork on paper, historic documents, photographs, and sensitive records.
Jewelry & Valuables
High-security custom cases with chain of custody documentation for jewelry, coins, bullion, and high-value personal property.
Specialty Instruments
Beyond pianos, harps, large string instruments, and other specialty instruments requiring custom-fitted travel cases or crates.
Our Process
How Custom Crating
Works
Every custom crate starts with an in-person assessment. We never guess dimensions or materials, your item's safety depends on getting this exactly right.
Item Assessment
We evaluate your item in person, dimensions, weight, material, fragility, and value. This determines the crate design, padding type, and materials required.
Custom Crate Design
Our team designs a crate built specifically for your item. Interior foam mounts, corner supports, and padding are all custom-cut to fit precisely.
Professional Build
Crates are built from kiln-dried lumber with interior foam, acid-free padding, and archival materials. Every crate is assembled and tested before your item is placed inside.
Secure Loading & Documentation
Crated items are secured in the truck with tie-downs. Every item receives a condition report with timestamped photos before and after for insurance purposes.
Why Discount Movers
What Makes Us
Different
Family owned since 1997. Licensed, insured, and trusted by thousands of San Diego families.
Serving San Diego Since 1997
Founded 1997. We have crated and moved hundreds of high-value items across San Diego, from Rancho Santa Fe estates to La Jolla galleries and Downtown condos.
Insurance Documentation
Full photo documentation and condition reports provided for every high-value item. We coordinate with your insurance carrier if needed.
Chain of Custody
Every high-value item is tracked from pickup to delivery. Nothing leaves our care without documentation and your explicit sign-off.
Valuation Options for Crated Items
A custom crate protects the item physically, but the paperwork decides what you are paid if something goes wrong anyway. On an interstate move, the FMCSA liability and protection rules give you two choices. Released value protection costs nothing extra, and under it the mover is responsible for no more than 60 cents per pound per article. Full value protection is the alternative, and FMCSA states that if you do not select released value, your shipment automatically moves at full value protection, with the cost varying by mover and possibly subject to a deductible.
For a move that stays inside California, the Bureau of Household Goods and Services describes the same basic option under a different name. Limited liability protection makes the mover liable for loss or damage at 60 cents a pound, and movers do not charge extra for it. The arithmetic matters most for exactly the items that get crated: the mover's liability for a 40-pound framed painting is capped at $24 under a 60-cents-per-pound option, no matter what it cost or what it was appraised at.
Because of that gap, the valuation choice belongs in the same conversation as the crate design. Ask for the valuation option to be written into the quote so you can compare it with your own homeowner, renter, or fine art policy before anything is built. Your own insurance carrier can tell you whether your policy covers the piece in transit and whether a mover's declared value would duplicate it. Decide this before the assessment visit if you can, because the option you choose is part of the paperwork you sign with the mover, not something settled after delivery.
Declaring Items Worth Over $100 Per Pound
Under full value protection, interstate movers are permitted to limit their liability on what the FMCSA calls items of extraordinary value, meaning items valued at more than $100 per pound, and its valuation guidance names jewelry, china, and furs as examples. The same rule states that if you specifically list these items on the shipping documents, the mover remains responsible for their safe delivery. A small bronze, a watch collection, or a painting on canvas can clear the $100-per-pound line easily, so the list is not a formality on a crating job.
Ask for that list to be built at the in-person assessment. Each crated item is measured and weighed for the crate design anyway, so its value per pound can be worked out before the quote is written. Bring any appraisal, gallery invoice, or insurance schedule you have for the piece, so the value you list has a document behind it. List each piece separately, since the FMCSA rule turns on whether an item is specifically listed on the shipping documents.
What To Prepare Before The Assessment
Have the item accessible and unwrapped where it can be measured on all sides. Depth is the dimension people forget, and for a canvas that includes the stretcher bar and any frame or float mount. If the piece is currently hanging or installed, say so when you book, and ask whether it should come down before the visit or during it. Note anything that detaches, such as a pedestal, a glass top, a shade, or a removable panel, because each of those may need its own interior mount inside the crate.
Write down what you know about the material and its history. Whether a mirror is backed, whether a canvas has been relined or has flaking paint, whether a wine collection has been stored on its side, and whether a sculpture is hollow or solid all matter. Each changes the foam density, the orientation marking, and the way the crate is handled on the truck. Photographs from your insurer or a conservator are useful here. The more of this you can hand over at the assessment, the fewer assumptions go into the crate design.
Think about the destination as well as the origin. Measure the doorway, stair turn, or elevator the crated item has to pass through, since a crate adds several inches on every side and can turn an item that fit through a door into one that does not. If the delivery address is an apartment or a managed building, ask the manager now whether a certificate of insurance or a loading dock reservation is required. That way the crated item is not held on the truck while paperwork catches up.
If a Crated Item Arrives Damaged
Inspect every crated item at delivery before signing, while the crew is still on site. Ask for the condition report and timestamped photos taken at pickup; they are your baseline. Compare the piece against them and note any difference on the delivery paperwork in writing. Photograph the crate itself if it shows impact marks, crushed corners, or moisture, since the crate's condition helps establish whether damage happened in transit. Keep the crate and all interior packing until the claim is settled.
California sets a clock on the mover's side of a claim. Under the BHGS maximum rate tariff, a mover that receives a written claim for loss or damage must, in writing, pay it, decline it, or make a firm compromise offer within 60 days. If it declines or offers less than you asked, it must state the basis in writing. If the claim cannot be resolved in 60 days for reasons beyond the mover's control, it must send you a written status update at the end of each following 30-day period.
FAQ
Questions Answered
Have Something Irreplaceable?
Call us for a free crating assessment. We will evaluate your item in person and provide a written quote with no obligation.
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