Packing Services
San Diego

A trained crew packs your home into moving-grade boxes: dish packs for the kitchen, wardrobe boxes for closets, paper-wrapped breakables, labeled by room. You can hand us the whole house, just the kitchen, or only the fragile shelf. The estimate is free and written before any work begins, and there is no deposit, ever.

Every full-service move already includes furniture disassembly, blankets, straps and 25 free boxes; packing service is the layer on top for the things inside the drawers and cabinets. Call (858) 490-0155 and describe the rooms, and you will have a number the same day.

What Packers Will Not Put in a Box

A packing crew boxes household goods, not chemicals. Federal moving rules on the FMCSA Protect Your Move site list what a mover will not carry without being told: explosives, compressed gases, flammable liquids and solids, oxidizers, poisons, corrosives and radioactive materials. In a San Diego home that means the propane cylinder on the patio grill, leftover paint and paint thinner in the garage, lighter fluid, nail polish remover and the gasoline in the mower. Shipping those in a household goods box without informing the mover is a federal violation, and it also limits or reduces the mover's liability for anything damaged in the load.

The City of San Diego takes these items off your hands before move day. The Household Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility at the Miramar Landfill entrance on Convoy Street accepts paints, cleaners, motor oil, batteries, pesticides and mercury devices from City residents at no charge, by appointment only. Call 858-694-7000 with a list of what you have, bring photo ID or a recent bill showing your address, and leave everything in its original sealed container. The limit is five gallons or 50 pounds per visit, in containers no larger than five gallons. Book that trip a week or two before the packers arrive.

Perishables are the other category to keep out of the cartons. Refrigerated and frozen food, open pantry items and anything else that spoils ride better in your own car than in a sealed box on a warm truck. Tell the crew lead which cabinets to skip, and set anything you are keeping out of the packing on the kitchen counter with a note. Everything else left in a cabinet or drawer gets wrapped and boxed, which is the whole point of a full pack.

Boxes You Pack Versus Boxes We Pack

One way to split the job is to box books, linens and clothes yourself and hand the kitchen, art and electronics to the crew. That spends less on packing labor. The trade-off is on claims. The FMCSA's liability and protection guidance notes that when you pack your own boxes, it can be more difficult to establish a claim against the mover for damage inside them, and that improper packing of containers you pack yourself is one of the things that limits a mover's liability.

The practical rule is to keep anything you would file a claim over inside a crew-packed carton: dish packs with cell dividers, double-boxed stemware, mirror cartons and paper-wrapped ceramics. Ask that crew-packed cartons be noted on the paperwork so there is no question later about who wrapped them. Your own boxes of paperbacks and towels carry almost no claim risk and are fine to pack yourself. If you are doing your share, finish it the day before so the crew can start on the fragile rooms when they arrive at 8am instead of waiting on you.