Do Removal Companies Supply Boxes?

The quickest way to lose a Saturday before a move is to drive around looking for boxes. Most people start at the supermarket, end up with a car full of banana crates, and still run out halfway through the kitchen. So, do removal companies supply boxes? Yes. Most professional removal companies, including Foundations, supply strong double-walled boxes, wardrobe boxes, picture and TV cartons, packing paper, bubble wrap and tape. You can buy the materials on their own and pack at your own pace, or book a packing service and the crew brings everything they need. Which option suits you comes down to time, budget and what is at stake if something breaks.

What boxes and materials do removal companies supply?

A good removal company supplies more than plain cardboard. The standard kit is double-walled boxes in two or three sizes: small book boxes for heavy items such as books, tins and crockery, and larger boxes for light, bulky things such as bedding, lampshades and toys. Alongside those come wardrobe boxes with a hanging rail, so clothes travel on their hangers, flat picture and mirror cartons, and TV boxes with foam corners.

Then there are the consumables people forget: packing paper for wrapping, bubble wrap for the fragile pieces, strong tape, and marker pens for labelling. Our materials-only option covers all of this, and the same double-walled boxes are used whether you pack or we do. Buying the right box for the job matters more than it sounds. A double-walled box holds its shape when stacked three high in a van; a thin supermarket box often does not.

Are removal company boxes free?

Usually not on their own, and it is worth knowing why. Cardboard is priced per box. According to the crate hire company Teacrate, standard-sized cardboard boxes range from £1 to £3 per box, while specialist boxes for wardrobes or fragile goods can cost upwards of £10 each. The trades quote site MyJobQuote puts a whole-house set of packing materials at £100 to £300. Removal companies pass those costs through, either as a materials charge or inside the price of a packing service.

The materials are included when the crew packs for you, because they bring what they need on the day. At the other end, we can unpack and take the empty boxes away, so you are not left with a wall of flattened cardboard. If you want boxes for nothing, they do exist. The moving guide Konnect You suggests asking large supermarkets, and checking community sites such as Freecycle and Gumtree, where people give away boxes after their own move. Check each one is clean and sturdy, and ask permission before taking boxes from outside a shop.

How many boxes do you need for a move?

More than you think, and the kitchen is the reason. A typical kitchen fills more book boxes than any other room, because everything in it is heavy, breakable, or both. Books, records, tools and the contents of a garage add up fast too. As a size reference, Konnect You notes that many medium-sized moving boxes are around 3 cubic feet each, so the count climbs quickly in a family home.

Rather than guess, work it out. Our moving boxes calculator gives you an estimated box count from the number of bedrooms and how much you own, along with the bubble wrap and packing paper to go with it. Order about ten per cent more than the number it gives you: running out of boxes on the last evening is one of the most common packing problems we see, and spare boxes are easy to give away afterwards.

Should you buy the boxes or let the crew pack?

This is really a question about time and cover. The Konnect You data puts the average cost of a packing service at £373, and lists average packing costs of £325 for a one-bedroom home, £500 for two bedrooms and £750 for three. The same data shows moves with packing averaged £1,453 compared with £1,080 without. That is the price of getting your evenings back in the fortnight before a move.

The part most people miss is insurance. Goods packed and wrapped by our crew are covered under our insurance while they are in our care. The contents of boxes you pack yourself are not, because nobody can verify how they were packed. So if you own a lot of glassware, art or electronics, a fragile-only pack is a sensible middle path: you buy the boxes and pack the sturdy things, and the crew packs and covers the pieces that would hurt to lose.

How do you get the most out of the boxes you are given?

Heavy items go in small boxes and light items in large ones, always. Tape the bottom of each box in an H shape, one strip along the seam and one across each end, and fill every box to the top so it does not crush when stacked. Wrap plates on their edge, not flat, and put a layer of scrunched paper at the bottom and top of any box with breakables.

Label two sides of every box with the room and a short list of what is inside, so it can be read on a stack. Keep one open-first box for kettle, mugs, chargers, medication and documents, and carry it in your car. And leave out what a crew will not take: MyJobQuote notes that prohibited belongings may include hazardous materials such as waste, fuel, gas canisters and fireworks, along with perishable food and pets.

How do you order boxes with your move?

Tell us at the survey. Say whether you want materials only, a fragile-only pack, or a full pack with unpacking, and it is priced into the same fixed all-in quote as the removal. There is one team and one price, rather than a removal firm and a box shop that do not talk to each other. For the best choice of dates, book two to four weeks ahead, and at least a week before a London move; short-notice moves are often possible subject to crew availability.

Once the boxes arrive, start with the rooms you use least: the loft, the spare room, the bookcase, out-of-season clothes. Leave the kitchen and the bathroom until the last two days. By moving day you should have a labelled house, a clear hallway and an open-first box on the back seat, which is exactly the kind of move that finishes early.