Service
Packing, crating and unpacking
Crate rental by the week, library and file packs, anti-static packing for electronics and custom-built wooden crates for anything that cannot take a knock.
Overview
How this scope works
Commercial packing is mostly crates, not cartons. Rental crates stack square on a dolly, take a label cleanly, do not collapse when wet and go back to us afterwards instead of into your dumpster. We deliver them with dollies and lids seven to ten days ahead and collect five business days after the move.
Cartons still have their place. Book cartons take heavy paper and files, dish packs take pantry and lab glassware, and wardrobe cartons handle uniforms and hanging samples. Anything fragile, expensive or irregular gets a custom crate built to its dimensions with foam-in-place or braced blocking.
What is included
- Rental crate delivery, lids, dollies and collection, charged per crate per week
- Colour-coded label sets and a printed desk pack for every employee
- File room and library packs kept in drawer and shelf order, sequenced end to end
- Anti-static bags and foam for loose electronics, cabling and drives
- Custom wooden crates built on site for artwork, models, imaging and instruments
- Unpack, flatten and remove service with all materials taken away
How we run it
- 01
Materials plan
We count seats, linear feet of filing, pantry and storage rooms, then issue a materials list so nothing is ordered twice or short on Thursday.
- 02
Deliver and brief
Crates land on your floor with dollies. Your move champions get a fifteen-minute brief and a one-page desk pack for staff.
- 03
Pack in order
Crews pack shared areas in a fixed sequence: storage, print rooms, pantry, library, then reception. Sequenced items are numbered so they rebuild in order.
- 04
Unpack and remove
At destination we place by label, unpack the shared areas, and collect crates and cartons on the agreed date so your floor is clear.
Why clients pick it
Nothing loses its order
File runs and library shelving are packed and unpacked in sequence, so a 900-linear-foot records room rebuilds exactly as it was.
Less waste to handle
Rental crates mean you are not disposing of several hundred cardboard cartons in a building with one small dumpster.
Real protection for fragile items
Custom crates are built to the item, not the nearest box size, with bracing and foam rather than crumpled paper.
Priced per unit
Crates, cartons and crating labour are line items you can see and adjust, not a lump sum.
What drives the price
| Factor | What it means |
|---|---|
| Crate count | Plan four to six crates per workstation and eight to twelve per private office. Sample rate: $4.50 per crate per week including dollies. |
| Linear feet of filing | One four-drawer lateral file is roughly 100 linear inches of paper and fills about five book cartons. |
| Rental duration | Crates are cheap for two weeks and expensive for six. Book delivery close to the pack date. |
| Custom crating | Quoted per crate by dimension. Sample range: $180 to $650 for artwork and instrument crates. |
Sample material and labour figures for planning only. Crate rental, cartons and crating labour are quoted per unit after the site survey.
Questions
Packing, crating and unpacking: common questions
Not answered here? The full FAQ has twenty-six more.
Read the full FAQFour to six per open-plan workstation and eight to twelve per private office is the working rule, plus separate counts for file rooms, pantries and storage. We count them properly at survey rather than guessing from seat numbers alone.
We can, but most clients have staff pack their own desks into the supplied crates. It is faster, cheaper and avoids the awkward conversation about what was in the top drawer.
Liquids, aerosols, cleaning chemicals, pressurised cylinders and anything perishable. Those are handled separately or disposed of before the move. Loose batteries and power banks also travel separately.
Five business days after the move by default, which gives staff a working week to unpack. Extensions are billed at the weekly rental rate.
Next step
Book the survey before you book the date
Freight elevator windows in downtown towers are commonly reserved four to six weeks out. The survey is what tells you whether your date is real.