What You Will Require
Preparing for Icey Sidewalks
A vital item to remember is that icy sidewalks, driveways, and streets are unstable enough under normal conditions but become a lot more of an issue when you're moving bulky boxes or furniture and cannot watch your step as carefully. If it's icy where you dwell, shovel the walkways as comprehensively as possible and salt the entire walk between your front door and the portal of the moving truck. When you are done, put up your shovels and bag of salt in the trunk of your own transportation or make sure they are packed last in the moving truck. This will ensure that you can clear driveways and walkways at your destination as well.
Protecting Your Flooring
The second ice and snow related problem is actually inside of your home. When people are tromping through ice and snow to get into your residence, that slush will stick on their footwear and can be tracked all over your nice floors or, even worse, soak yucky slush into the carpets. To protect both the home you are leaving and the one you are moving into, use tarps and plastic sheeting to keep ice-covered shoes off your flooring.
Planning for Icy Roads in Austin
The next thing to think about is the fact that the streets you will be traveling on are most likely to also be blanketed in ice and maybe even people still traveling from the holidays. You should plan for heavy traffic, accidents, backups, and all manner of delays. This means that if you have a drop dead date for your move, you will need to leave early to ensure that you have a few extra days to both make the transit to your new home and get all of your possessions unloaded in the ice.
For efficiency and safety's sake, you may also want to find a couple alternate routes or have an app ready to help you plan detours if there is a bad traffic or weather problem on your primary planned route.
Landing Somewhere Warm
After a grueling drive in the moving truck or your own car in a caravan with your moving trucks, you're going to want to thaw yourself in your new house pretty promptly. This means that any delays getting the house open and the heater own can be problematic, especially if the utilities are not ready yet. Make sure to have water, electricity, and gas, if applicable, turned on at the new place. Attempt to arrive ahead of the moving trucks or ask a local contact to access the house and get it warming up prior to the convoy shows up and begins unpacking.
Take Care of Yourself and Your Movers
Moving in the frigid weather is hard work with a combined risk of freezing, overheating, and getting dangerously dehydrated as your body loses moisture in the cold. After you get the heater fired up, you should make a big pot of hot tea or cocoa along with a pitcher of room-temperature (not freezing cold) water. Keep yourself hydrated and warm with cups of tea and pass cups or a thermos around for the movers and any friends who are there helping. This way, everyone remains energetic and unlikely to get too exhausted or catch a cold during the relocation.
Moving in the winter is difficult business, but something you can definitely execute with a little forward thinking and consideration for everyone involved. By making sure all walkways have plenty of traction, the destination home is ready to be hospitable, and everyone drinks warm tea, you will be able to get all your stuff without issue from one icy house to another.
