moving prints - advice needed!

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illyanadmc
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moving prints - advice needed!

Post by illyanadmc »

hey, guys! adam and i are moving from RI to the SF bay area this summer, and i'm looking for some advice on how to safely move our print collection. since we've sold most of it, it is (thankfully) nowhere near the volume it was a few years ago, but we've still got a few dozen prints in our collection.

so, the deal is that the company adam will be working at is relocating us, which includes having a moving company pack up all of our stuff, ship it across the country, and store it for up to 45 days while we search for an apartment. and we're both flying out there, so we don't have the easy option of just transporting the prints ourselves in a car, for example.

right now, most of our prints are stored flat, save for some large-format and misc. prints - but i'm not really worried about those, so let's focus on the ones which are stored flat. they're stored in plastic sleeves (not sure exactly which ones, but i got them at bagsunlimited - kind of like these: http://bagsunlimited.com/c-575-toploaders.aspx), and then stacked inside archival boxes (these: http://www.bagsunlimited.com/c-698-tan.aspx). i'm not necessarily worried about damage on a horizontal scale, since the sleeves keep the edges and corners protected. i'm mostly worried about stuff being stacked on top of them, since they will be in the hands of the movers for at least a few weeks, depending on how long they're in storage.

any thoughts or ideas on how i should handle the situation? i haven't spoken with the moving company yet (our stuff isn't being moved until the end of july), but i am definitely going to address the prints when i do. obviously, i have the option of rolling them up in tubes, but i really don't want to do that - not only because it's a lot of work, but also because they've been stored flat for years and i hate to roll them up unless absolutely necessary.

also, please don't use this as an opportunity to tell your horror stories about how movers broke all of your stuff, etc. that's not helpful and it's not going to make me feel better about the situation. only constructive stories and tips, please!
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vvk
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by vvk »

congrats on the move, its really nice out here! sounds like you will be here right in time for outside lands festival.
if you have not already thought about it,
I would suggest buying a flat file ( every now again you can find then for cheap on craigst list or something. I bought mine for 150.00) and keeping them flat maybe even sandwiching bewtween biiger sheet of cardboard before putting them in the file.
another option is building a small wooden crate made out of 2x4 and plywood.

since they will pay for the transportation.. a flat file or a wooden crate is the best option in my opinion.

P.s if you buy a flat file and want to sell it after your settled in due to space or what ever..I would be interested in buying it. Im about 30 mins south of san francisco

p.s.s if possible take pics of the prints inside the box / file as well as while you put them in, just in case you need it for insurance.
Last edited by vvk on Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jjttdw
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by jjttdw »

I like the wooden crate idea. Consolidate as much as you can then put them in either a wooden crate or a reinforced box. If necessary, put that box in another box. Definitely make sure to tell the moving company how much the prints are worth. Once they realize they will have to pay a large claim if they damage anything they will make sure it is safe. I had a friend who was being moved and he had a piece of art that the movers were going to just wrap in a blanket. Once they were told it was worth $8K they crated it.

Congrats on the move.
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by unioneighteen »

I just moved from ATL to LA under the same kind of circumstances. The moving company will most likely offer to crate your artwork, which is probably the best option.. Although it adds to the cost of the move (which may or may not matter to you depending on how his company has set it up).

I opted to pack my Itoyas together in a large box.. Double boxed with thick packing material inbetween.. And had no problems. Just make sure you let them know it's high value artwork and they will take care of it.

Good luck!
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summoner
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by summoner »

What you can do is take all your storage boxes and pad the inside with bubble wrap to keep the prints from sliding around inside of the box, then ask the packers to wrap the archival boxes in a VERY thick wrapping of bubble wrap, and then have them make a box that will fit them all together. Any good moving company will have sheets of cardboard to make custom boxes for furniture and things like that. You can also be there to have them place it somewhere in the container (I am assuming it will be a type of container at least) that you know will be safe.

Hell, write all over the box FRAGILE, LAY FLAT, DO NOT STORE ON END and things like that. If you have the sleeves secured with enough bubble wrap inside the archival boxes, they should not move very much if any at all.

Also, Adam may ask what the insurance value will be on the contents that are being moved, and let them know about your collection and concerns. If the amount they offer on insurance is not enough, you may have to add a little out of pocket to get it where you want.

Prints make it cost to cost just fine in crappy cardboard tubes all the time. :)
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illyanadmc
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by illyanadmc »

thanks to everyone for the great suggestions! i definitely need to talk with the moving company first, to make sure whatever i do will be covered by their insurance (since i know that some companies will only covers items they've packed), but i'm leaning toward going with summoner's suggestion.

i've been meaning to go through all of the prints again and make a detailed inventory - i guess now's the time!
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conartstudio
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by conartstudio »

i think the safest way would be to ship each print individually in those think white tubes through UPS.

:mrgreen:
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displaced bear
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by displaced bear »

you could ship it to us all over the US and we will gladly take care of the prints for you
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summoner
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by summoner »

I was thinking about this some more, and you could always take a stack of print (in the sleeves) and wrap them securely in Kraft paper... Kind of like the pictures of a stack of prints from obey, and then bubble wrap and all that garbage. This would keep them all together nice and cozy for the trip.
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illyanadmc
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by illyanadmc »

just wanted to follow up on this thread, in case someone else finds him/herself in a similar situation. i basically took summoner's advice and wrapped the stack of prints (in the sleeves) in kraft paper so they'd stay together, then secured the stack on all sides with bubble wrap. when the movers came to pack/load our stuff, i talked their ears off about the prints inside the boxes (two archival boxes) - they ended up packing both boxes inside a box they rigged up and marking it "top load" and all that stuff.

even so, the guys who packed/loaded our stuff were not the same as those who then moved it from the moving truck into storage, and then, six weeks later, those who delivered it to our new apartment. so, although the original guys took extra care with that box, i have no idea how it was handled by the other guys - it arrived with no damage to the outside box, but considering the way they were handling the rest of our stuff, my guess is that the box had been inverted at some point during its journey.

the good news is that the two archival boxes were safe and sound, and the plastic sleeves + kraft paper + bubble wrap combo worked super well! who knows - maybe that box just got lucky and was never inverted. at any rate, our prints made it through the move, yay! here are a few photos of the internal packing job, taken after i unpacked the boxes.

in this one, it looks like the bubble wrap only covered the kraft paper package, but the sides of the wrap extended down and were tucked between the sides of the prints and the sides of the box:

Image

the other box - i think the wrap slid around a bit in this one, since i used multiple pieces instead of one large piece. the dark thing is a folder resting on top of the kraft paper package.

Image

thanks again for everyone's advice! moving sucks.
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taxman
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by taxman »

I had a similar location to the bay area for work. Everything for the most part should be fine but if you can, I would take them with you in hand. When I was moved I had about $500 in furniture damage...
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summoner
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by summoner »

Congrats on them making it safe and sound!! Personally I would have been freaking out until I knew they made it... :lol:
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illyanadmc
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by illyanadmc »

usually i get super stressed-out about stuff like this, but somehow i was not. probably helped that there was a lot of other move-related stuff going on (finding an apartment, getting a job, buying a car) to keep me distracted.
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Re: moving prints - advice needed!

Post by pada-1- »

Recently moved... some big distance, but from one side to HK island to the other.
HK service is kind of crepe and nobody cares about your stuff... insured everything, but still i know that valuable and fragile items would be damaged.

I sandwiched my precious between cardboards, prepare heavy flat files and put in a giant plastic tubes my most valuable prints.
The trick: to ask your best friend to help you carrying the stuff and take a cab to move and secure them by yourself.

Thinking about distance, if I had to move to a different country (most likely to happen as I'm just in HK for business), i will go through heavy and strong pieces of plastic to sandwich them flat. Wrap the whole package with bubble wrapping and 5 roll of tape and put everything for shipping in a air-conditioned container (with the rest of furniture).

Loving printed Art is a wallet-killer...
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