We move people in Helsinki all year round with our own trucks and our own crew, and honestly, winter moves are often the smoothest. The streets are quieter, it is easier to get the date you want, and your belongings fare better in a cool cargo space than in July heat. Winter does ask for a few things you never have to think about in summer. Below are 12 tips from more than 2,900 moves, in order: from what freezes to arriving at a new home that is already warm.
What freezes in a moving truck and how to protect it
In winter the cargo space is as cold as the air outside. A two-hour trip at –15 °C does no harm to a sofa or a bookshelf, but a few kinds of things suffer if they are left in the truck.
01Liquids travel in the warm
Detergents, paint, soft drinks, wine, aquarium water, cosmetics and medicines: anything with water in it expands as it freezes and splits the bottle or jar. Pack all liquids in one box that rides in your own car or in the heated cab. And be honest about opened bottles. Is a half-used bottle of dish soap really worth moving?
02Plants are wrapped and go last
A houseplant survives frost for minutes, not hours. Wrap the pots in newspaper or a moving blanket, slip them into a plastic bag and carry them in a warm car. They leave the old home last and go into the new one first. Decide about large plants in advance: are they moving, or is a neighbour getting a new roommate?
03Let electronics warm up slowly
Cold does not break a TV or a computer, but rapid warming can. Moisture condenses on and inside a cold device the same way your glasses fog up when you step indoors. Let devices sit at room temperature for 2–3 hours before switching them on. Battery-powered gear (laptop, robot vacuum, e-bike) is best carried in the warm, because batteries don't like frost.
Slush, snow and floors
04Floor protection in both homes
In winter everyone who carries brings in grit and melting snow, and grit is the worst thing that can happen to a parquet floor. We lay floor protection in the hallway and along the carrying routes on every move, summer or winter. If you carry part of the load yourself, spread cardboard or old rugs from the door into the rooms and tape the edges down, because loose cardboard under a wet boot is slippery.
05Shovel and sand at both ends
The route between the tailgate and the front door is the most important ten metres of the day. Clear and sand it the evening before or on the morning of the move, at both the old and the new address. The housing company's maintenance service looks after the yard, but not necessarily before seven in the morning, and in a detached house it is your job. A bag of grit costs very little and can save someone a fall.
Tell the maintenance company your moving date a couple of days ahead. Most caretakers are happy to plough and sand the route when they know the time, and they will usually promise not to push the snow pile onto the very spot where the truck is going to stop.
06Keep the stairwell safe
The front door stays open a lot during a move, and snow gets tracked onto the stairs, where it melts into a slippery film. Keep a mat or cardboard right inside the door and wipe the stairs once around midday. Don't leave boxes in the stairwell: it is the carrying route and usually the fire escape as well. If the building has a lift, book it for the moving day through the property manager.
Timing, parking and daylight
07Start early: the day is short
In December the sun rises in Helsinki after nine and sets around three, which leaves fewer than six hours of daylight. Agree an 8 a.m. start so the heaviest carrying and unloading happen while it is light. Pack a head torch and a strong flashlight in your winter moving kit, because the yard light does not always reach the back of the truck.
08Parking shrinks with the snow
Ploughed snowbanks take a metre or two off the kerb, and on snow-clearing days whole streets are emptied with temporary no-parking signs. Check the signs on your street the evening before and move your own car away from the loading spot in good time. On the narrow streets of the inner city, the surest way to get the truck to the door is a temporary parking ban ordered from the city. We can arrange it for you if you mention it in your request.
Packing and dressing
09Cardboard cannot take slush
A damp cardboard box gives way at the bottom, usually right on the stairs. Never set boxes down in snow or on wet asphalt; pass them hand to hand or put them straight into the truck. Tape the bottoms crosswise and pack the heaviest items in rental plastic crates, which snow cannot soften. Books, dishes and clothes are worth an extra plastic bag inside the box.
10Moving blankets and film keep the snow off
We protect furniture with soft moving blankets on every move, and in winter they also keep off snow and slush spray. Light-coloured sofas, mattresses and upholstered chairs are worth wrapping in stretch film as well, so melting snow cannot soak into the fabric. If a mattress or textiles do get damp, dry them straight away in the new home.
11Dress as if you were outdoors, even indoors
The doors are open for hours, and the flat soon drops to ten degrees. The family needs layers, thin gloves that still grip, dry spare socks and shoes with a proper sole. Children and pets have a better moving day at the grandparents' or a neighbour's than in a cold hallway. Our crew turns up in layers and grippy winter boots, so you don't have to think about us.
Kettle and mugs, head torch, extension cord, dry wool socks, a couple of towels for slush, a snow shovel and a doormat. It rides in your own car and is opened first.
Get the new home ready before the load arrives
12Heat the new home a day ahead
A load carried into a cold flat brings moisture that condenses on windows and walls. Turn on the radiators or underfloor heating the day before. At 18–20 °C things dry out, and nobody has to unpack in a coat. If your electricity contract would only start on moving day, ask for it to begin a day earlier.
Empty and defrost the freezer at least a day before the move, dry it and tape the doors shut. After transport, let the appliance stand upright at room temperature for 2–4 hours before plugging it in, so the compressor oil settles. Frozen food travels in a cool box. In frost it stays frozen without any tricks, which is one real advantage of a winter move.
Why winter is a calm time to move
By winter the summer and autumn rush is over, so you are more likely to get exactly the day you want. That includes Saturdays, and we never charge a weekend surcharge. The price is the same as at any other time of year: from 90 €/h, covering the truck, the movers, fuel and insurance. Because the fleet and the crew are our own, the winter kit (floor protection, moving blankets and grit for the tailgate) is already in the truck, and we never depend on a subcontractor to remember it. We reply to requests within an hour on working days.
In the end a winter move is the same move as in summer, plus three extra boxes: one for liquids, one for plants and one for the first evening. Once the route is sanded and the new home is warm, the frost hardly matters, and falling snow even makes for nicer moving-day photos.
Moving this winter?
Tell us the date, the addresses and what the street is like, and we will reply within an hour on working days. Floor protection and moving blankets are always included.