Moving in the rain wasn’t ideal for Dawn Hedges when she relocated in September to North Dakota. Anyone who has moved in wet weather will probably say the same. But she made the most out of the grey day and got through her move successfully with help from her family.

“We had to go that day, and we had a small window where we had to get the biggest, heaviest things out,”; she said. “Thankfully, we did not lose anything and nothing got ruined. The biggest loss was a coat rack, and that was just from loading it up wrong, and it might not have even been the rain.”;

Her biggest tip after surviving the haul was: Don’t move in the rain! But as she knows well, it’s sometimes unavoidable. Read on for tried-and-true advice from Hedges and from a professional mover in one of the most notoriously-rainy parts of the country.

Gather Boxes Indoors Before Moving in the Rain

Find a space in your home where you can gather all your boxes and furniture to shorten soggy trips to the moving truck for you or your movers.

To save time, Hedges moved all of her furniture in her living room close to the front door and backed up the moving truck as close as she could to the house.

“If someone is forced to move in the rain, preparation is going to make things a lot better,”; said Hedges.

A garage also makes a great space to prepare your stuff for a move. And if you can order the items so the stuff intended for the back of the truck is closest to the door (so it gets moved first), even better, said Natalya K. of Portland Movers Company in frequently-drenched Oregon.

“Make sure everything is dissembled, so you don’t have to do a lot of walking back and forth,”; she added. “Have a pop-up canopy outside, near the truck. So if something doesn’t fit right in the truck, you can move it out to the covered area and move it back in to fit.”;

Tape Down Tarps or Mats Before Moving

Avoid trekking dirt into your old or new home by laying down tarps or non-slip mats inside the house and outside near the entryway.

“I made sure to lay down a mat, so it wasn’t slippery, and I got all of the debris out of the way,”; said Hedges. “Because of the wind and rain, everything was flying around.”;

Don’t forget to tape down plastic tarps, so they don’t move around and become a hazard.

If you have extra cardboard boxes, lay those down flat on the floor to make a great barrier for movers to step on inside the house, Natalya said.

“Make sure you have towels in the truck and by the door in your house, so you can wipe yours hands and avoid slippage,”; she added.

Move Furniture in Stretch Wrap or Covers

Keep water off your precious wood furniture and away from cloth-covered items by wrapping your stuff in moving blankets and stretch wrap, or furniture covers.

“Wrap your items early to save time when you’re moving in the rain,”; said Natalya. “Mattress covers are also a good idea.”;

Although Hedges didn’t use stretch wrap during her most recent move, she definitely plans to be more prepared with supplies the next time she relocates.

“You can’t think of everything,”; she said. “I’m still working fulltime, still have an 8 year old and two dogs. But planning is the best thing you can do knowing the weather is going to be bad. Plan your route from here to there, and give yourself time. Hurrying and rushing is dangerous, and you can’t have that urgency that will make you careless.”;

Top photo courtesy of Portland Movers Company.