Moving Day Preparation: A Lubbock Checklist That Actually Works

Moving day has a way of humbling even the best planners. The night before feels calm; then the morning arrives and suddenly you’re wondering where the tape went, whether the couch will fit through the front door, and why nobody charged their phone. The truth is that moving day doesn’t have to be chaotic — it just needs a little structure before the truck rolls up.

At Tough Guys Moving, we’ve been helping families and businesses move since 2014. This is the checklist our customers say makes the biggest difference. Print it, tape it to the fridge, and check things off as you go.

The Week Before Moving Day

This is the planning window, and it’s where stress-free moves are made.

• Confirm your booking. Touch base with your moving crew about arrival time, parking, and anything unusual about your home — narrow stairs, a second-floor apartment, a piano that needs special handling.
• Lock in your estimate. If you haven’t already, request a free moving estimate so you know exactly how your move is priced before the big day. Tough Guys Moving keeps pricing transparent with no hidden fees.
• Gather your supplies. If you’re packing yourself, you’ll need more boxes, tape, and padding than you think — probably more than you think by half again. Running out mid-pack is one of the top causes of moving-day chaos.
• Measure the big stuff. Measure doorways, hallways, and stairwells at both places, and measure your largest furniture. Ten minutes with a tape measure beats an hour of maneuvering a sectional that won’t clear a landing.
• Handle the paperwork side. Transfer or set up utilities at the new place, update your address, and keep important documents — lease, IDs, moving paperwork — in one folder you carry yourself.

The Day Before

The goal for today: wake up tomorrow with nothing left but coffee and the doorbell.

• Finish packing. Every box should be taped, labeled with its room, and stacked where movers can reach them easily. Unpacked odds and ends are what slow crews down.
• Pack a “first night” bag. Toiletries, medications, chargers, a change of clothes, snacks, and bedding for the first night. Mark it clearly and keep it out of the moving pile.
• Defrost and empty. Empty the fridge and freezer, defrost if needed, and disconnect appliances like washers and dryers the movers will transport.
• Clear the path. Make sure driveways, walkways, and parking spots are clear for the truck. If you live in an apartment complex, reserve the elevator and the loading area if your building allows it — and double-check the complex’s rules about move-in times.
• Charge everything. Phones, portable speakers, anything you’ll need tomorrow. You’d be surprised how much of moving day runs through your phone.

Moving Morning: The Final Hour Checklist

This is game time. Run through these before the crew arrives:

1. Be present and reachable. Someone should be on site the whole time — to answer questions, point out fragile items, and approve where furniture goes.
2. Do a box sweep. Open every closet, cabinet, and drawer one more time. The items left behind are always the important ones.
3. Keep kids and pets elsewhere. Arrange for them to be with a friend, sitter, or family member. Moving day involves heavy furniture, open doors, and a lot of coming and going — it’s safer and calmer for everyone.
4. Walk the crew through. When the movers arrive, give a quick tour: what’s going, what’s staying, and which boxes are fragile. It takes five minutes and saves an hour.
5. Protect the floors. If it’s a rainy West Texas morning, lay down old towels or cardboard at the entrances. Mud tracks through a new home are an avoidable bad start.

What a Good Moving Crew Brings to the Table

Here’s something people forget: on moving day, you’re not the whole team. A professional crew changes the math completely.

Tough Guys Moving’s local moving services start at $135 per hour for two professional movers and one fully equipped moving truck — with professional loading and unloading, furniture protection, and basic furniture placement included. No hidden fees, no surprise charges. For qualifying local moves, we also bring free reusable moving totes so you can skip buying and assembling boxes altogether — learn how the free moving boxes work. And if you’d rather not pack at all, we offer full and partial packing services.

Whether you’re moving a small apartment, a family home, or an entire office anywhere in Lubbock, Wolfforth, Levelland, Plainview, Amarillo, or the surrounding West Texas communities, the formula is the same: a little preparation plus an experienced crew equals a moving day that ends with dinner in your new home instead of a headache.

One Last Walkthrough

Before the truck pulls away from your old place, do one final walkthrough — every room, every closet, the garage, the attic, the backyard. Check the dishwasher, the medicine cabinet, behind doors. Then lock up and head to your new place, where a fresh checklist (unload, plug in the fridge, find the coffee maker) is waiting.

Moving day will always be a big day. But big and chaotic aren’t the same thing. Prepare a little, lean on your movers, and enjoy the first evening in your new place — you’ve earned it.

Call or text (806) 787-7533 for a straightforward quote, or learn more at toughguysmoving.com.

— The Tough Guys Moving Team