A few years ago my grandfather died and I inherited a massive grandfather clock which had a lot of history. It was made in Germany during the nineteenth century and was moved on a long journey all the way to the United States. I stood in front of this amazing clock and my heart filled with memories of how badly I wanted to touch it when I was a child. Now I happily own it and I can do anything with it.
First, I needed to find a way to pack and move a grandfather clock to my apartment. I'm a pretty strong guy and my brother George is strong enough.
No big deal!
George said "ok, just take it from the bottom and I'll take it from the top and then we'll be..." moving a grandfather clock laying down"
So we tried to move it.
"Mmm" I groaned
"H-h-ha" my brother George exhaled
"Bam!!!" went the grandfather clock.
We panicked for a moment, but the clock was all right.
The clock ticked rhythmically.
"Ok," said George"We need to find a strap to prepare a grandfather clock for moving".
We spent the next couple of hours trying to find some rope in the mess of my grandfather's house. Finally, we found a dusty old rope and we carefully tied it to the grandfather clock.
Everything was going well, until we reached the stairway. By this point, we were starting to look like a couple of sweaty dockworkers.
Very carefully, we took step after step after step.
The grandfather clock started to slowly slip from the rope and fell onto the staircase.
"Ba-dam!!!" went the antique floor clock.
"Clink!" went the nineteenth century glass.
Amazingly, the clock still ticked rhythmically.
We spent all day cleaning the stairway and moving the damned antique clock We spent all day cleaning the stairway and moving the damned...We were cursing to ourselves for not calling professional moving services.
Eventually we got stuck trying to load the clock into my Ford Mustang. In the end, my wife came to the house and within five minutes she found a licensed transportation company from qqmoving.com. They arrived quickly and very carefully moved my heirloom to my apartment. They worked fast and were not too expensive.
So what is the moral of this story?
- Never ever try to move your valuable inheritance by yourself.
- Always call professional packing services to prepare your belongings to be moved.
- Never ever listen to my brother's advice.
Here Are Some Tips On Moving A Grandfather Clock Safely By Yourself.
Never do it However, in case you are faced with moving antique floor clocks by yourself, check this advice.
- Never just lift it up and move it. You must prepare a grandfather clock for moving.
- You must disassemble the clock first. You must remove the clock weights and pendulum first before packing and moving, otherwise, you might damage the clock even if you are moving only a short distance. Keep in mind, a grandfather clock is very old and has a lot of historical value to it so it should be treated with respect.
- Wash your hands! I mean it! Never touch the mechanics of the clock with your bare hands. Use a soft cloth or cotton gloves. The delicate pieces of the clock are very sensitive to sebum which is always on your hands.
- Go to the internet and hire the best moving companies in the US. Didn't I mention this before? Oh right, I forgot, but you can't!
How To Disassemble A Grandfather Clock For Moving Fast And Careful?
Take a hammer and hit it several times. Oh, you can't? Ok, we'll do this the long way.
Stop And Remove Pendulum.
Most antique floor clocks pendulums should unhook easily. Just stop the pendulum from swinging and while holding it from the middle, lift slowly to remove it from the suspension spring. Do not use force. You are not a Jedi. Take either paper, bubble wrap or foam sheets to cover the pendulum guide and the pendulum itself.
Take The Weights Off
Pull the chains up until the weights are in the middle and tie the chains by wire or just twist the ties. Make sure it's tight to prevent them from coming out of their sprockets during shipment. Unhook the weights and mark each of them. If one of the weights is from the right side, mark it "right," if it was from the left side, mark it "left." If it was in the central position, mark it "center." Do not mix them up! This is extremely important because the weights are not equal to one another and they were chosen for their positions specifically. Pack them safely by using a soft cloth to protect the surface of the weights. Put them in a box and shake the box. Do you hear anything? If not, you did it correctly.
Cables Or Chains Have To Be In Safety.
The most horrible thing you could obtain is the grandmother’s tangle of grandfathers clock chains or cables. This is not a joke. It would be a total disaster. To avoid this, you must bunch the chains from top to bottom and wrap them carefully. Use twist ties and rubber bands and do everything you can to prevent them from intertwining. Put them in a box and sigh with relief. Don't forget to secure the hammers for the chime and striking mechanism. Put some cardboard or bubble wrap between the hammers and the bells and secure it with packing tape. By this point, do you really think it would be a good idea to move antique furniture by yourself?
The Movement Is A Very Fragile Part Of Antique Floor Clock. Let's Take Care Of It
Check it very carefully. If it is not secured tightly just put them out and pack separately. In this case, it is simply set on two sideboards inside the case and removing will not be so hard. Don't use the force, you are not Jedi! The best way is to pack the dial and movement in a box with a lot of packing material to prevent the damage of dial and clock hands. Sometimes you can find tubular movement in you clock. Don't be afraid, just remove the tubes.
Don't Forget To Remove All Removable Decorations And Glass Panels
It will be a big mistake to hope that something that can fall off will not fall off, and that which can break, will not break. That's why you should carefully check all the parts that you can remove and remove them. Pack it with tons of bubble wrap or foam and put in a box carefully. If the decorative parts are not removable make sure that they are packed with extra padding around them to prevent any possible damage. Use any soft materials for additional support. Some of these soft materials can be a soft blanket, crumpled paper, or packing peanuts, anything, which can protect from a strong hit or strong shake.
Close Access Panels And Secure Them
Any kind of door, panels must be closed and secured. Don't forget to block them and use packing tape to fix them.
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Packing For Moving Your Grandfathers Clock.
This procedure is quite simple. Just look at this checklist to recall all steps and start packing.
- Cover the front of glass by a piece of corrugated cardboard.
- Use bubble wrap for optimal protection.
- Use packing blanket to cover your clock and fix it by packing tape.
- For most valuable grandfather clock use a custom created crate and fill it by packing peanuts to avoid shifting or shaking due transportation.
- Make sure that all of the detached elements are packed carefully and separately in a most appropriate way.
- Use labels "This side up", "Handle with care", "Fragile", "Get out, George!" to be sure, that you did all the best to prevent catastrophe. Actually, when you are moving furniture by yourself, any kind of it, you have to get in mind, that if a catastrophe can occur, it will happen for sure. You can avoid all this troubles by hiring professionals .
All of these troubles you can avoid by hiring the grandfather clock moving companies with a license. Usually, these guys are qualified enough to move any kind of valuable furniture. They have packing materials, great experience, and appropriate transport to make your relocation pleasant and easy.
There are things that are not worth saving. And the moving of the valuable grandfather clock is one of them.