NEWTOWN, Conn., September 30, 2026 — The moving truck is rarely where a relocation goes wrong. Problems tend to start earlier, in the days spent wrapping fragile items, disassembling furniture, and deciding what gets crated versus boxed. For households with more square footage, more furniture, and more sentimental or high-value belongings than the average move, that packing stage carries the most risk.

Murphy Moving & Storage, a family-owned mover serving New York and Connecticut since 1914, is placing renewed emphasis on its full-service and partial packing options as more clients relocate larger, more complicated households across the region.

Bigger Homes Are Changing What a "Standard" Move Looks Like

Household size has been trending upward for years, and packing volume follows that same curve. NAHB's latest new single-family home size data puts the median new single-family home at 2,183 square feet as of the fourth quarter of 2025, with average square footage reaching 2,447 square feet, a small increase from earlier in the year. More square footage generally means more furniture, more storage accumulated over the years, and more items that require individual handling decisions before a truck ever gets loaded.

For a mover, that shift changes the packing conversation. A one-bedroom apartment might need a few hours and a stack of standard boxes. A four- or five-bedroom home with a finished basement, a home office, or decades of stored belongings needs a plan: what gets packed by the crew, what the homeowner handles themselves, what needs crating, and what should be reconsidered altogether before moving day.

Packing Is Also Where Damage Claims Begin

Packing quality is directly tied to how a shipment holds up in transit. Federal guidance on household goods moving protections outlines the liability options interstate movers are required to offer, including Full Value Protection and Released Value, along with the claims process available if belongings are lost or damaged. Those protections matter more once a household reaches a certain size and complexity, since a poorly packed antique, an improperly crated mirror, or a mislabeled box of electronics is far more likely to become a claim than a well-prepared one.

Full-Service and Partial Packing, Built Around the Household

Murphy Moving & Storage assigns a dedicated Move Coordinator and Estimator to plan packing needs during an in-home or virtual survey, well before moving day arrives.

From there, clients choose the level of support that fits their move:

Full-service packing, where Murphy's crew packs an entire home, including collectibles, dishes, electronics, mirrors, and mattresses
Partial packing, where clients handle some rooms themselves while Murphy's team takes on the rest
Crating for large or delicate items, including large mirrors, artwork, glass tabletops, antiques, treadmills, gym equipment, washers, dryers, and refrigerators
Electronics packing and reinstallation, covering wall-mounted televisions and home entertainment systems that need to be carefully disassembled and reassembled
Unpacking support, so belongings are placed on flat surfaces in their new home rather than left boxed for weeks

Why Crating Matters for Larger, More Complicated Moves

Crating is not standard practice for a small apartment move, but it becomes essential once a household includes fine art, antiques, oversized mirrors, or large appliances. Murphy's estimators walk through these items individually to determine handling requirements before the move, rather than making that call the morning the truck arrives. That distinction, planning ahead of time instead of reacting on moving day, is what tends to separate a smooth large-scale move from one that ends in a damage claim.

Positioned for a Market That Keeps Getting Bigger

With homes trending larger and household inventories growing along with them, the packing stage of a move is carrying more weight than it used to. Murphy Moving & Storage, backed by more than a century of experience across New York and Connecticut, maintains that a move built around planning, coordination, and the right packing method for each item remains the clearest way to avoid the damage, delays, and stress that come with an under-planned relocation.

Additional information about Murphy Moving & Storage's packing and crating services is available at murphymovers.com/our-services/packing-crating