Apartment moves have constraints houses don't: a reserved elevator window, a loading zone with a time limit, and nowhere to store cardboard before or after. Reusable bins solve most of that.
Book the building before anything else
- Reserve the freight elevator and confirm the exact window in writing.
- Ask about certificate of insurance requirements — many buildings require one from movers.
- Confirm where a truck can legally park and for how long.
- Ask whether the loading dock has after-hours access.
How many bins for an apartment
A studio typically needs 12–18 bins and a one-bedroom 18–25. Our 20 bin package covers most one-bedroom apartments; two-bedroom units usually want the 40 bin package.
Add the tote dolly. In an elevator building it's the difference between four trips and twelve.
Pack in elevator loads
Instead of packing by room and hoping, pack in groups of four bins that will ride the dolly together. Stage each group by the door in the order it'll go down. When your elevator window opens, you're moving containers, not making decisions.
Protect what the building cares about
- Plastic bins won't scrape walls the way a corner of a loaded box will.
- Use the building's wall padding in the elevator if it's offered.
- Keep the hallway clear — stage inside the unit, not outside it.
- Sweep the path before you start; grit under a dolly wheel marks lobby floors.
No cardboard to deal with afterward
The best part of a no-cardboard apartment move is the end of it. There's no flattened stack in a small unit waiting for a recycling run — you empty the bins and we take them away.