Moving out of a high-rise apartment is a different animal from hauling boxes out of a ground-floor unit. Freight elevators have to be booked in advance, building management needs paperwork days before the truck arrives, and a single oversized couch can derail the whole timeline if nobody measured the corridor. Whether you are relocating across Lakeview or heading from Evanston to Skokie, the logistics of a high-rise move deserve their own checklist.
Start Planning Three to Four Weeks Out
Experts generally recommend beginning preparations about three to four weeks before a move within the same metro area. For a high-rise, that window matters even more because building offices process access requests on their own schedule, not yours. Write down every step — sorting belongings, reserving the elevator, arranging transport — and assign rough deadlines to each one.
If your household is large, distribute tasks among family members early. One person handles the building paperwork, another starts packing the rooms that get used the least. Teenagers are perfectly capable of boxing up their own things. The point is to avoid a last-weekend scramble where everyone packs, negotiates with the front desk, and loads the truck all at once.
Coordinate with Building Management First
This is the step that separates a high-rise move from every other kind. Most managed buildings in Chicago require advance notice — sometimes one business day, sometimes three. The front desk or management office will want to know the date, the time window, and often the name and license plate of the moving truck. In some newer residential complexes along the lakefront, you may need to provide a Certificate of Insurance from your moving company before they grant access at all.
Reserve the Freight Elevator
The freight elevator is the single most important resource in a high-rise move. It is typically booked in time slots, and during business hours those slots fill quickly. Find out the cabin dimensions and the weight limit ahead of time. Some buildings also require you to install protective padding on the walls and floor of the cabin — ask whether the building supplies it or whether you need to bring your own.
One practical detail that catches people off guard: in taller buildings, freight elevator access may only be available before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. on weekdays, because other residents need it during the day. Weekends are often easier, but that access may require a separate request and sometimes an extra fee.
Vehicle Access and Loading Zones
High-rise buildings usually have designated loading docks or pull-up zones, and you cannot just park a 26-foot truck wherever it fits. Ask management exactly where the truck should go, how long it can stay, and whether there is a height or weight restriction on vehicles entering the garage or alley. In many Chicago buildings with gated courtyards, a vehicle pass has to be arranged at least a day in advance.
- Elevator reservation. Book the freight elevator at least a week ahead; confirm the time slot, cabin size, and padding requirements.
- Vehicle pass. Submit the truck details — plate number, driver name, company — by the building's deadline.
- Certificate of Insurance. Ask whether your building requires a COI from the moving company and get it to management in advance.
- Entry route. Find out if movers must use a service entrance, a loading dock, or a specific hallway rather than the main lobby.
Having these items squared away before moving day means the crew can start working the moment they arrive, instead of sitting in the truck while someone runs upstairs to sort out a missing form.
Take a Hard Look at What You Own
A move is a natural moment to get rid of things that have been sitting untouched for a year. The less you carry, the cheaper the transport and the fewer elevator trips you need — which matters when your time slot is limited. Go through every room and honestly assess what stays and what goes. Clothes you have not worn in a year, old cables and adapters, appliances that have been gathering dust — sell them, donate them, or toss them.
Specialists often suggest a simple rule: if something has not left its drawer in twelve months, you probably do not need it at the new place. Selling usable items on local marketplace apps or in neighborhood groups can offset some moving costs.
Measure Everything That Has to Fit Through a Door
Before packing a single box, measure the width and height of every doorway, corridor, and elevator cabin in both your current building and the new one. Couches, mattresses, dressers, and refrigerators are the usual offenders. If a piece of furniture does not fit into the freight elevator assembled, you need to know that now — not when four people are holding it sideways in the hallway.
When you disassemble furniture, put all the hardware — bolts, cam locks, shelf pins — into labeled zip-lock bags and tape them to the piece they belong to. Photograph each step of disassembly so reassembly does not turn into guesswork. This advice comes up constantly from moving crews, and for good reason: lost hardware is one of the most common reasons a bookcase or bed frame never gets put back together properly.
Packing: Practical Details That Save Time
Use boxes of different sizes. Small ones are for heavy things — books, dishes, jars — because a large box full of books will rip at the bottom. Large boxes work for pillows, linens, and lightweight items. Fragile pieces get wrapped in bubble wrap or layered in crumpled packing paper. Mark every box not just by room but by contents — "kitchen / glasses / fragile" is much more useful than "kitchen" alone.
Wrap furniture in stretch film or moving blankets to prevent scratches during transport. Electronics should get a layer of soft cloth or foam before going into a box. If you still have the original packaging for a TV or monitor, use it — nothing protects a screen better.
- Essentials first. Toiletries, phone chargers, a change of clothes, basic tools, medications, and a couple of towels go into one clearly labeled box.
- Kitchen survival kit. Paper plates, a kettle or coffee maker, a few utensils, and some non-perishable snacks so you can eat without unpacking the whole kitchen.
- Bedding. One set of sheets and pillows per person, packed last and unloaded first — after a full day of moving, a made bed is worth more than a fully unpacked living room.
If the family is large, assign each person a color of marker. Everyone labels their boxes with their color, and at the other end you instantly know whose stuff goes where.
Freight Elevator vs. Stairs: What to Expect
When a freight elevator is available, it handles the heavy lifting — literally. But there are rules. Do not enter the cabin without verifying it is level with the floor; in older buildings the car can stop slightly above or below the landing. Never exceed the posted weight limit. And keep in mind that a freight elevator in a residential building is shared infrastructure — blocking it for hours beyond your reserved slot affects every neighbor who has a delivery coming that day.
| Factor | Freight Elevator Available | Stairs Only |
|---|---|---|
| Large furniture | Fits in cabin if measured in advance | Must be carried by hand; may need extra crew |
| Time per load | Minutes per trip, multiple floors at once | Significantly longer above the fifth floor |
| Crew size | Two to three movers typically enough | Often need four or more for heavy items |
| Cost impact | Standard hourly rate | Per-floor surcharge is common |
| Scheduling | Must book a time slot with the building | No reservation needed, but slower overall |
If your building has only a passenger elevator, check its capacity before assuming you can use it for boxes and small furniture. Some buildings prohibit moving activities in passenger elevators altogether. When there is no elevator at all — walk-ups above the fourth floor — plan for the job to take substantially longer and communicate that to your crew in advance.
Loading Day: Sequence and Timing
Start early. The general advice is to begin loading in the morning — you avoid rush-hour traffic on the way to the new place, and you get the elevator before the building wakes up. Load the heaviest, bulkiest items first: the refrigerator, the washer, the sofa. These go deepest into the truck and closest to the cab. Boxes and smaller items fill in around them, secured with straps or ratchet ties so nothing shifts in transit.
Documents, valuables, and anything irreplaceable stay with you — not with the crew, not in the truck. This is a universal rule, but in a high-rise where the elevator is making ten trips between the apartment and the loading dock, it is especially easy for a bag to end up on the wrong cart.
If you are moving from one apartment to another within the same neighborhood, consider running a few carloads of small items yourself in the days leading up to the big move. Books, clothes, and kitchen gadgets travel fine in the back seat. This lightens the load for moving day and shortens your elevator reservation window.
Preparing the New Apartment
Before the truck arrives at the new building, lay protective film or old blankets along the path from the entrance to each room. Even careful movers can scuff hardwood or chip tile when they are carrying a dresser through a narrow hallway. If you are renting, damage to common areas or your unit's flooring comes out of your security deposit.
Have a rough floor plan sketched out so the crew knows where each piece of furniture goes on the first try. Moving a queen bed twice because you changed your mind costs time — and in a high-rise with a ticking elevator reservation, time is the one thing you do not have extra of.
Unpacking Strategy
Do not try to unpack everything on day one. Set up the bedroom first — sheets on the bed, alarm clock plugged in — and then move to the kitchen. When you have somewhere to sleep and a way to make coffee, the rest can happen over the next few days without feeling like a crisis.
For families with children, unpack the kids' rooms early. Familiar toys and blankets help them settle into a new space faster. Pets, similarly, benefit from having their bed, bowl, and a favorite toy set up in a quiet corner right away.
Common Mistakes in High-Rise Moves
Most high-rise moving problems come down to one thing: not talking to the building early enough. Renters assume they can just show up with a truck, and then discover they need a COI that takes two business days to process, or that the freight elevator is booked solid for the weekend they chose. A single phone call or email to building management a couple of weeks out prevents the vast majority of day-of headaches.
Another frequent issue is underestimating how long the elevator adds to the process. In a forty-story building, each round trip can take five to eight minutes. Multiply that by twenty loads and you are looking at close to three hours of pure elevator time. If your local move involves two high-rises — one on each end — double that estimate.
- Hallway floors. Lay cardboard or ram board along the route from your door to the elevator to prevent scratches and scuffs on common-area flooring.
- Door frames. Wrap corners with moving blankets or foam — door frames take the hardest hits from large furniture.
- Neighbor notice. A quick heads-up to immediate neighbors about noise and hallway activity goes a long way toward keeping the relationship civil.
Damage to common areas in a rental building can result in charges to your account, and some management companies will bill you for repairs even months later if they trace the damage back to your move-in date.
After the Move: What Not to Forget
Once the boxes are inside, there are still a few things to close out. At the old apartment, photograph the unit's condition and all meter readings before handing back the keys — this protects your security deposit. Cancel or transfer your internet and utility accounts. If you had a parking spot, return the fob or transponder.
At the new place, introduce yourself to the front desk staff if there is one. Get spare keys made. Test every faucet, outlet, and light switch in the first day or two while defects are easiest to report. And if you hired a company for the loading and unloading, confirm that all items arrived and nothing was left behind in the truck before signing off on the job.
In newer buildings around Chicago, Evanston, and Skokie, the first few months of occupancy sometimes bring minor settling — doors that stick, windows that need adjustment. These are normal and usually handled by building maintenance on request.
Get everything sorted before the elevator clock starts ticking.
Get a Free Moving QuoteA Few Final Practical Notes
Choose a weekday if you can. Weekend elevator slots in popular buildings fill up fast, and weekday rates from apartment moving crews tend to be lower. Mid-month is usually calmer than the first or last week, when lease turnovers peak across the city.
Defrost the refrigerator the night before. Drain the washing machine hoses. These two tasks take five minutes of setup and twelve hours of waiting — and skipping them means water pooling inside the truck or the elevator cabin.
Finally, keep a set of basic tools — a screwdriver, pliers, an adjustable wrench, a utility knife — in your pocket or day-one box, not buried in a random carton. You will need them at least four times during the move, guaranteed, and nobody wants to open fifteen boxes to find a Phillips head.