Nickola

Looking for advice from those of you who have been in the same situation.

Hopefully we are looking to move to Ottawa in the not to distant future[April/May 2006 pending a successful interview and job offer].

We are a family of 5 with three young boys[11,7,4]. Now do we bring all that we can i.e. sofas, beds and things
Or is it best to sell what we can,travel light and buy new stuff over there?????

What about electrical things I know its different over there, but how on earth are the boys going to manage without the PS2.[it wont really be the end of the world] Is it feasible to bring one over and maybe a tv....what do you think ????????
any suggestions

iaink

Bring furnature if you have enough to fill a container or half container(which it sounds like you will). Some electrical stuff you will be better of replacing, other stuff (like the PS) in the short term you can run off a step down transformer OK. Stuff like washers and driers, fridges, freezers etc is probably better of being replaced.

TV, depends what you have now. Its a different format here as you probably know, but if you have a dual format one (much more common in UK) and intend to use satelite to get a signal to feed it you might not need to replace straight away and it will be ok with the PS, unlike a new NTSC only one. On the other hand maybe you could leave the PS behind and enjoy exploring your new surroundings instead Lots if info about transformers and electrical goods in the archive if you use the Advanced Search feature.

Stuff seems relatively cheap here, but no point wasting money replacing your existing stuff, and you might be glad of that cash during your adjusting to life and trying to get a job phase of the move.

I think there are a few threads about shipping costs about, a few thousand rings a bell to ship a container load.

Rich_007

As per the learned poster above.

We brought only furniture which was good quality, stuff we had fairly recently purchased and would adapt to Canadian housing styles (and it seems like that plan has worked so far).

Electrics, well we brought two very good hifi systems and a 2 yr old Rear Proj TV all able to run on 110 volt power with the voltage converters we bought pre-trip. They were well worth the money. TV works fine as it plays NTSC from the cable system output. So worth checking the NTSC thing.

Laptop, printer, digital camera were all able to work on 100 volt.

Bought all new kitchen appliances and small electrics when here.

Niknaks well we brought all cookware, mugs, cutley, kitchen bits with us as they were all recent and good quality stuff, no point chucking/selling it.

As a rule something that is a foot cubed will cost 50 quid to ship so if it is worth less than that chuck/sell it/giveaway/.

Good luck, great time to have a sort out and minimising of wordly posessions session.

Rich.

twoshoes

Hi there,

Cant help noticing the time scale of your application!!! wow!!! No wonder you're trying to sort out your furniture etc!!!!! You'll be shovelling snow before you know it. Good Luck

Sue

Airseir

Hi
Electrical items are very different...my wife and I will be bringing over personal items, furniture...but have had to dispense all electrical...there are ways around the electrical issue...but it is costly...I guess you could bring a TV etc but I have been in the situation when I have seen people struggle with the units you can by to sustain the current to run them....personally I would suggest at this stage that you consider having a garage / boot sale and buying new electrical stuff over here...When you purchase a house most Canadian households come with Dishwashers, Washing Machines, Dryers, Fridges etc anyway...so pease do not worry about this...some even leave TV's so honestly it's the least of your concerns at the moment..and you will find that you probably do not have to replace much...hope this has helped

Steve_P

Dishwasher if installed which is usually these days has to included as it is part of the house. Stove and fridge usually are included in the purchase price, but not always. Washers and dryers not very often seen them included, that is not to say it doesn't happen. TV's I have never heard of anyone leaving a TV unless it was a piece of junk they couldn't be bothered disposing of themselves.

Rich_007

Yeah just watch if they don't leave them (appliances should form part of the contract as they are generally considered to be fitments of the house). If they are being left but are crappy/nasty and needing replacement, typical kitchen appliances can run $2-3 for a set of low end to $5-7k for upscale steel etc kit, so worth knowing in case of budegting for this.

Rich.

Posidrive

One of us has our sums wrong. Could be me 'cos I'm off work sick today.

But our 40 ft container (full) must have been about 2000 ft3 and cost £8000 to ship. I make that about £4 per cubic foot, including over the top insurance

zalaben

nothing much to add to the post as I have no experience in this matter. However, just wanted to let you know that your little picture with the penguins on the bottom of the screen , left my 11-year-old daughter in stitches! thanks for the laugh

Helen Parnell

We brought nothing over. The furniture in our 3 bedroom semi in watford woudl have looked silly in our new large 4 bedroom detached. All applicances usually come with a house (standards may vary). Beds over here are a different size so eventually you are going to have to buy new bedding, which will won't fit your beds!! or you buy in England forever at higher prices.

Remember that a lot of canadian houses have family rooms, on the main floor and then basements where you may want a large sectional sofa to watch TV on.

We have two boys aged 7 and 9 when we moved and we negotiated what we kept and sold. Ditch the PS2 and promise them PS3 which is coming out soon!

A container costs 8000 pounds to send over, thats $16,000 .... you can buy a lot of furniture for that amount.

Helen

Steve_P

You are welcome, that's what it's there for.

You can save it to your own computer if you want to. Just right click on it and choose save image as, it should work.

Posidrive

About £2000 was the insurance that "She who must be obeyed" insisted upon.

A large part of it was box after box after box after box ....... of my late father in law's book collection. Irreplaceable, so it just had to come. The removers said that they had never seen so much stuff in a loft.

ClareBC

This may be silly, but it is so frustrating not having one - so bring over your wallpaper paste table - I've yet to see one here

Bed sizes are different here!! So if you bring your beds, bring the mattresses too (if you can) . Beds are bleedin' pricey here!

We brought over all our books and CDs - couldn't leave them behind! (And all the kidlet's toys, even the crap Wilko ones - as I was feeling guilty enough about dragging him across the globe!)

Good luck

Clare

iaink

You think? You can get a Queen set for less than $500, and IIRC Canadian queen is roughly the same as UK king.

ClareBC

where?!! The stuff I have seen, eg at the Brick, is four figures, not three!!

Is this a huge price differential between the provinces??

The Queen is slightly longer and slightly narrower than the king - and it drives me mad everytime I make the bed (can't ram the duvet down the between the mattress and the headboard without loosing a nail you see.... )

Clare