Artwork moves for all sorts of reasons. An exhibition at a community venue, a house move where somebody has collected for years, a framer delivering a commission, or a clearance where the pictures matter more than the furniture. Van hire for artwork is a job where almost everything that can go wrong happens during handling rather than driving, and the damage is usually permanent. If you are arranging van hire in Warrington for pictures, the preparation is the job.
Everything Travels Upright and Nothing Travels Flat
Framed pictures travel standing on their long edge, leaning slightly against a padded surface, never stacked flat one on top of another. Flat stacking puts the weight of everything above onto the glass and the frame below it, and glass under uneven pressure over a bumpy journey is glass that cracks. Upright, each piece is supported along its strongest dimension and nothing bears down on anything else. Face pairs of pictures towards each other with a soft layer between them so glass meets glass through padding rather than a frame corner digging into a neighbouring canvas. The same rule applies to mirrors, which behave identically and break more readily.
Protecting Corners, Glass and Canvas
Frame corners are the most vulnerable part of any picture and the first thing to hit something. Corner protectors are worth the small effort, and a layer of padding round the whole frame is better still. Glazed pictures should have tape across the glass in a cross, which does not stop it breaking but does stop broken glass moving about and slicing the artwork behind it. Unglazed canvases need entirely different treatment, because anything pressing on the face will leave a mark. Nothing should touch the front of a canvas at all, so they travel with a spacer or a card frame keeping the neighbour off the surface.
Choosing a Body That Suits Careful Handling
For most domestic and small exhibition moves the short wheelbase low roof van is the right choice, because it is easy to park close to a door and it drives smoothly through town, which matters more here than capacity does. Pictures do not weigh much and they do not need a large vehicle. They need a short, gentle journey and a load space where they can be secured properly against a wall rather than sliding about in a half empty box.
Temperature, Damp and Time in the Van
Paintings and works on paper react to their environment. A van standing in sunlight gets hot quickly, and a cold damp load space overnight is no better. Neither is fatal for a short trip but both are worth avoiding, which in practice means loading last and unloading first rather than letting artwork sit in a vehicle while you deal with other things. Never leave pictures in a van overnight if you can avoid it. If something is genuinely valuable, that is also a security consideration as much as a conservation one.
Hanging, Handling and the Two Person Rule
Large framed work needs two people, not because of the weight but because of the control. One person carrying a big frame cannot see past it, cannot protect both corners and cannot put it down gently. Carry pictures vertically with a hand on each side rather than under the frame, and never carry one by the top of the frame alone, since older frames come apart at the corner joints under their own weight. Anyone moving work between venues around Altrincham van hire bookings and back into Warrington will find the loading dock is easier than the last twenty feet through a doorway.
Booking the Van and Planning the Trip
Our depot is on Tilley Street at the main entrance to Cockhedge Shopping Centre next to Asda, open Monday to Saturday from 8am until 4pm and closed on Sunday, with free secure parking on site for your own car. Bring your photocard licence and a DVLA check code generated beforehand, and note there is no deposit required on most of our vehicles. If you would like to know more about us as an independent depot before booking, our about us page explains how we work.
Recording What You Moved and Its Condition
Whether the artwork belongs to you, to an artist exhibiting with you or to somebody whose house you are clearing, photograph every piece before it is wrapped. A clear picture of the front and of each corner takes seconds and settles any later question about whether a chip was there before the move. If you are handling work for other people, a simple list of what went in the van and what came out is worth having, particularly when several pieces are similar. Keep any labels, hanging fixings or certificates with the piece rather than in a general envelope, since a frame and its fittings get separated easily and matching them up afterwards is guesswork. None of this takes long and all of it matters far more with borrowed work than with your own, because the conversation you are avoiding is one about somebody else’s property rather than your own carelessness.
Tell us the largest frame dimension and how many pieces you are moving and we will confirm the right body. Call the depot on 01925 396 222 and give yourself an unhurried window rather than a tight one.
