Commercial Crating for Equipment, Exhibits and Art

A crate has to get out of the building, so we measure the route before building it: doorways, hall turns, elevator openings, the ramp or dock, and where the truck can stand. If a finished crate will not clear a door, it is built in panels and closed at a staging point near the exit. For heavy pieces, we ask the building about floor and elevator limits before the date is set.

Timing usually follows someone else's calendar, such as an exhibit closing, a gallery changeover, a lab relocation or a store reset. Crates take time to build, so measurements are needed well ahead of the move. Galleries and museums often change over while closed to visitors, and on request the crate crew can come in the evening or at the weekend.

A good crate puts pressure only where the object can take it. For glass, that means edges and corners held in padded blocking with nothing resting on the face. For framed art, the frame touches the supports, never the glazing or canvas. For instruments, the load goes to the base and the lift points the manufacturer names, not a control panel or sensor. Loose parts are bagged or boxed and numbered to the main piece.

How a fragile object should be handled is not the crew's decision. The curator or conservator writes the condition report and sets wrapping rules for art, and the manufacturer's technician prepares equipment and brings it back into service afterward. The crew builds to those instructions, packs, closes and marks the crate, and keeps it upright as marked. At delivery, the receiving team opens it where it wants and checks the piece against the condition report.