Art transportation is a serious source of risk, which art owners try to address by all means. In some cases, professional art handling is enough to minimize risks, and you can do with standard cardboard boxes or soft packing to move your art safely. In other cases, you may need an extra layer of protection – a wooden crate for shipping paintings. Let’s see when a custom crate is unavoidable, and which solution is the safest.
Why Do You Need a Wooden Crate for Shipping Paintings?
So, what protection does a wooden crate guarantee that other packing methods cannot? First, it’s the advanced level of physical protection against all kinds of impact. While professionals organize art shipping in a way that excludes or minimizes unintended contact, anything can go wrong in emergencies. For example, a cardboard box can be damaged under an abrupt, significant impact, but a crate won’t suffer damage or deformation. Its sturdy wood or plywood construction guarantees the safety of all internal components, so your art will travel safely no matter what.
Second, the advantage of transporting art in wooden crates is a greater degree of climate control. Professionals build crates with proper moisture barriers and insulation in the interior, so climate-sensitive artwork is much safer in such containers compared to cardboard boxes. For this reason, crates are often chosen for long-term storage or long-distance transportation, which leaves art vulnerable to prolonged environmental effects.
Third, custom crating is highly recommended for cross-border shipping and the transportation of blue-chip art. In all of these cases, you are required to maximize the protection level of the artwork you’re transporting; otherwise, the insurance broker may refuse to cover the poorly protected freight with insurance.
With these use cases in mind, you’re much better positioned to decide whether you need a crate or not. Take all parameters we’ve mentioned into account, and your shipping process will go smoothly and without avoidable expenditures.
Custom Art Crating Services in New York
When you choose to use a wooden crate for shipping paintings, please keep in mind that a standard wooden box won’t do. The basics of art crating is custom design, which guarantees that your crate is an ideal match for your art object’s shape, type, and weight. Fine Art Shippers has a crating workshop in New York, where we build individual crates for every art object. Contact us to find out the details and order a custom crating service, with our team packing your art safely onsite for its further delivery to the workshop with minimal risks.