Author Topic: Hiring movers?  (Read 2733 times)

jeromedawg

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Hiring movers?
« on: June 28, 2020, 09:05:37 AM »
Hey all,

Hoping to move soon and it's been a long time since I've done it. Never had to hire movers before but now I'm considering it - what do you guys suggest or recommend? I was initially thinking that we could move a lot of the stuff we could pack ourselves like boxes of our belongings, clothes, kitchen stuff, books, etc. but for most of the bigger bulkier stuff like heavier shelves, dining table, king sized mattress and frame, dressers, futon, possibly the fridge/washer/dryer, that we might want to leave that up to movers to handle? I know enlisting the help of friends is a pretty common tactic too. We would be in no certain rush or have to feel pressured to move everything out on a specific day since the place we live in currently we own. So we can take our time moving things out slowly but wouldn't want for it to take too long as we intend to rent the current place out soon after moving out.

Anyway, just looking for some pointers and advice you guys might have - I'm more concerned about the bigger/heavier/bulky items. I'm hoping to find a place furnished with a fridge, washer and dryer so we don't have to deal with the hassle of moving our current ones out (I actually have a new fridge on order so it's likely the new renters would get to enjoy that more than we will at the current place)

draco44

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2020, 10:24:38 AM »
How close is the property you are moving to from where you are now? And are we talking houses or apartments? The distance and total amount of stuff you are managing would be big factors in how to manage a move.

jeromedawg

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2020, 10:53:43 AM »
How close is the property you are moving to from where you are now? And are we talking houses or apartments? The distance and total amount of stuff you are managing would be big factors in how to manage a move.

We haven't procured the new place though but know the neighborhood we plan to move to - it's about half an hour away from the current place. Likely it would be a town home or condo we are moving into, possibly with stairs (but we're trying to find a place that is either single store or 2-story with shared walls - we are avoiding living above or below anyone)

Sibley

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2020, 12:00:40 PM »
I hire movers when moving. I am not physically able to move some of my furniture, and for more than half of my moves did not have friends I could call on. Read on for the how-to-move-word-vomit.

Ask around for recommendations from your IRL friends/acquaintances. Movers are local. Specifically inquire about moving blankets - do they provide/charge/etc. Make sure when the movers arrive, it's literally pick up and move. Have everything boxed, disassembled, etc.

If you have pets/children (too lazy to check your history), it's best to have responsible person(s) wrangle them for the entire day - ie, get them out of there and bring them to the new place at the end of the day. Pets should be crated or similar until in the new place with all doors closed and locked. You never know when they'll freak out and bolt.

With movers, you're usually paying based on how long it takes. So you want to speed them up as much as possible. Know where you want things in the new place. Having someone standing by the door to direct the movers as they bring everything in, they can move around a bit but need to stay in that area. Have a 2nd person able to float around and direct where the door person can't.

Anything particularly fragile/valuable I would load into your vehicle(s) before the movers arrive, or take over earlier.

terran

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2020, 04:52:32 PM »
As you talk to potential movers find out what their minimum charge is. If your house is small (not a lot of stuff) you might not really save much/anything by only leaving the big stuff for them since you'll need to pay for a minimum amount of time anyway.

red_pill

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2020, 06:18:10 PM »
Okay, I know - not an answer to the thread, but I'm such a fan of minimizing that I can't help myself and say that any move is a great opportunity to ditch 50% of your stuff (assuming you are like most people and drowning in "things").   Or, if you are lacking time, etc and don't want to do that, then the trick is to NOT unpack when you arrive at your new place.  Instead, only unpack an item when you  need to use it.  According to the theory (I've never done it due to reluctant wife) - after two weeks you pretty much don't go into the boxes anymore and within a few months you forget what is even in them.  Leave it for a seasonal change over to make sure you don't chuck out the winter jackets, but makes it really easy to see how few of our possessions we actually use.

Sorry, hijacking over.  Good luck.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2020, 06:21:40 PM »
As you talk to potential movers find out what their minimum charge is. If your house is small (not a lot of stuff) you might not really save much/anything by only leaving the big stuff for them since you'll need to pay for a minimum amount of time anyway.

IME a two-hour minimum is pretty common but some places do have three. Unless they have really very few possessions, OPs probably can shave the time by helping--that has been the case for me in the past. I think I found my last mover on Yelp. When I have needed movers but have not needed a truck, I've used movinghelp.com (or something like that) to get just the guys but not the truck.

Good luck the move!

SwordGuy

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2020, 09:11:09 AM »
Okay, I know - not an answer to the thread, but I'm such a fan of minimizing that I can't help myself and say that any move is a great opportunity to ditch 50% of your stuff (assuming you are like most people and drowning in "things").   Or, if you are lacking time, etc and don't want to do that, then the trick is to NOT unpack when you arrive at your new place.  Instead, only unpack an item when you  need to use it.  According to the theory (I've never done it due to reluctant wife) - after two weeks you pretty much don't go into the boxes anymore and within a few months you forget what is even in them.  Leave it for a seasonal change over to make sure you don't chuck out the winter jackets, but makes it really easy to see how few of our possessions we actually use.

Sorry, hijacking over.  Good luck.
My dad was in the army and we moved every 2-3 years.   If they moved twice without opening the box, they tossed the unopened box in the trash.

FLBiker

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2020, 12:17:22 PM »
We're moving in three weeks.  We're doing Uhaul, but we're hiring movers to help us load the truck.  It's less about weight than it is about speed, as we're moving from Florida to Canada, and we want to on the road ASAP.  Once we get there, we're be self isolating for 14 days (and Uhaul's policy is that you keep the truck during that time) so we'll have plenty of time to unload. :)

PaulMaxime

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2020, 01:51:32 PM »
I used to move myself. What a pain.

Now I always hire movers when I move. They do a better job. The best thing about hiring them is that once everything is moved you are not exhausted from carrying all that stuff.

Which means that you have energy at the end of the day to unpack.

When I moved by myself (and free labor from friends) at the end of the move I was always super tired. Often that meant that things were left in boxes for a long time.

Now that we hire a crew, at the end of the day we just unpack everything and are all moved in in a day or two.

In my mind this is something that is worth every penny. We even pay to have them pack.

ChickenStash

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2020, 08:23:35 AM »
The last couple of moves I just hired movers from UHaul's movinghelp site and used them to load and unload. They work fast and are fairly inexpensive. I would have to do all the boxing/unboxing, though. They were mostly there to handle the bigger items that I couldn't handle alone. I rented the truck and did my own driving.

I probably could have saved money by using family and friends but I didn't want to risk injury and, honestly, the movers are faster, more careful, and do a better job making things secure than someone that doesn't do this often. Money well spent.

debbie does duncan

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #11 on: June 30, 2020, 09:16:07 AM »
Hiring movers saves your body. Have everything packed and ready to go.
Even better to colour code rooms with boxes.Some do not like to read the writing.
Get private insurance for anything you value ... movers ins is $ 0.10 per pound  if you are lucky.

J Boogie

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #12 on: July 01, 2020, 09:28:40 AM »
Surprised that so many mustachians are advocating hiring movers. I'm in agreement though, and there are some really insightful reasons provided.

You definitely should if you have nice/fragile things. The last thing you want is to be angry with a clumsy friend who was doing you a big sweaty favor.


jeromedawg

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #13 on: July 01, 2020, 11:04:43 AM »
Surprised that so many mustachians are advocating hiring movers. I'm in agreement though, and there are some really insightful reasons provided.

You definitely should if you have nice/fragile things. The last thing you want is to be angry with a clumsy friend who was doing you a big sweaty favor.

I think it's all situation/circumstance based. When I was single, hiring movers was out of the question - I pretty much did everything myself with the help of friends (and borrowing their trucks) if anything. But I also didn't have as much either.

Now that I'm married, we have exponentially more stuff, including large furniture. I mean, I guess I'm OK moving a dozen boxes or so, but others are right: it's really tiring. Having to worry about moving furniture and figuring out what to do with the kids just sounds like a PITA just thinking about it (esp with COVID - who are we supposed to have watch them?).  I suppose it would be different if we were super minimalist tiny house people but unfortunately that's not the case lol. The reality of it is that we have a lot of stuff (I mean, I've been here for over a decade so a lot has accumulated and we're just not good at decluttering/minimizing). Heavy, bulky items are not what I want to be messing around with trying and maneuvering through multiple doorways these days though.

jeromedawg

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #14 on: July 03, 2020, 02:57:20 PM »
BTW: we're moving out from a 1388sq foot place and likely into a slightly smaller 1352sq foot place. The places I've gotten quotes from all give options to use anywhere from 2-4 movers. Should we stick with 3 guys? Otherwise, sounds like we want to pack and disassemble as much as we can to expedite the time it takes them to load and unload? Or do you suggest that we just have them disassemble furniture and just worry about packing up boxes and emptying bookshelves/sideboard/pantry etc?

If we disassemble everything, do we just want them to reassemble it all too? Or is it assumed that if we disassembled it we would reassemble it and they would leave everything in pieces?

ysette9

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #15 on: July 03, 2020, 10:54:59 PM »
Surprised that so many mustachians are advocating hiring movers. I'm in agreement though, and there are some really insightful reasons provided.

You definitely should if you have nice/fragile things. The last thing you want is to be angry with a clumsy friend who was doing you a big sweaty favor.
We have moved at least half a dozen times in the past 15 years. Originally it was the cheap college kids’ call-up-the-friends move. Two of those my husband (then boyfriend) was out of the country on business travel, which sucked. One time he twisted his ankle in the first hour and could only manage for the rest of the day.

The first time we hired movers was when I had just had surgery and wasn’t supposed to lift anything. They were so fast and unexpectedly cheap that we never thought of doing it ourselves after. I agree with others: instead of doing heavy labor all day, we were moved in before lunch and spent the afternoon unpacking.

For short distance moves it wasn’t a lot more than what we ended up spending anyway buying all of our friends lunch when they helped us move.

jeromedawg

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #16 on: July 05, 2020, 01:19:05 PM »
I hire movers when moving. I am not physically able to move some of my furniture, and for more than half of my moves did not have friends I could call on. Read on for the how-to-move-word-vomit.

Ask around for recommendations from your IRL friends/acquaintances. Movers are local. Specifically inquire about moving blankets - do they provide/charge/etc. Make sure when the movers arrive, it's literally pick up and move. Have everything boxed, disassembled, etc.

If you have pets/children (too lazy to check your history), it's best to have responsible person(s) wrangle them for the entire day - ie, get them out of there and bring them to the new place at the end of the day. Pets should be crated or similar until in the new place with all doors closed and locked. You never know when they'll freak out and bolt.

With movers, you're usually paying based on how long it takes. So you want to speed them up as much as possible. Know where you want things in the new place. Having someone standing by the door to direct the movers as they bring everything in, they can move around a bit but need to stay in that area. Have a 2nd person able to float around and direct where the door person can't.

Anything particularly fragile/valuable I would load into your vehicle(s) before the movers arrive, or take over earlier.

Quick question: when you say to have everything disassembled, are you referring to furniture as well?

The other concern I have is how these movers are insured to protect against or cover the cost of any damages they might incur either to our property and also the rental property we are considering moving to. E.g. what happens if they're moving a dresser up the staircase and they end up banging the walls badly and damaging the dresser as well? Do they reimburse for the damages and costs of all that? I'm guessing they'll be more careful than that but I also don't want to be presumptuous either. I just want to make sure we are protected regarding stuff like that. Also was curious with at least one long piece of furniture (a long dresser) that we're iffy about having moved upstairs - the staircase is one of those relatively narrow 'hairpin'/switchback types so I'm a bit puzzled how they'd get a king sized mattress or long dresser drawer up those. I'm sure I'll be amazed at what movers can do but I'm afraid of them coming back saying "this isn't going to fit sorry" and we end up having a larger item like that left downstairs with nowhere to put

debbie does duncan

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #17 on: July 05, 2020, 02:30:15 PM »
Have everything packed yourself bc it is your stuff and you care about it. Disassemble the beds if you can bc you may be the one who has to reassemble them back together. If you are unsure of the damage responsibility or the movers insurance.... ask them. They know the answer and will take extra care bc you asked. They will be aware you may be watching closer. Sometimes accidents will happen. Also make sure there are no trip hazards for the movers. Use tons of tape to secure stuff if you have to. The movers can disassemble stuff for you and reassemble it back at the other end and they charge by the hr. Do you want to pay them for that?

jeromedawg

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #18 on: July 05, 2020, 03:28:50 PM »
Have everything packed yourself bc it is your stuff and you care about it. Disassemble the beds if you can bc you may be the one who has to reassemble them back together. If you are unsure of the damage responsibility or the movers insurance.... ask them. They know the answer and will take extra care bc you asked. They will be aware you may be watching closer. Sometimes accidents will happen. Also make sure there are no trip hazards for the movers. Use tons of tape to secure stuff if you have to. The movers can disassemble stuff for you and reassemble it back at the other end and they charge by the hr. Do you want to pay them for that?

Makes sense... they have built-in insurance that amounts to about 60 cents per lb. Otherwise, you have to buy moving insurance for full coverage. I guess some home insurance policies may cover it too but not sure. Would you recommend/suggest insurance? None of our furniture is super expensive but I worry more about the movers possibly damaging walls or fixtures in the rental we would move into.

Sibley

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #19 on: July 05, 2020, 05:20:07 PM »
Surprised that so many mustachians are advocating hiring movers. I'm in agreement though, and there are some really insightful reasons provided.

You definitely should if you have nice/fragile things. The last thing you want is to be angry with a clumsy friend who was doing you a big sweaty favor.

Hiring movers is cheaper than the medical bills if I were to try to move all my stuff myself, and that's not including the replacement or repair of whatever I broke. Is that the case for everyone? No, of course not. However, not everyone on this forum is male, between 20 and 40, with big muscles.

ysette9

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #20 on: July 05, 2020, 08:56:42 PM »
With the movers for our corporate move they encouraged us to let them pack for us because there was something about not insuring the stuff that we packed ourselves. I didn’t look into the fine print of insurance on prior moves because we don’t really have anything of value, so it didn’t occur to me. During one move they broke the stand for our television, which the company replaced.

BNgarden

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #21 on: July 05, 2020, 08:59:59 PM »
With the movers for our corporate move they encouraged us to let them pack for us because there was something about not insuring the stuff that we packed ourselves.

I packed my parents' stuff for a long-haul move, but had the movers pack the artwork since it's a pain, and that way they would take responsibility for any breakages of those pieces.  I'm a good packer, but not experienced with frames and such.  You can ask them for piecework when they give your quote. Know exactly what items and show them so they can accurately quote.

FINate

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #22 on: July 05, 2020, 10:35:43 PM »
For local moves I rent a moving truck and get friends to help.

But we just did a long distance move (~700 miles) and hired movers, including boxing everything up. Between COVID uncertainty, a narrow oneway street at the origin that was too small for a large moving truck, and not having friends on at the destination side, we just wanted to get it done with as little drama ASAP. Took 5-6 guys 6 hours to box everything, and then another 4 guys 5 hours to load, and then they had to shuttle everything from smaller box trucks to a larger truck for the main leg of the move. We drove our vehicles up with a week's worth of stuff, valuables, and stuff the movers couldn't take (mostly cleaning supplies). Our stuff arrived today after 4 days. It'll take a couple of days to unpack, nothing damage so far. Seeing how the pros do it was interesting. Everything extremely well packed and inventoried, and they get it done fast!

For your situation I think you could easily do most of the move yourself, then hire our for the heavy stuff. Pack/box most things yourself. Rent a moving truck for a couple of days. Do 1-2 trips the first day to move all the boxes. Tip: Get smaller boxes for books! Have movers scheduled for the second day to help move the heavy stuff. Ideally you can do this phase in a single trip. 30 minutes isn't very far so hire the movers for both ends of the move and pay them for their driving time.

ysette9

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #23 on: July 05, 2020, 11:07:09 PM »
I like the boxes for a case of wine for books.
Anything bigger and I can’t carry them.

Uturn

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #24 on: July 06, 2020, 06:08:39 AM »
I had always packed myself and recruited friends. But a little over two years ago, the company paid to move me to another state.  The moving company packed.  A lamp got broken and one of the wings on the grill got bent. Probably about the same amount of damage as a self move.  But wholly crap they used a lot of packing paper!  I would say at least a 1/4 to 1/3 of each box was packing paper. But my stuff was taking an 1100 mile ride.  It was nice having someone else pack, but I'm not sure it was worth it if I were paying for it myself. 

I just moved this past December.  I packed, but hired movers to load/drive/unload.  It cost about $450, and was well worth it.  1, because I don't know very many people that would help move. 2, they were quick. Showed up at 9:00 am at the old place and left the new place just after 2:00 pm. No multiple trips between the two places, no all day carrying things.  I wasn't the one having to figure out how to get the queen mattress around the corner at the top of the stairs. I had them load the kitchen boxes last so they were first off the truck.  It allowed me to start putting the most important room together while staying out of their way as the rest of the truck was unloaded.

debbie does duncan

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Re: Hiring movers?
« Reply #25 on: July 07, 2020, 11:34:44 AM »
Who are you insured with for your home ins? Are you OK with them? They may have a temporary one time event when you could get coverage for just the move.