Movers?(inspired by tiggerlover)

[Desnik]

When you move, do you hire movers or do it yourself? We have moved so many times and have always done it ourselves. We actually have sold our furniture, different house, new furniture so we usually don't have alot to move. We've done it so much we have it down to a science!!LOL

And if you do use movers, do they pack for you as well?
Just curious.

 

[Micca]

Have always used professional movers who have packed(but not unpacked) our stuff. Have always been very nice (can we run and get you guys some lunch?) to the people handling all of our worldly possesions. Limited problems in moves all over the U.S.

 

[Dan Murphy]

 

[KimRaye]

I moved 6 times in the first 9 years after moving away from 'home', and I always moved myself, with LOTS of family and friends of course. My last TWO moves, my family said they resigned from ever helping again. I've been here for the last 10 years, the longest ever so far so, I'm hoping I don't have to call them all out from retirement anytime soon. And actually, my brother is moving over Labor Day weekend so, I imagine some payback on my part is due!

 

[kadaten]

We're military so we move a lot. We ALWAYS have the professionals do it! The little bit of money we can make doing it ourselves (gov't will pay us a certain percentage of what the professionals would charge and then we pay for our costs which are usually less than what they give you) is honestly not worth my time and frustration!! In fact, I've told my DH that if he ever gets out, he'd better make sure his next company paid for moves if we were ever expected to relocate, as I won't be moving myself!!

We are always ready for them....have all pictures down, clothes washed and put away, cannisters emptied, trash cans empty, valuables we're moving ourselves locked in our cars, last minute pack items we'll need until the truck rolls out (vacuum, pillows, etc) pulled out so they don't get put in boxes, etc.

We offer to buy them lunch, provide drinks, let them listen to their choice of music, and provide dinner if they stay late (it happens!). We also let them have any alcohol we have at the END of the day since the movers won't take it....

We NEVER let them unpack us, as they don't put things away, they just empty the boxes and remove the boxes and paper from the house. You don't have time enough to put things away as they're unpacked (4 movers working VERY quickly) so you just end up with stuff EVERYWHERE and no room to work.

I do the checklist as each box/item comes off the truck....they usually ask me to, but I'd do it anyway for my peace of mind.

We have them put all the furniture back together (beds, etc), position all large pieces in the right spots (entertainment center, sofa, etc), and make sure all the boxes are in the right rooms!! (Especially important in our last 2 houses...3 stories each!! I don't want to carry all those boxes up, especially when they get paid extra for stairs!!)

At the end of the day, if they've been especially kind or careful with our items, we tip, too! They work their butts off and I know I wouldn't want to do what they do, so some good food and music, a kind word, a little help where possible, and a nice tip are the least I can do

Next move...#6....12 months and counting....

 

[NMAmy]

We just moved last weekend--hopefully the last time for awhile. This time we only moved about a mile from our former home--in 2001--it was all the way across the country.

We hire movers but I insist on doing the packing and unpacking myself. I'm a former military wife and I've learned from experience that I HATE not knowing what box a certain thing is in. I also like to sort and purge before packing the boxes. This weekend, I ended up with 2 closets full of stuff for Goodwill. Now, I just have to go back over to the old place and pick it up and take it over!

It is nice to have those young boys just put all that heavy stuff exactly where you want it! Ah...to be young again. They just hefted up my washing machine land toted it up and down stairs ike it weighed nothing!

 

[thinkerbell]

Wow Katie. You have it down to a science.

We usually move ourselves as we will be doing at the end of this month. The only time we have used a moving company was when my husbands company moved us. We just moved into an apartment in Dec. and our daughter also moved out into her own place so we ended up giving her alot of our furniture and stuff and getting rid of a bunch more so we really don't have very much to move.

 

[Bob Slydell]

First time we moved, we did it ourselves -- but we were newlyweds and had little stuff (aside from anything DW would let me keep from my apartment -- and that fit in the trunk of my car ).

This past fall, we hired movers -- no way we were moving some of the very large pieces of furniture we bought in the 6 years we were in the old house.

 

[katerkat]

Ditto what Kataden said - there's no way I'd move five times in three years and NOT have someone else pack for me! We pretty much have everything done to a science, too. This last move was harder because we needed to figure out what we needed for three months in between. I miss all my stuff that's in storage. *sigh*