Preparing to MOve

Moving can be one of the most stressful things you’ll ever do in your life, if you don’t prepare correctly and have the right team behind your relocation. At Around The Clock Movers we are the best at what we do because we have 1st hand knowledge of the pitfalls people find themselves in daily. The trick to avoiding mayhem is to identify what type of move you have and what type of customer you are. Communication between our company and you (the customer) is paramount in the beginning because it prepares us for your individual personality, and the specific needs of your relocation. Below are factors which differentiate moves and individual customers, questions, and keys to proper preparation. We recommend that you record your answers to the questions asked so that you will be fully prepared, and know what information to communicate to the company you choose.

1. Have you identified what type of customer you are? How do you want your move to go?

We meet all types of people daily. Some customer’s want you to go as fast as possible while others want you to take your time and be as careful as possible. Some customers want to show us what to do once and leave us at it, while some like to watch the move and interact with the movers. Some customers want to help, most don’t want to do anything. Some customers want everything wrapped while others don’t and think that’s overkill. Some customers move fast and talk fast, some customers move slow and take their time when speaking. Some customers are ending relationships while others are just beginning. Point is that there are endless combinations of personalities and situations we see daily. When you schedule your move please let us know a little bit about you and how you would like your move to go. We can tailor our services to fit your individual needs and personality but the only way we can do that is if you communicate needs and specifics with us.

2. Have you identified all furniture items that are $1,000 or over?

It is extremely important that you identify all expensive, important and antique furniture in your home. These items require special care while being moved or may need to be crated, boxed or wrapped in a special manner. Preparation is prevention. It would be negligent on your behalf to not tell us about a $25,000 TV or a $10,000 couch before we arrived at your home, and in some instances it would not be smart to load and move these type of belongings with other regular household items. We move just about everything, however the “value” of furniture greatly affects the strategy we use to complete jobs.

3. Have you identified all “Overly Heavy” items?

“Overly Heavy” identifies all items over 250 lbs. Most dressers, washing machines, and other large items “Do Not Classify” as “Overly Heavy”. “Overly Heavy” items are usually things such as pianos, stone tables, petrified wood, safe’s, huge solid oak armoire’s, custom furniture, solid steel items, machinery etc…If you have anything like this prepare to pay a heavy lifting fee which averages from $100 - $150 depending on stairs, long walks, weight of the item etc…(In some cases the heavy lifting fee could be more) We charge heavy lifting fees for these items because they are “dangerous” to move, can “hurt” our movers and require special care. We believe our staff deserves more to complete these jobs and the heavy lifting fee is our remedy.

4. Do you need carpet or floor protection for any expensive surface?

If you have brand new carpet, wood floors or any other expensive flooring you may need extensive floor protection. It is not an intelligent strategy to “hope” that the movers are careful. The best strategy to protecting your flooring is to protect it before people begin to move your belongings. Carpet protection is an amazing product which sticks to carpet and creates a barrier between dirt and the carpet. It is $40 per roll but one roll can handle two reasonably sized homes. (1/2 Roll $20). Masonite/Runners can be used on wood and other flooring but you must forewarn us of your need for additional floor protection. We send out 2runners daily on trucks and between the runners and padding most people don’t need anything else unless they have new carpet. I would only worry about masonite and additional protection if you have an extremely expensive and large floor. Extra runners outside of the two we send are $5 to rent.

5. Have you correctly packaged boxes?

Over packing boxes, or packing the wrong boxes is a sure way to cause damage. Books for example should be packed in book boxes or small boxes, not medium or large. Packing can be a very tedious job and its easy to get fatigued or attempt to save time and start packing in the wrong way. 100 pound boxes are excessive and dangerous. If you cannot “Push” a box you packed across your floor it is unacceptable to think someone should have to pick it up and move it up or down stairs or over long walks. If our movers encounter these types of boxes they reserve the right to ask you to repack the boxes properly. Now we are not asking you to pack “light”, we are asking you to pack “reasonably”. 50 - 60 lb boxes should be the max!

6. Have you consolidated small items?

Small loose items can cause your move to go longer than necessary. As a company we are here to do whatever a customer needs done. If it takes us longer to complete your move because of small loose items it is not a issue with us. However, if you would like to save money and time we recommend that you pack up or at least consolidate small items in one area where they are easily accessible.

7. Have you identified long walks, stairways, or elevators?

These factors can easily affect the time needed to move and the strategy chosen to complete your move. All of these factors add additional time to relocation and you need to be prepared. If you have any long hallways we recommend that you use a “speed pack”. A “speed pack” is a large box which can hold lots of small items, and be rolled on top of a 4 wheel dolly. “Speed Packs” can literally save hours if you have a lot of small items. Most jobs only need one, but there are many jobs which can benefit from two or three. We charge $10 to use a speed pack but the time it can save is worth is rental price 5-10 times over. If you have an elevator it would be wise to ask your building if they can lock it off for your use only. That way the movers don’t have to compete with other residents which will shave time off your bill.

8. Do you need packing help?

Packing is the process of preparing “everything in your home” to move in an efficient manner. As stated above packing can be extremely tedious and hard work. Many people just don’t understand how long packing takes, and end up scrambling around when we arrive which causes more stress and a harder day. Please go through your home and give yourself a good estimate of what its going to take to pack yourself. It may be a wise thing to hire us before you move, to help out with your packing which can save you from damage, going to sleep at 4am, and a haphazard moving day.

9. Have you set aside valuables, and items you need such as medicine, check books, laptops etc?

No moving company is going to take responsibility for valuables such as coins, cash, laptops or jewelry unless these items have been verified and catalogued. You are responsible for your small valuables and it is your job to make sure that such items are in protected areas. We are also not responsible for medicine and other items such as bags, shoes etc…Once we enter your home we plan on moving everything and if you have large house its easy to grab a bag or a box the customer may need access to. There are two remedies for loosing sight of things you need.

1. Remove all items from the premises and place in your car or somewhere they can not be mistaken.

2. Place all items you need in an area of the home where nothing is moving. (Option 1 is best)

10. Are you aware of all preexisting damages in your home?

As we move we will attempt to point out all damages not caused by us however you should look around your house before we arrive to acknowledge damages to furniture, walls, floors etc…It is very easy while living somewhere to overlook damages caused by you, your guest and pets. Please attempt to look through your home so that movers are not erroneously blamed for preexisting damages.

11. Do I need to pack all dresser drawers?

This is a question we get a lot. Most dressers do not need to be packed and most drawers do not need to be taken out. The only time you need to pack or remove your dresser drawers are: 1. If you have a lot of breakables or fragile items in them that can potentially be damaged. 2. If you have packed drawers so heavy that the weight could compromise the integrity of the piece. “Compromise The Integrity of the Piece” means loading something past its weight carrying capacity. Dressers and other similar items like buffet’s are built to carry a certain amount of weight. If you load something past capacity and it needs to be tilted on its side or flipped in any direction you run the risk of breaking legs or damaging the piece in another way. Most clothing and other non breakable items do not need to be taken out of drawers and packed. We also wrap pieces so drawers cannot fall out while being moved.

12. Home Built/IKEA Furniture

Companies like IKEA are amazing companies with wonderful products. We have many of IKEA’s items in our homes and office. The problem with IKEA and similar furniture is not that its “Low Quality” its:

1. That many of the items are not created to be moved intact: Some IKEA furniture is sturdier than others and can be moved fully assembled, while many other pieces (especially many large pieces) need to be disassembled and moved the same way you brought it in your home.

2. The fact that many pieces are built in-home by novice builders leaves a great chance for building error which can easily compromise the strength and structure of the piece.

3. Most of the furniture is made out of particle board which is extremely hard to fix and in most cases unfixable. You could have damage to a small part of a piece and the only remedy is to buy a complete new piece. This is another reason why we require most IKEA and similar pieces to be taken apart.

We are professional movers and deal with these items daily, however we do not insure any IKEA furniture or similar knock down furniture past touch up and minor repair work. We will wrap and move all of these items with care we just don’t insure them.