Hoggirl Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Rats. I just typed this question out, but I have no idea what happened to it! We are moving about 30 minutes away. We have many large items including a grand piano. We close on our current house before we can get into our new (new construction) house, so the moving company will have to store our stuff for us for about 3 - 4 weeks. Hoping only three. My understanding is that a moving company will not move anything or store anything that they have not packed. Anyone know if this is accurate? I am frantically trying to cull stuff. We are selling some furniture before we move because we are downsizing. Still, we have a lot of "stuff." Like books. :D Though I have donated MANY over the last few weeks to the library. I know there are many variables, but I am just trying to get an idea. The guy is coming on Wednesday morning to do an estimate. I would rather hear the bad news here first so I don't spew coffee in his face over sticker shock. The only full-pack we have ever done was on a corporate move, so I really have no idea of a price range at all. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 We are moving about 30 minutes away. We have many large items including a grand piano. We close on our current house before we can get into our new (new construction) house, so the moving company will have to store our stuff for us for about 3 - 4 weeks. Hoping only three. My understanding is that a moving company will not move anything or store anything that they have not packed. Anyone know if this is accurate? That is not accurate. When we moved from WA to TX, we did our own packing and the movers moved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Reads a Lot Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 That is not accurate. When we moved from WA to TX, we did our own packing and the movers moved it. :iagree: When we moved from Arizona to Maine, we got quotes from three different major U.S. moving companies. All three companies gave us two different bids: one to pack and move everything, and the other for us to pack and them to move the stuff. They never mentioned not insuring items that they did not pack. But I would encourage you to shop around. The third company charged us less to pack our stuff AND move it than the other two companies wanted just to move the stuff after we packed it. Because I'd checked and it was a reputable company, we went with the "pack and move" and everything went great. I was glad we didn't pay more and have to do all of the packing, too, though the unpacking was interesting, to say the least. We've also used a PODS-type system (for a different move), and that went just fine. They moved our stuff, let us get out what we needed temporarily, then stored the rest for six months. Then brought us the pods for repacking and moved them to our final destination. It wasn't cheap but it was about half of what we paid for the moving company, so it's definitely an alternative. Finally, in yet another move (hubby has changed jobs a lot and no, he is not military), we used ABF U-Haul. They bring you a big truck and you put your stuff in it (got any friends who could help you load up your piano?). They measure how much space you used (you estimate this ahead of time with their help) and charge you by the linear foot. They bring the truck to where you moved and you unload it. This was the cheapest way we've moved our stuff yet, by several thousand dollars. HTH! Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missiemick Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 We just moved about 5 hours away and it cost us $2,000. That included all supplies and them packing everything (it was wonderful!) I can't tell you about storage, though. I would advise you to get several estimates. I learned a lot through the process and was able to negotiate prices because of the other estimates that I already had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 It cost about $9,000 for a complete pack and move about 100 miles. We had no kids at the time and not a lot of "stuff." They told me they would not insure anything they didn't pack themselves, but they would move it. So you might pack your own clothes but not your own fine china. I think there was something in there about things breaking inside a box and not being insured if you packed it yourself versus, say them still being insured if the truck caught fire and you lost things you packed yourself. It was a corporate move. My sister used PODS for a move and they moved the pod several states away for her. Wow. Did you have "big" furniture? I know moving the piano will be costly, but I am not sure if the actual size of one's furniture matters. I bet we hit five digits for sure. Sigh. Maybe we should pack some of the stuff ourselves. I think I need to get back to culling items. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Wow. Did you have "big" furniture? I know moving the piano will be costly, but I am not sure if the actual size of one's furniture matters. I bet we hit five digits for sure. Sigh. Maybe we should pack some of the stuff ourselves. I think I need to get back to culling items. :tongue_smilie: We had definitely planned to do some packing ourselves, but we sold our house in six days, and we are set to close on July 30th. They wanted to close two weeks before that initially! We are taking ds to a summer program in July and had planned a little vacation in there for the two of us prior to all this happening. Plus, I had hernia surgery last Thursday, so I am somewhat limited. I just felt compelled to tell you that so you wouldn't think I was some sort of sloth.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 You might want to contact a piano mover to move the piano. Some also employ tuners and will tune it when it gets to the new house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 They never mentioned not insuring items that they did not pack. It was my experience that if a homeowner packed anything that broke, then the moving company would just say it had not been packed correctly. Typical moving insurance pays pennies on the dollar; I've never heard anything good out of it. The last time we used movers, they didn't tell us something broke. They just conveniently forgot to unpack it from the truck, and we didn't notice until a few days later. Of course, they use the unpacking chaos to their advantage. We did not count items coming off of the truck. Fortunately, it was just a faux marble pedestal that we'd bought from Michael's for $20... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Be sure to get references, google any company you consider, check the Better Business Bureau, etc. Or go with a company that someone you know has been happy with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 In 2004 we moved 8 miles away from our old house to a new one. We had a 5 bedroom house, and lots of big, big furniture. We had United VanLines and it cost almost $10k to pack everything and move it (this was, by far, the lowest bid and my husband did lots of business with the CEO of the parent company - so this was the "friends" discount rate). The bids ranged ranged from $10k to $18k. We had a 4 day lag time between homes so they kept the truck loaded and stored the trailer part for those days in their warehouse. We are getting ready to move from VA to FL, and the quotes are signficantly lower. For some reason, local moves are more expensive. The movers will move things that you pack yourself, however, everything has to be in sealed cardboard boxes. For example, at least in my experience, they won't move say a bin of books. The bin has to be in a box. A moving company may not agree to move your piano though - you may need a piano mover for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Movers are negotiable . I would call around for prices and bargain for some packing or the storage. You are at high moving time but still if they have an empty truck they'll want your business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 It was my experience that if a homeowner packed anything that broke, then the moving company would just say it had not been packed correctly. Typical moving insurance pays pennies on the dollar; I've never heard anything good out of it. The last time we used movers, they didn't tell us something broke. They just conveniently forgot to unpack it from the truck, and we didn't notice until a few days later. Of course, they use the unpacking chaos to their advantage. We did not count items coming off of the truck. Fortunately, it was just a faux marble pedestal that we'd bought from Michael's for $20... Yeah, they did forget to unpack the vacuum cleaner. I noticed it right away (same day), and called them and they said they'd send it to us --but never did. Oh well. Everything else went well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 The variable I'm unsure of is the storage part. We have never had to do that. We were able to have stuff moved that we packed though. That has never been a problem. We saved a lot of money by packing stuff ourselves. I agree that's a big variable. The last time we moved was 17 years ago, and it was just my daughter and me moving out of a two bedroom apt., 1.5 hours away. The cost was $11,000. Yep--$11,000. Thankfully it was company paid, but they still added it into my "income" so I had to pay tax on that amount. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Cynthia, I'm sure you're in the middle of packing, but I'll send hugs and cheer you on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I agree that's a big variable. The last time we moved was 17 years ago, and it was just my daughter and me moving out of a two bedroom apt., 1.5 hours away. The cost was $11,000. Yep--$11,000. Thankfully it was company paid, but they still added it into my "income" so I had to pay tax on that amount. :glare: ...WOW. Your company must not have shopped around! 4 years ago we moved from 1100 sq ft in Seattle (WA) to Austin (TX) and spent $5500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 ...WOW. Your company must not have shopped around! 4 years ago we moved from 1100 sq ft in Seattle (WA) to Austin (TX) and spent $5500. Must've been a lot easier to stomach at tax time ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I agree that's a big variable. The last time we moved was 17 years ago, and it was just my daughter and me moving out of a two bedroom apt., 1.5 hours away. The cost was $11,000. Yep--$11,000. Thankfully it was company paid, but they still added it into my "income" so I had to pay tax on that amount. :glare: This is a company that has come highly recommended from several families. They have been in business here a loooong time. I am going to meet with him tomorrow afternoon. We will specifically talk about the piano. I think we will wind up packing as much as we can and having them pack the rest. We sold our house really fast (six days), and I already had hernia surgery scheduled for last Thursday. We also have a vacation scheduled during July. Part of it really cannot be changed as we are flying ds out to California for an EPGY class at Stanford. Dh really needs the vacation. So, while we would probably have originally packed a lot more ourselves, the time constraint as well as my recovery (going well, but still have to be careful) have changed that plan. We didn't imagine our house would sell so quickly, but we are certainly NOT complaining. Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Wow, you must be reeling! Took us over two and a half years. I'm glad to finally be up to my armpits in boxes;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andry Jolly Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I think the work of moving is really stressful and hire a professional mover for that is a good step. A professional mover help us a lot.:auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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