Binners are Winners!

We were driving from a largely disorganized job when the usually reticent “H” (or haitch, if you prefer) spied a green dumpster in the alley and murmured ” A customers’ best friend”. Hah! – good one methinks.

It’s true, a fundamental mistake made in the preparation for a move is the lack of purging. Instead of using the opportunity to throw sh*t away, people invariably drag their trap to the new venue with predictable results. Take for example a recent move we did from a large one bedroom to a smaller one. People generally have poor spatial recognition and after we unloaded the items there wasn’t a foot of open walking space – the new apartment was turned into a storage locker much to the consternation of the wife, who exclaimed to her husband “I told you so”!

An outcome like this is common yet unnecessary; use the transition as an opportunity to divest yourself of the detritus. Yet perhaps you are not persuaded by my exhortations alone? Let me put it another way: The people we moved into the cosy one bedroom apartment could have saved about three hours or $250 by ridding themselves of their excess before the move and not after.

If you are unsure what to do with your odds and ends remember charities such as the Salvation Army will accept most of your stuff though it must be clean and undamaged. After that, start giving it to your new best friend: the dumpster in the back of your building, it’s a win-win.

How Long Will My Move Take?

When quizzed about how much time a move might take, my former boss liked to say “It takes what it takes.” And while there is nothing like a Bertuzzi-esque circular tautology to bring a smile to a customers’ face, these days we like to be less obtuse. There is a variety of factors that contribute to the amount of time a job takes. They include, though are not limited to, number of items to be moved, distance from apartment to truck, stairs v. elevator, packing efficiency and more.

The quickest moves we see are people on the ground floor of an apartment building with patio access to the street, moving to the same scenario. It is often possible to move the contents of this standard one bedroom place from a to b in about two hours. From here the duration increases, for example if you had the same number of items going from the 2nd floor of an apartment building with stairs, to the 2nd floor with elevator, it is realistic to add an hour to 1.5 hrs. Preparation for the move can also play an important role in the time consideration. If the bed needs to be disassembled (very common) or the packing is not complete when we arrive, time accrues.

One of the most common factors to add time to a job is a long carry. This means each trip has to cover significant distance (a long hall way or through a car park) to the truck or the apartment. A small elevator can also add time to your job by simply restricting the number of goods that can be transported in one trip, besides issues created by not having the elevator locked off.

A proficient residential furniture mover should be able to give you a general time estimate based on a description of the larger items, a box count and details about access. Remember to tell your mover about issues highlighted above: it will increase the accuracy of the estimate.