Hire movers for a local move?

[Laurel]

We're moving into a new house across town next week, and it's the first time I've considered hiring movers. We can afford movers but also have many friends that are willing to help. Until now, we've only had the rent-a-uhaul, get-your -friends-to-help-in-exchange-for-beer-and-pizza-type-moves. Of course, this is also our first move with kids as a family of four, so it is a bit different.

If you think hiring some movers is the best way to go, any advice or tips on hiring them?

TIA

[purpleeyes]

We're moving across the neighborhood and we're *still* getting movers! At least for the furniture, since we have three bedroom sets, two couches, dining room, etc. I just don't want to think about my friends/family doing all that.
In terms of advice, I would absolutely get some estimates, and go with a reputable company that can promise you a hired staff, not just some guys off the street. We had a problem with that in our last move, apparently they just hire guys randomly on the weekends to help with the moves, they didn't really care about doing a good job, just about getting paid.
Good luck!
B

[KrisM]

I would hire. We moved 1.5 miles 2 years ago when DS was 16 months. I was super organized and everything was in a box. They moved us in 2 trips in 6 hours. They put furniture where you want it, boxes in the correct rooms, and it just makes it so nice. I had the kitchen unpacked the first night and a lot of the other stuff within a week or so. It was very nice to have a family room with furniture and not a ton of boxes right away as well.

[o_mom]

Most of our friends that have done local moves recently have used movers for the big stuff and then moved the boxes and little stuff themselves. Some hired U-hauls to do their part and others just made multiple trips depending on how far the move was.

It seemed that most found that you could either get a rate for a set of stuff (I want you to move 3 beds, 2 sofas and these 5 pieces) or an hourly/daily rate where they would load until a certain time or the truck was full and then unload the same day.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yes, hire them! You can just hire them to move the big stuff if you want. That's what we did one time.

Beth

[ellies mom]

By all means, yes. It is worth every stinkin' penny. You will be amazed at how much smoother and easier it goes than moving with friends. We do all the packing but we will never do the actual moving ourselves again. I agree to go with a reputable company. They usually come out and look at the amount of stuff you have and give you an estimate. One thing to ask about if you need more than one truck is to compare the price of two trucks-one trip vs one truck two trips. Depending on distance, it is worth it to only rent one truck and have them make two trips. We've done it both ways and it doesn't make a big difference time-wise.

[wellyes]

Absolutely hire movers! We just did our first "not paying with pizza" move last year, and it was so worth the money.

The one piece of advice I have is to make sure you prep everything in advance. We had a barrister bookshelf which they wouldn't move until it was encased in bubble wrap & lots of tape (understandable, lots of breakable glass). They ended up charging us something like $35 for the materials used to do the wrapping. If I'd planned ahead, I would have just wrapped some blankets around the it and paid nothing. But I still have no regrets, it was so much easier and quicker relying on the pros.

[kedss]

We moved across town a few years ago, and we hired movers, best thing we did, esp with a 9 month old. We hired a crew that was connected to the University and they even knocked off some $ since it didn't take as long as they thought it would take.

Go for it!

[Nyfeara]

Definitely would recommend hiring movers. Do your research on the company first and have several give you an estimate. You can cut some of the cost by packing your smaller stuff yourself, finding or buying your own boxes and packing material. I think we bought a huge roll of bubble wrap from Staples at the time.

We packed most of our own boxes and labeled each box with what room it was to be placed in in the new house. We moved some more fragile things ourselves (specific antiques, jewelry, computers). Having movers take care of the furniture is a big plus! We moved from a 3 BR rental that was fully furnished and they moved everything in one trip. So much nicer than taking multiple trips yourself over days or a whole week.

The company we used had a contract that estimated the cost and included a guarantee that they would not charge more than that estimate or more than 5% above the estimate. They actually came in below the estimate, but it was nice to know the absolute maximum we may have to pay.

Good luck!

[KrisM]

Another big benefit is that most movers move dressers with clothing in them! Less to pack/unpack. Ours also loaned for free wardrobe boxes for the closet. They gave them to me first thing when they arrived, I loaded them up, labeled them, and unpacked them right away to give boxes back.