I’ve never hired movers before, but I am now putting my foot down and declaring us Too Old To Move Ourselves.
The first quote I got is for 3 men at $96 per hour or 4 men at $120 an hour. It’s a local move, and they’ll be lugging furniture and boxes down three flights of stairs here and up half a flight of stairs there. We have quite a few bookcases, desks and such things that require two people to handle them, including a monstrous sofa bed that took two guys nearly an hour to wrestle up here for delivery.
I’m thinking they’d probably move quicker with the 4 guys, right? It’s a two hour minimum, after two hours it’s prorated by the 15 minute.
I feel like this is a word problem from math class. I can get 3 guys for $32 each per hour or 4 guys for $30 each per hour. Doesn’t seem like a huge difference. But if they can do it an hour quicker with the fourth guy, I win, right?
It’s not worth paying $30 an hour just to lug some stuff out one house and into another in the same town, and they’re not doing any packing. Since they’re coming down THREE flights and UP a half flight, gravity will be their friend.
I’m betting you can get the job done for half that.
I say: screw the professional movers, especially since its an in-town move: get a teacher friend to vet four responsible, burly high school athletes while they still need to earn prom money or maybe younger members of your church. Tell them you’re willing to pay $60 bucks per head for about four hours’ work, cash. Or hire some day laborers early in the morning for the same price. Tell the day laborers you’ll drop them back off at whatever Lowe’s or gas station you found them at at the end of the job.
Have everybody bust their ass, but get them to move that monsterous couch on the lawn first but to load it on the truck last, so that it’s the first thing they move off the truck.
Spring for lunch. Burgers and drinks. Stick to the dollar menu.
This should bring your costs, including food, for a total of around $280 for your workers. Invest your savings in gasoline.
(NOTE: I had one guy insist he could load up and pack the truck by himself as long as he had a hand truck. Which he did, for double pay. Then he called up his girlfriend and we made a side deal for her to clean my apartment from kitchen to living room for another $50 bucks. I wound up paying them around $180 bucks.)
Thanks for the advice, but it’s illegal in my state to hire amateur movers. (I know, I know, don’t get me started.) And I don’t hate my friends enough to subject them to moving my stuff yet again.
I’m still waiting on a couple more estimates, but this one is in line with what I was told to expect for Chicago moving companies.
You have my sympathies. Fortunately I’ve never felt a moral obligation to obey an unjust law, or any I happen to feel were Supremely Stupid, Civically Unnecessary, Essentially Unforceable, or Things I Don’t See The Point Of Legislating. Next they’ll be going after neighborhood gypsy cabs.
If the heaviest things you own are numerous and require two men to lift, hire four guys. Get that couch moved out the house first and moved on the truck last. Clearly mark your FRAGILE items and consider moving those yourself. Offer plenty of cold beverages and low-sugar drinks if its a hot day. Earmark the bathrooms you prefer they use in both houses.
Interesting loophole I just thought of: if you hire movers to move your furnishings and large appliances and day laborers to move books and small items, are you in still in compliance with the law?
You have my sympathies. Fortunately I’ve never felt a moral obligation to obey an unjust law, or any I happen to feel were Supremely Stupid, Civically Unnecessary, Essentially Unforceable, or Things I Don’t See The Point Of Legislating. Next they’ll be going after neighborhood gypsy cabs.
If the heaviest things you own are numerous and require two men to lift, hire four guys. Get that couch moved out the house first and moved on the truck last. Clearly mark your FRAGILE items and consider moving those yourself. Offer plenty of cold beverages and low-sugar drinks if its a hot day. Earmark the bathrooms you prefer they use in both houses.
Interesting loophole I just thought of: if you hire movers to move your furnishings and large appliances and day laborers to move books and small items, are you in still in compliance with the law?
Lots of big things that take two guys to move? Go with four movers - they’ll be able to pair up to move things.
If you have three, two will be busy moving big things, and the third will probably be twiddling their thumbs becuase they’re of little use on their own.
Once the big stuff’s moved, then four guys moving small things will go quickly.
