This high-roof van with 10 feet cargo space behind the seats, holds about 2000 lbs of household goods, including the moving equipment. Fortunately this load only had about 1600 pounds and we had room to spare!

But the most critical part of this eight-day moving project was getting all the items in the small van. My original survey indicated this load was “pushing” 2000 pounds. There was a huge cost and comfort savings to going with this NV2500 van rather than the next bigger van–a 15 foot box truck. So I had the backup plan of shipping by UPS or DHL if had been two or three final items which would not fit in the NV2500.

PARKED AT A REST STOP IN PADUCAH, TENNESSEE

THE ST. LOUIS GATEWAY ARCH

THE GATEWAY ARCH ARCING OVER THE PARK LIKE A SILVER RAINBOW

SNOW IN SOUTH DAKOTA! I did this trip in late April 2013. A month before, in March, the customer said there was snow in Missoula, MT that week, but that by the time I got there in late April there was sure not to be snow. In no way did I prepare for snow! I brought a couple light fleece jackets and one heavier jacket, and some light gloves, but didn’t even have a hat, and had no real serious snow wear. When I was near Omaha, Nebraska, I stopped for lunch, and checked my iPhone for weather reports on the area ahead–which was Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On the “Weather Channel” Ap, there was an exclamation mark for Sioux Falls, SD, warning of severe weather. In Atlanta, where I live, a “severe weather” warning might warn of possible tornadoes 75 miles north, or floods 50 miles south. But this warning for Sioux Falls, SD, said “Six Inches of Snow Expected, and Record Lows of 10 degrees! I quickly looked at the map and checked the weather predictions for going on a more southward path through Nebraska rather than South Dakota. The weather predicted in Nebraska was just as bad, and I really wanted to drive through South Dakota.

I grew up in Southern California, and when I saw snow it was because we were going on a special trip to SEE SNOW(!) either to go skiing or just look at the beautiful snowy mountains. When we started driving in the morning, there was no snow on the ground, and there was snow at the ski area, and no snow again as we drove back. On this Montana trip, I DROVE FOR A DAY AND A HALF WITH SNOW ON THE GROUND! — all the way through South Dakota.

AN INTERSTATE MOVE USUALLY DOESN’T INCLUDE PALATIAL LODGING

SITTING AT THE BAR AT “FRED’S MESQUITE GRILL” IN BUTTE, MONTANA: I had Halibut, Veggies, Tiramisu, an Newcastle Beer. I usually drink wine at dinner rather than beer, but I had two hours of driving ahead of me that night, to get to Missoula, and beer makes me a little less intoxicated.

EARLY MORNING IN MISSOULA BEFORE UNLOADING TO THE CUSTOMER’S 4TH STORY APARTMENT

THREE VIEWS ABOVE FROM THE BALCONY OF THE CUSTOMER’S APARTMENT

THREE VIEW ABOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL MISSOULA RIVER

ON THE RUNWAY AT THE MISSOULA AIRPORT AWAITING TAKEOFF TO FLY HOME

Some people are golf fanatics that play twice a week or more, and some have basically stored their clubs in the garage long-term. As a mover, it helps to know which kind of client you have.

When I used to play golf seriously (in High School), I would not have wanted anyone else banging and moving around my clubs, and as a mover, I hope that the real golf aficionado moves his own clubs. But even the serious golfer may need the mover to move the clubs. The mover is there to provide the moving service, and the client may have multiple golf bags to be moved. I am curious what level of protection is used when moving Tiger Woods’ clubs and other PGA members. I cannot even tell you the standard procedure for transporting golf clubs in an airplane, though I recall seeing fitted corners that go over the top of the bag. I would be interested in comments on the different levels of protection when flying golf clubs on an airline.

Below is how I wrapped a client’s golf clubs.

Putting golf bags in a Wardrobe box would add another level of protection.

This box shows the problem. A leaky, soapy mess! Often home cleaning fluids will leak right through the box and into the load. Imagine the consequences if the leaky box happens to be sitting on top of say, a leather sofa standing on end! With this particular box, we fortunately identified it as leaking and put it outside in the straw, so it could harmlessly drain. The box was meant to go in the customer’s new basement, and it would not have been nice if it had leaked all over their new basement floor. But the box traveled in the load to the new destination. So it was only pure luck that the box didn’t leak during transit and cause significant damage!

For interstate moves, there is an outright ban on putting cleaning fluids in the load. And it is usually easy for the customer to understand. Bottles of cleaning fluid cannot be bouncing around somewhere in the load for hundreds or thousands of miles. But for local moves it is trickier, since the customer will not think twice about putting cleaning supplies on their truck when doing a Do-It-Yourself-Move in say, a U-Haul. When a Mover tells the Customer the cleaning supplies cannot go on the truck, even when the truck is only going a few miles, the Customer may not be happy. The Customer may not have room in his car trunk, and may not want to make an additional trip back just to get the cleaning supplies!

Since I am always trying to please the customer if-at-all-possible, I have struggled to find a safe way to move their cleaning supplies on the back of the truck. My imperfect algorithm is as follows:

When the Loader sees a box of cleaning supplies approaching the truck–he should immediately remove that box and put it outside and beside the truck. You may put it with other items in the category of “Going-At-The-End-of-The-Truck.” Other items in this category are live plants (also an absolute no-no on an interstate move, but you can get by with moving them on a local move). With the cleaning supplies outside the truck, you can also watch the box to see if it is already leaking, much like you might watch a refrigerator or washing machine for water leaks. This rule assumes YOU CAN IDENTIFY THE BOX AS CONTAINING CLEANING SUPPLIES. This will only happen if
The box was properly labeled. In this picture the box is MOST DEFINITELY NOT LABELED PROPERLY! “Laundry Room” does not tell you there are messy cleaning supplies inside!

When Labeling the box, put something like “* * DANGER — CLEANING SUPPLIES — PUT AT END OF TRUCK * *”

IN CONCLUSION: A purist Mover/Loader will make it easy on himself and just ban the cleaning supplies on the truck. But if he decides to risk it, he must keep the cleaning supplies box at the end of the truck, sitting on the floor by itself to minimize leaking throughout the load.

The vertical pieces on these marble table-tops unscrew from the horizontal pieces. This greatly simplifies moving them. When I first saw them, I originally thought we would need to have crates made to fit the L-shaped table-tops as is.

At the beginning you may find the de-cluttering job to be redundant and pointless. However, after getting to know the various benefits of de-cluttering, you will either enjoy the job or take up the job forcefully depending on your mood.

De-cluttering is vital, particularly when you plan to sell your home. People keen on purchasing your home generally look for more space and de-cluttering ensures that it looks organized. Too many items placed haphazardly in your home create an impression of a stuffy place in the mind of potential buyers. It is therefore imperative to de-clutter your home to make it appear spacious and boost its sales value. A little bit of hard work is all that is needed to create a good impression about your home to the buyers. This will help you fetch a good deal when selling your home. Besides improving the sales value of your home, de-cluttering has several other benefits:

• Having a peaceful mind through a tranquil environment is the major benefit of de-cluttering your home. By discarding unwanted items or placing them with secure removal and storage companies, more space is created at home, which will allow you have peace of mind.
• De-cluttering allows you to easily manage space and does not consume much of your time. Sorting out things from an entire mess consumes a whole lot of time. However, you can save time if you have lesser items at home.
• De-cluttering allows easy accessibility to items and storing them tidily becomes a lot easier.
• De-cluttering home helps you focus on more important things, particularly if you set up a home office; it becomes vital to de clutter the area by removing unnecessary objects.
• De cluttering is beneficial; as it helps you avoid making duplicate purchases.
• At times you think you have run out of something and go to a nearby shop to purchase the item. However, after returning you discover that you already have the items, but were unable to find them due to the mess at home. If items are properly arranged and well organized, you can avoid buying duplicate items. The money used to buy duplicate items can be spent elsewhere.

Keep your home free of clutter and have an enjoyable time with family, friends by inviting them over the weekends.

AUTHOR BIO: Rony Mikal is a blogger and author of books primarily focusing on storage and self storage related topics. He is an avid traveler and loves spending quality time with family. Besides blogging, Rony is a great cook and a good dancer. Londoners greatly admire John for his brilliant work on storage and relocation. Here the
Primary focus is on Household Removals and Storage

Just a couple stair steps into and out of a house, can really throw off your rhythm or even result in damages or injury. How much easier it is when you have a ramp like this to take out the steps!

In the last month we have comfortably rolled two large studio pianos over this ramp which would have been a b**** to move one step at a time. It is also much easier and quicker to roll–say 200 boxes–up and down this ramp, than to negotiate stair steps each time.

The downside to this ramp is it is rather large and bulky to be truly “portable.” I’m going to check out the lighter “Stair Step Ramps” that you see on the interstate tractor trailers.

An excellent place by the way–to purchase either kind of ramp is at N & N Moving Supplies

In the picture above, if you zoom in on the third floor of the stairway, you can see the excellent workers, Dee Shepard and Ricky Jackson, carrying a large piece around the bend.

This picture below shows the truck backed down a sidewalk, for loading. at the Hayden Place Apartments in Chattanooga, TN. The customer was moving from a 3rd floor walkup in Chattanooga, TN to a 5th floor loft with elevator in the “Ice House Lofts” in Decatur, GA.

USING A PANEL CART TO CONVENIENTLY ROLL A LOT OF LONG, FLAT ITEMS

On the two arched bar handles, you see quilted pad covers. They are a new addition and very helpful at preventing door scratch claims. Without the pads, the steel bar handles are out in the open, and when the cart is pushed through a doorway, the bars can collide with and scratch the wood door.

The View From the Customer’s 5th Floor Ice House Loft About 6:30pm in the Evening, Looking West. The Metal Building Below is The “Sycamore Art Gallery”>;;;;;/strong>;;;;;

Viewing the Ice House at a distance from the West (Looking East) from a dirt road just west of Fellini’s Pizza. You can see the Fellini’s Pizza sign to the left, and part of the restaurant building to the right. Fellini’s Pizza, by the way, in in old Greyhound Bus Station Building. The Greyhound sign is still on the wall above the pizza ovens. The brick Ice House complex is in the background.

Viewing the “Ice House” from the front

The view from a 4th floor balcony looking southeast.

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