Moving an American 1850 Antebellum Sofa

Posted on by
Reply

Antebellum Sofa

We moved this sofa last week. The customer wouldn’t guess a dollar figure on how much it is worth–A LOT!! I’ve seen something like these in museums, and she said that actually 1850 American sofas are worth much more on the antique market than 1850 European sofas. Probably because there are fewer American sofas of this age.

This sofa is actually came from her ancestor four-or-so generations back, who lived on a Southern antebellum plantation. This customer had other expensive armoires and wardrobes from Europe, but she said this sofa was by far her most valuable piece.

She told me the details on this sofa almost in a whisper. She related later that she didn’t want to go into too much detail about the origins of the sofa in front of the African-American moving workers, whose ancestors theoretically COULD HAVE BEEN SLAVES ON HER ANCESTOR’S PLANTATION!

To protect the sofa for the move, we first taped clean quilted pads around it, and then shrink-wrapped it. With newer, more common sofas, you can stand them up on-end in the truck. But WE WOULDN’T DREAM OF DOING THAT WITH THIS SOFA! Besides the eagle-talon style feet had been cracked and repaired before. So the sofa had to stay right-side-up at all times and we put it right-side-up on its feet at the end of the load in the truck. We had to make sure we had extra space, since the sofa was on its feet taking up a lot of room, and nothing could be stacked on top of it!

Wrapping Pictures in Paper Pads

Posted on by
Reply

paper pads

The normal “deluxe” way of wrapping/packing pictures and paintings is to wrap it first in a paper pad, and then put it in a four-piece picture box. Putting together four-piece boxes is very time-consuming, but certainly recommended for very high-value pictures and fragile mirrors.

Often a good compromise is to wrap the picture/painting in just a paper pad. It’s easy and the paper pad is clean unlike a quilted pad which has probably been through the “ringer” many times, and may be full of dirt and mud.

Moving Items to Self-Storage Bins

Posted on by
Reply
Ricky Packing a Storage Unit

Ricky Packing a Storage Unit

We will move a customer’s items either to their own storage, or to our storage:

1) If they are using their own storage, we will tell them what size storage bin they need.
2) <a href=”“>Usually climate-controlled storage is not required, though we also offer climate-controlled storage if it is really required.

Dresser Wrapped Up and Ready for Loading From House in Roswell, GA

Posted on by
Reply

dresser-wrapped-up-ready-for-loading-in-roswell

I like the label on the dresser, “Master Bed Room.” Wrapping up the dresser in pads and shrink wrap protects it very well, but then you cannot identify the piece without taking off the pads and shrink wrap. The label tells the workers which room to push the dresser into.

Preparing Lamps For the Movers to Move Them

Posted on by
Reply

desk-and-pole-lamps

Lamp shades cannot go into the moving truck by themselves. They need to be packed in boxes–one lamp shade per box. You can surround the lamp shade with packing paper. Use the smallest box possible for the lamp shade. You will probably use either a 1.5 cube, 3.0 cube, or 4.5 cube box.

If the base of the lamp is not fragile–if it’s brass or some hard material, then the Movers can just wrap the lamp base in a pad and place it in the truck. If the lamp has a vase-like base, then it needs to be placed in a box.

Movers can take pole-lamps into the truck, as long as the lamp shade is removed.

Preparing Paintings and Pictures To Be Moved

Posted on by
Reply

Glass Covered Painting, and small enough to go in Dish-Pack Box

Glass Covered Painting, and small enough to go in Dish-Pack Box


Dish-Pack Box in which small paintings and pictures can be packed

Dish-Pack Box in which small paintings and pictures can be packed

For moving purposes, there are four categories of paintings and pictures:

1) Ones small enough to fit in a Dish-Pack Box:

Since a Dish-Pack dimensions are around 24” x 20” x “34, the picture should be small enough to comfortably fit in the box. Wrap the pictures in Packing Paper or even Bubble-Wrap—though Bubble-Wrap is usually not necessary—and you can fit multiple pictures this size in Dish-Pack Box

2) Paintings or Pictures too large to fit in a Dish-Pack box, and under $1000 in value which are covered with glass:

Because of its glass-covering, the painting/picture might be moved safely covered in either a quilted pad or a paper pad—as long as the picture frame is not fragile or expensive. If it is, then we should use the next higher level of protection—the Picture Box. The best way is to wrap the picture in a Paper Pad before inserting it into the Picture Box. If you don’t have a Paper Pad, you can also use Packing Paper or Bubble-Wrap. Make sure you protect the corners.

Framed Oil Painting--Needs be covered in Paper Pad, then placed in Picture Box

Framed Oil Painting--Needs be covered in Paper Pad, then placed in Picture Box

Picture Box

Picture Box

3) Paintings or Pictures too large to fit in a Dish-Pack Box, and under $1000 in value which are not covered by glass—“Oil Paintings:”

You don’t want a dirty quilted pad to touch the surface of an oil painting, and they usually have decent frames so a Picture Box is usually required. The best way is to wrap the picture in a Paper Pad before inserting it into the Picture Box. If you don’t have a Paper Pad, you can also use Packing Paper or Bubble-Wrap. Make sure you protect the corners.

Pictures Wrapped in Paper Pads Without "Picture Boxes" Surrounding Them

4) Paintings/Pictures over $1000 in value:

$1000 is obviously an arbitrary even number, and the number should climb higher with inflation, but in 2009 most Movers will think about having a wooden crate made for pictures in this value category. And there are many pictures in Atlanta homes valued at 10K, 50K and higher. Movers are not going to put a high-value picture in the truck without it being in a wooden picture crate. If it’s a local move, the homeowner/customer does have the option to move the picture himself–in his car–in order to save the extra cost of having the wooden crate made. Check to make sure your vehicle will accommodate the size of the picture.