Meanwhile, back on the home front.....

[poltr1]

Today I cleaned up and sorted the area around the downstairs bathroom. I split up the items into three piles/totes: Likely to use, Not likely to use, and Don't/Won't use.

Most of the stuff that R left behind in the vanity drawers and cabinet were put in the Don't/Won't use. I separated out the hair thingies and jewelry, since I thought she might still want them. I also cleaned up the counter, which desperately needed cleaning.

Some of the items in the Likely to use pile were boxed and labeled for eventual moving.
The next step is to to do the same to the upstairs bathroom.

A question for those of you who used professional movers: Do they expect everything to be boxed up when they get there? Or is that something they'll do for a price?

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

While there are some movers who will box and prep things, they tend to cost too much on an hourly basis for anything other than extraordinary items (antiques or exceptionally large/fragile items that you can't pack adequately yourself). I'd recommend doing as much as you humanly can, unless money is a lesser consideration than time and energy.

[tollermom]

Movers will pack for you... but they'll charge you dearly. For my move to Indy, I packed non-breakables and let the movers pack the stuff that I wanted them to be responsible for if it broke. Worked well... but I was being reimbursed for that move, so I calculated what I could afford to have the movers pack and still stay inside my moving allowance.

When I moved from Indy to the new house, I packed a ton, then friends helped me pack a ton more, then the movers (who were really loader/unloaders, since I had rented a Packrat) loaded all the furniture, boxes, and random Stuff into the Packrat for the trip up the road. Much cheaper. Much much cheaper. But I couldn't have done it without Barry and Sally and Michael and Li, and then Jen on the unpacking end (she helped shelf-paper and then organize the kitchen, which got it liveable much faster than if I'd done it all myself).

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Whether or not movers expect you to pack or expect to pack depends upon the arrangements you make beforehand. I recommend not trusting the movers to pack your stuff. When I moved, the movers told me they'd pack up my computer room, but when it came time to pack things up, they flaked and even broke some of my stuff!

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

I definately concur with packing EVERYTHING but the breakables. If the movers pack them, they're responsible for any breakage. In our move to Ohio, Jim and I had the movers do just that and it worked beautifully. They packed the china and crystal WAY better than either of us could have managed.

You will be charged hourly for them doing the packing and there will be at least 3 or 4 so multiply the number of people by the hour. Another thing to consider, packers use paper - and LOTS OF IT. They use special, extra thick sheets of paper that you will have strewn ALL OVER the place and not know what to do with. Also, you have no control over HOW they pack it, you just sit back and marvel at the speed.

So, all things considered, it's most wise to pack yourself, minus the breakables.