Costs of some basic odds and ends

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Looking for some broad cost estimates on a couple of things I havent done or done in a while. Hoping someone can help.

How much does a mover charge to haul a moderate size home contents (furniture only, we'll pack and haul the small stuff, clothes etc) about an hour and a half, single story with no stairs on one end, two story with a steep driveway, several concrete steps, and some stuff taken to the 2nd story? Major appliances all go to the first floor. Dont need super movers, my stuff can take a scratch or ding...just a hauler that'll throw a couple of blankets over stuff and tie it off in the truck.

I moved myself the last time, and my company moved me the time before that. Last time I paid a mover was in 1994 and it was $500 to haul a 3 bedroom house's furniture about an hour to another place.

This new place has a 'low spot' in the yard that collects rain water from the property, then it seems into the crawl space. So far this hasnt caused any major issues for 17 years, but I dont want a muddy spot with 3 dogs playing in it, just the same. I figured to put in a 9" drain and about 40' of french drain to carry from the low spot out to the front of the property. The 'rise' thats stopping free flow is about 18" higher than the low spot, and the property declines 15' out front to the street, so I can definitely get a nice angle on it, but there is heavy granite shoulders and some of them contain asbestos, so some rock removal with breathing apparatus might come into play. Hopefully we can get down 2' and it'll just be earth. I've seen numbers around $25 to trench and put in the drain. Once trenched, I can do the pipe and drain myself, but i'm not looking forward to digging out 40-50' of 12" wide, 2' deep trench. And I've seen a few injuries resulting from rented ditch witch mishaps.

I'll also need to build a 6'x3' retaining wall and regrade a 10x10 area of earth about six inches from flowing towards the house to flowing away. Any ideas on the cost of that sort of operation? Same "might run into some hard rock" clauses apply.

Any rough estimates of similar jobs done recently is most appreciated.

 

[Sam]

I don't have an answer to your questions.

Just want to say that I get a big rush, following by pain looking at your new avatar

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, i'm waiting for some newbs to start hitting on me, like they did the last time I used it for a while.

"Dude! I'm a dude!"

 

[TromboneAl]

June 21, 1999, check to the moving company: $3,453.

Three bedroom + office to Three bedroom + office, we put things in boxes. Old house, two story+ with 41 stairs to the first floor, new house standard two story. All major appliances to first floor. Distance 300 miles. I got several estimates.

They may charge more due to your gender issues.

Hope that helps.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Owie. Thats a lot. I was figuring/hoping something in the $1000-1200 range. I'd do it myself but it's going to be challenging to get the 26 cuft refrigerator and the 65" big screen tv up the driveway, up the tilted stepped concrete walkway, up the front stairs, and into the kitchen.

Shoot, if its gonna be $3500 bucks it'd be cheaper for me to just move the smaller furniture myself, and leave the washer/dryer/refrigerator here for sale with the home...buy all new ones and have them delivered.

 

[TromboneAl]

You'll save some money if you deflate your kayak before moving.

BTW, how did that kayak work out for you?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just great. Quite pleased with it in fact. A little tougher to paddle in the fast moving water around here as the old heavy rigid model could hold its ground a bit better while the inflatable tended to be more influenced by the current.

Got that one deep slice in the outer cover that I had to patch. I suspect it'll work even better with the large, slower moving bodies of water where i'm moving to. And not a lot of shallow bottom areas full of broken glass and junk either

Hey...did you just 'kayak' my thread?

 

[W2R]

Shoot, if its gonna be $3500 bucks it'd be cheaper for me to just move the smaller furniture myself, and leave the washer/dryer/refrigerator here for sale with the home...buy all new ones and have them delivered.

Good plan. Leaving the appliances really cuts down on the grunt work. Also, since you are not moving far, you can probably get a couple of strong guys to help lift the furniture for not very much (or maybe you have friends with teenaged sons who might help?).

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Thats a good idea, maybe I can get a little help from a couple of guys to just bring the stuff inside the house.

Unfortunately all my friends are exactly like me...45-55 year old guys with bad knees and creaky backs with <5 year old kids.

Although...if we lay down enough of the 5 year old kids, we might be able to roll the stuff over them and up the stairs...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Also torn between doing the french drain and just digging a shallow dry well and putting a sump pump in it.

 

[W2R]

Thats a good idea, maybe I can get a little help from a couple of guys to just bring the stuff inside the house.

Unfortunately all my friends are exactly like me...45-55 year old guys with bad knees and creaky backs with <5 year old kids.

Although...if we lay down enough of the 5 year old kids, we might be able to roll the stuff over them and up the stairs...

LOL!!! Maybe so.

If all else fails, I'd bet that if you call a local moving company they'd supply a couple of strong backs for some ridiculously cheap hourly wage.

 

[nwsteve]

How much does a mover charge to haul a moderate size home contents (furniture only,

CFB-
We did a 300 mile (1 way) Intrastate move last August. Had six rooms plus my office (3 desks , 3 bookcases and large wall unit plus all the ofice stuff). Bill just under 4k--we packed and they loaded and unloaded. No appliances. Unless your appliances are less than seven years old, the new unit energy values and cost of move do not really make it worth moving them.
We got the best leverage on mover from our realtor--one of the "soft" benefits of paying their absurb commission. Rate we paid was well below published. In some states, gov agency will set rates for in-state moves. We were close enough to full truck load, that they hauled our plants and other misc without any surcharge--room in truck. Anyone you choose should come out and give you a firm estimate. Lots of horrow stories on low price movers, so references are important.
We thought long and hard about a do-it-yourself but when all said and done, really glad I did not have the hassle and have to deal with the heat (summer move). Rental trucks are no bargain either if you have to do a drop charge.
nwsteve

 

[wabmester]

What are you getting quoted for digging the french drain? We had one put in a couple years ago. About 60' @ $1900.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I havent gotten a number yet, just trying to get some general ideas before we 'take the plunge'. Right now we're looking at a very fair price for what we knew the place needed...but we found another 5-10k worth of stuff thats health and safety related that needs to be done and i'm looking for room from the seller...

$25 a foot keeps coming up. Yours is a lot higher than that!

We have a two year old fridge...energy star...and a pair of front loader washer/dryers that are about 6 years old and i'm not that fond of them. 250lb 65" big screen is the tough one. The garage fridge I can push over onto my trailer, pull up the driveway, stand it back up and push it into the garage myself.

Everything else is stuff that I can either load on a 2 wheeler or carry. We're not taking half our furniture as its getting old and this is a good time to freecycle it and buy some new stuff, have it delivered to the new house. We're not taking about 40% of the rest of the 'small stuff' either, so its going to be a piecemeal effort.

Distance is about 70 miles door to door. Did a large u-haul truck the last time and it was about $180 total.

Figured if I did a mover, and it cost me less than a new fridge, it'd work out. But then again, I'd love one of those nice stainless steel refrigerators...

 

[wabmester]

$25 a foot keeps coming up. Yours is a lot higher than that!

Yeah, we paid about $30/ft for 4' depth. I think I got ripped off, but this was one of those "get 'er done" kinda deals.

 

[sailor]

Yeah, we paid about $30/ft for 4' depth. I think I got ripped off, but this was one of those "get 'er done" kinda deals.

If you are a cheapskate like myself, it's $19.99 +tax for a 100ft 4" pipe at HD or Lowes.
About $20 for a pick-axe and another $20 for a spade.
But I only had 120 ft and only 1ft deep. If I had more/deeper I might rent a ditch-witch.

 

[OAG]

August 2005 -- 900 mile move. We packed ALL of the little stuff. No refrigerators, no washer or dryer. One large 250 lb TV, Large Media box, Two large bedrooms (bed, dressers, night stands, large amours. Some tables, chairs and coffee table and end tables. Office stuff (desk, file cabinet, storage dresser, computer, monitor etc.,). About 125 Boxes of stuff (about the size of a large cereal box). Did not seem to be much to me and the truck was a small straight unit. Easy move single level to a 3 story unit (first floor, basement and loft). Cost: $4,700 but a very well packed and no damage move.

 

[modhatter]

If you want to go cheap. Just rent one or two Ryder Trucks, call the Day Labor office for 4 guys and hire them for day. If it's only 1 1/2 hour drive, you could do it in one day and have truck returned next day.

Or if you have access there, some illegal workers will do the same.

 

[REWahoo]

I figured to put in a 9" drain and about 40' of french drain...

Dong! Dong! Dong! ... Wrong!

The last thing you want to do is put in a French drain. If you want to move water fast, go with a German drain. If you want to move it reliably, go with a Japanese drain. If you end going with a French one it will give up on you at the first sign of a heavy rain.

 

[HFWR]

And it'll be rude, and drink all your wine...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You had me for just a second there... "German drain? Huh...never heard of those".

 

[KB]

3 years ago I moved from one house to another in the same town. I found the estimate and it was for $577.06. That was for 6.75 hours of work. They had a 4 hour minimum and it took less than that. There was a 16.81 fuel charge, the mileage was something like 6 miles.

I didn't keep the credit card statement, but I know it was less than that. Possibly a little under $400. And they moved everything...washer, dryer, freezer, fridge, all the boxes we packed, all furniture, BBQ.. I had them set up all furniture and leave all boxes in the garage.

Mainly they loaded and unloaded...

 

[W2R]

August 2005 -- 900 mile move. We packed ALL of the little stuff. No refrigerators, no washer or dryer. One large 250 lb TV, Large Media box, Two large bedrooms (bed, dressers, night stands, large amours. Some tables, chairs and coffee table and end tables. Office stuff (desk, file cabinet, storage dresser, computer, monitor etc.,). About 125 Boxes of stuff (about the size of a large cereal box). Did not seem to be much to me and the truck was a small straight unit. Easy move single level to a 3 story unit (first floor, basement and loft). Cost: $4,700 but a very well packed and no damage move.

This is encouraging! I would have thought that such an interstate move would have cost three or four times as much, even though you did the packing yourself. It's really hard to get a idea of what moving should cost without getting an estimate, since the companies really don't say anything general about their prices online.

 

[TromboneAl]

Good one, REW!

And be careful of the American drain -- it will invade your neighbor's property. Similarly, the Mexican drain will illegally cross the property line.

 

[simple girl]

As another poster said, it can be done fairly cheaply if you just hire load/unload help and rent and drive the truck yourself.

Sometimes it can be difficult to find load/unload help (many movers are full service only). However, if you call around, you may find someone. We found movers that charged $60/hr with no minimum for 2 men (they were running a special, with no travel time fee either). Took only 2 hours to load our 2 bdrm apartment. Note that we were completely pack and staged all of the boxes, etc. for them so it was extremely efficient. $120 (plus tip).

Rented a 24' truck for $700 (including insurance, taxes, etc.). This was for ~ 630 mile move, one-way. I've found Budget seems to be more competitive than U-haul, but I always get comparisons. Also, go for a big enough truck. Trying to squeeze stuff in a small truck is not only stressful, but costs you more time.

We also used e-move.com to find load/unload help. Worked great for one of our moves, got someone for ridiculously low price of $20/hr (1 man). Did not work well for the other end of one of our moves...the mover didn't show up (heart attack). So, can't say I recommend it 100%, but it is an option to consider if you can't find any help.

P.S. make sure you have a dolly and get furniture pads; string is useful for drawers, etc., too.