What to have ready for the call
Say what has to go and where it sits when you call. A rough count of the big pieces is useful: couches, mattresses, dressers, appliances, boxes of what did not make the move last time. A piece-by-piece list is not needed; the count alone names the shape of the load.
Which floor the pile sits on comes up next. Second-floor bedroom, basement laundry room, attic, back of the garage. Say whether the basement has exterior stairs or only an interior staircase, since both routes mean something different for a large piece.
The stairs and the way out matter too. Front steps, back porch, service elevator, alley gate, inside corridor. Narrow stairs with a tight turn at the top set up the carry out differently than an open stairwell with wide landings. Think about where you would move a chair out yourself.
Where a truck can stop decides how long the carry is between the front door and the box. An alley with room beside a two-flat is one answer; a short run on a side street is another; a loading dock behind a courtyard building is a third. Say which one is in play on the call. In a high-rise, ask the building office about the service elevator.
Anything heavy or awkward belongs on the same list. A piano, a hot tub in the back yard, tile or concrete from a remodel, an old safe, a treadmill, a sleeper sofa with a full mechanism. Dense material is heavy for its size, and the weight changes how the job gets scoped.
Anything that stays. Keepsakes, papers, art on the walls, a chair that moves to the next place, a box the kids are still deciding on. Set those aside on a table or in one room, and say on the call which room holds the keep pile.
Ask the building owner or manager before setting a date.
Until the crew comes
Leave heavy pieces where they are. Nothing goes down a staircase before a crew is there to carry it, and nothing goes out to the alley or the curb. Keep paint, household chemicals, fuel, propane and batteries apart from the pile the crew will take; those usually need special disposal and do not go on the truck.
Where we work in Chicago
The crew works on Chicago houses, two-flats and apartments. Describe the address and the nearest cross streets on the call; the building, the floor and the stairs tell more than the part of town does. In Chicago, about 57 percent of homes sit in buildings of one to four units and about 43 percent sit in buildings of five or more.1