Contractors, have you ever pulled up to a job site at a new clients home, walk up to the front door Hummel-in-hand to hit the ground running on a Monday morning ring the doorbell, see the front door swing open to a smiling face and a house FULL of stuff? Clients, have you ever hired a flooring contractor and they forgot to mention that you are responsible for moving all of your stuff off the floor ahead of time before the start date and find yourself frustrated and scrambling last minute to deal with it? This quick article might help you out ahead of time.
On demand storage container systems can be an excellent and often over-looked tool for both homeowners and contractors in the hardwood flooring industry. Hardwood flooring installation and refinish companies handle moving and storage of clients belongings a lot of different ways (or not at all). Since Dayton Hardwood Co is a single man operation I tend to leave the ball in the homeowners court for this part of the journey for all the reasons you could imagine. I let them know this well ahead of time and offer a couple different suggestions that I know have worked for previous clients. On demand storage is the most viable option for most folks though. These come from many different companies depending on your location but PODS is one of the big names that most people recognize. I suggest finding what is local to you and your clients though because this might not be the best option where you are at.
One thing clients tend to like about using a PODS is that it can usually be kept on or close to the property address. This keeps from renting trucks and can give folks more peace of mind knowing they can secure their own things vs relying on others. Another benefit to using an on demand storage unit is that you get a flexible timeline to deal with. They usually come with a 1-month minimum rental and 99/100 flooring jobs of mine don’t take that long so there is a moving time buffer zone for clients on one or both ends of the job.
The other piece of this puzzle is the labor involved in moving. Most folks use this as an opportunity to save a few dollars on the project and call some friends/family over and take care of it themselves. If you don’t like the sound of that and would rather have professionals handle your project completely from start to finish then perhaps a moving company is your best option. And sometimes this is a service that people use for their heavy items like appliances, pool tables, pianos, etc and then take care of the smaller stuff on their own. I recommend looking up reliable local movers in your specific area that will help with both moving out and then back in after your project is finished.
These are a couple of the major hurtles that you can cross well ahead of time before the big day of your new floor comes though. And if you arm yourself as a contractor or consumer with as much information ahead of time you will surely get the best finished product. I hope this helps some of you out there and please feel free to leave any comments below or reach out to me directly with any questions about your specific project.