Two professional safe movers each quoted me $900.00 to move an 475-pound, $800.00 safe from my basement to a PODS container in my driveway. The move involved a flight of stairs as well as three additional steps outside the house. As my home sale will be handled by a real estate broker, the odds of finding a buyer who would want my gun safe seemed remote, at least in my blue state where most people are afraid of guns.
Despite the sticker shock, I bit the bullet and moved the safe as its replacement cost would be much higher than the cost of moving it. I will never again put a safe in the basement. I plan on installing the safe in the garage of my new home.
$900.00 seemed expensive. In retrospect, four men were needed. They brought along specialized equipment including a miniaturized fork-lift that picked up the safe off of my poured concrete "Hurricane Sandy" pedestal, then, a battery-powered hand truck that climbed the basement stairs with safe attached.
Years ago, nine friends helped me get a 1000 pound jewelers safe into my basement, a thoughtless move on my part, considering that had anything gone wrong, someone could have lost his foot, if not his life. That was the safe that Hurricane Sandy ruined and which was previously removed from my house by a safe mover.
Having had the experience of a do-it-yourself endeavor and two separate moves by professional safe movers, I feel that the pros are worth the money and deserve the fees they charge, even if the moving cost is higher than the cost of the safe.
It's one thing to learn to be handy, to learn how to sheetrock, tape and sparkle, to paint, to change a light switch or the many other skills needed to keep a house fit for habitation. But, I've learned to draw the line where pricey, specialized equipment is needed and where a misstep can cause permanent or fatal injury. I'm worth a lot more than $900.00, as are my family and friends whom I could have put a risk to save that money.
As an added bonus, not only did they move the safe but they also brought up the heavy, seven-drawer file cabinet partially visible to the left of the safe as well as my wife's stationary recumbent bicycle, free of additional charge. $900.00 well spent.
Despite the sticker shock, I bit the bullet and moved the safe as its replacement cost would be much higher than the cost of moving it. I will never again put a safe in the basement. I plan on installing the safe in the garage of my new home.
$900.00 seemed expensive. In retrospect, four men were needed. They brought along specialized equipment including a miniaturized fork-lift that picked up the safe off of my poured concrete "Hurricane Sandy" pedestal, then, a battery-powered hand truck that climbed the basement stairs with safe attached.
Years ago, nine friends helped me get a 1000 pound jewelers safe into my basement, a thoughtless move on my part, considering that had anything gone wrong, someone could have lost his foot, if not his life. That was the safe that Hurricane Sandy ruined and which was previously removed from my house by a safe mover.
Having had the experience of a do-it-yourself endeavor and two separate moves by professional safe movers, I feel that the pros are worth the money and deserve the fees they charge, even if the moving cost is higher than the cost of the safe.
It's one thing to learn to be handy, to learn how to sheetrock, tape and sparkle, to paint, to change a light switch or the many other skills needed to keep a house fit for habitation. But, I've learned to draw the line where pricey, specialized equipment is needed and where a misstep can cause permanent or fatal injury. I'm worth a lot more than $900.00, as are my family and friends whom I could have put a risk to save that money.
As an added bonus, not only did they move the safe but they also brought up the heavy, seven-drawer file cabinet partially visible to the left of the safe as well as my wife's stationary recumbent bicycle, free of additional charge. $900.00 well spent.
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