Moving Company Recommendations For Local Move (Pittsburgh, Bethel Park: insurance, movers, appliances)

[jdbst56]

Hi All,

We're going to be closing on our new home at the end of the month so we need to find a mover to move our three bedroom house in West Mifflin to Bethel Park. We're mainly concerned about the furniture, couches, and a couple appliances (washer, dryer, chest freezer). The boxed items we can move ourselves.

Can anybody make any suggestions on a reliable and reasonably priced mover? I've seen Dorr's Wilkinsburg Moving Exchange mentioned in some older threads but some of the recent reviews are fairly negative.

Thanks!
Josh

[guy2073]

My dad owned a moving company so I personally know most of them, If I was moving today I would hire either Gardner, vesley brothers, or South hills movers. I would avoid don farr / hindman out of west Mifflin.

[Twenty Years in the Burgh]

I've used Two Men and a Truck on several occasions and have nothing but good things to say about them. The last move was a "double move," i.e., one partial move took my former spouse's things to a storage facility and some unneeded large furniture to a friend's house; the second move one week later was the big, all-day (and part of the night) move to get my things to their final destination. Per my request, I had the same moving crew both times. My only complaint was that they were unprepared to properly move my baby grand piano (I had to run out to pick up a ratchet set to disassemble my piano and they did not properly reassemble it), but it's doubtful that that would be an issue for most people who are moving. I thought that the price was fair for the service that I received. Beds were assembled, furniture unwrapped and moved into their places, etc., nothing was damaged during the course of the move.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by Twenty Years in the Burgh

I've used Two Men and a Truck on several occasions and have nothing but good things to say about them. The last move was a "double move," i.e., one partial move took my former spouse's things to a storage facility and some unneeded large furniture to a friend's house; the second move one week later was the big, all-day (and part of the night) move to get my things to their final destination. Per my request, I had the same moving crew both times. My only complaint was that they were unprepared to properly move my baby grand piano (I had to run out to pick up a ratchet set to disassemble my piano and they did not properly reassemble it), but it's doubtful that that would be an issue for most people who are moving. I thought that the price was fair for the service that I received. Beds were assembled, furniture unwrapped and moved into their places, etc., nothing was damaged during the course of the move.

Two men and a truck is a franchise so the costs are a little higher but there standards are set high. a lot of companies are not able to handle pianos, my dad hauled Baldwin pianos, I always hated moving them, I think it removed years from his and my life.

[Twenty Years in the Burgh]

I've long thought it amusing that two not-so-buff men in their early sixties (my dad and one of his friends who restored pianos as a sideline) managed to fairly easily move my piano from Ohio to Pittsburgh, while every single time I've had that same piano moved around the Pittsburgh area it's taken four young and super buff men to get it done. I know that it's a likely a liability/insurance issue that makes them require a four man crew. Granted, my Dad didn't bring my piano to me until I moved in a Pittsburgh house with a low-side entrance, i.e., only three or four stairs to navigate with the cast iron sound board of a baby grand. There was no way that he was going to try to move that beast up two narrow flights of stairs in a Mexican War Streets walkup and I knew better than to ask. :-)

As for the cost of the last move, paying a bit extra (plus tips, food and beverages) was well worth the peace of mind that came with reliability and total lack of damage to my things. If you'd like, I could PM you the cost of the move. (It was three years ago; moved from the Cranberry area to a northern inner ring suburb.)

Re: South Hills Movers. I used them on a previous move and wasn't dissatisfied with the service. It was over a decade and several moves ago, so I don't remember just how much I paid for the service.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by Twenty Years in the Burgh

I've long thought it amusing that two not-so-buff men in their early sixties (my dad and one of his friends who restored pianos as a sideline) managed to fairly easily move my piano from Ohio to Pittsburgh, while every single time I've had that same piano moved around the Pittsburgh area it's taken four young and super buff men to get it done. I know that it's a likely a liability/insurance issue that makes them require a four man crew. Granted, my Dad didn't bring my piano to me until I moved in a Pittsburgh house with a low-side entrance, i.e., only three or four stairs to navigate with the cast iron sound board of a baby grand. There was no way that he was going to try to move that beast up two narrow flights of stairs in a Mexican War Streets walkup and I knew better than to ask. :-)

As for the cost of the last move, paying a bit extra (plus tips, food and beverages) was well worth the peace of mind that came with reliability and total lack of damage to my things. If you'd like, I could PM you the cost of the move. (It was three years ago; moved from the Cranberry area to a northern inner ring suburb.)

Re: South Hills Movers. I used them on a previous move and wasn't dissatisfied with the service. It was over a decade and several moves ago, so I don't remember just how much I paid for the service.

I tell you what, my dad passed away when I was 15 but to the day he died he and I could carry a baby grand, him and my uncle could move a grand piano by themselves. Like your dad showed It is mostly knowing what you are doing over being overly strong. My dad was one of the strongest men I ever met but they delivered pianos almost daily since the end of the Korean war, they had a little practice.

[jdbst56]

Thanks guys, very helpful info. Twenty Years - if you have any info on the costs you paid, I'd appreciate a PM. I need to start reaching out to some companies soon.

I did talk to a coworker of mine that used Two Men and a Truck a few years ago for his move. Overall he was pretty happy with them. He basically did what I was going to do in that he had them move his furniture but he packed all his own boxes and moved those himself. He said that we he called a lot of the other local movers, many of them didn't really have interest in the job unless they were doing an all-inclusive move (packing items, moving boxes, and furniture). Is that the standard in the moving industry to be all-inclusive or nothing?

[KimberlyAnn53]

I’m moving at the end of the month and I’m going with two guys and a truck. I have used them a few times. No matter who you hire, it’s not cheap. We are going to move the small items ourselves.

[Goodjules]

I used Steel City Movers. They did a good job for a reasonable price.

[fjy3]

Make Moves LLC in Carnegie was ultra affordable, and they did a great job. I think we paid under $1000 for a 3 bedroom home move.