The Ax Under the Sofa

Always know what is in every inch of your house before the movers arrive - like an ax. If the movers find unexpected objects or problem items it may delay your packing and moving schedule.

The movers showed up at my house about mid morning in late spring. It was a pretty good day to be moving because it was not too hot and it was not raining! (I can't tell you how often my furniture has been carried in or out of houses in the rain - making you worry about mold and mildew forming until it is delivered at the other end.)

Large pieces of furniture began disappearing out the door and into the truck - the mattresses, bedroom furniture and dining room table. The boxes were packed and stacked in various rooms.

Lots of progress was being made and things seemed to be moving along pretty rapidly until two of the movers picked up my living room sofa. As soon as they moved it away from it's position - they saw a large AX on the floor under the sofa with some rust colored stains on the carpet!

Now, you can imagine the first thing that popped into their heads! This lady is an ax murderer! I quickly leapt to pick up the ax and try to explain.

They looked at each other, then put the sofa down and said they had to go to lunch. Everything came to a completely halt.

They never came back! Several other people finished up what they were doing. The next day an entirely different crew came back to finish the loading.

Honestly, we were using the ax during the winter to cut firewood and had just stuck it under the sofa instead of taking it back outside - and then forgot about it! The rust spots were from the moisture on the ax, they were not blood. But convincing several strangers of this was pretty difficult.

The lesson learned is to always look under furniture and do general cleaning out of every area of your home before the movers arrive! If anything would look questionable to a stranger, pack it yourself and seal the box. Label the box so that you will know what it is, but with a generic category word normally used by moving companies. Don't label anything else with that word, then make certain that you look for those boxes and open them yourself when your goods are delivered at the other end. Many item's might fall into this category and always get a list of items the company will not pack or move. These you will have to dispose of or move yourself.

Good Luck with your move and remember - cleaning out, organizing and reducing clutter will help sell your home faster and make you feel lighter!