The Worries of Hiring a Junk Removal Company
As the years pass by, many homeowners find that they have been “collecting” things, but now realize they have accumulated too much stuff! It happens to the best of us. Now that you have become conscious of it, you have made the commitment to get rid of these unused items. However, you do not know where to begin. Let’s review several things that you will run into during this process.
How to find a company – which you can trust!
Many people looking to remove items from their home search the internet for junk hauling or junk removal services. You may have also seen advertisements in newspapers or magazines, or large signs on their trucks.
But how do you trust a company that comes into your home? To protect yourself you need to ask them several important questions. Are they a registered and licensed company in the state you need service? Do they have Liability Insurance that is enough to cover any damage to your home? Do they have Worker's Compensation Insurance that covers their employees if they get hurt on your property? (If they say yes, ask them to show you proof before hiring them!) Any insurance professional will tell you horror stories of homeowners who had to large sums of money because a contractor in their home did not have proper insurance.
After insurance, your next concern should be the companies employees. The cold hard fact is that finding employees to do junk removal is hard to find; finding honest employees is even harder. The question you as a homeowner have to ask is “How do I know if the junk removal company that I hire has honest employees?” The company that you hire should do a background check for each employee before they hire them and then periodically after that. This helps ensure that the people entering your home are going to be trustworthy and honest individuals.
What happens if they damage my walls, carpet or even more of my home?
When someone is moving things out of your home, especially large objects, there is a chance that they will do some minor damage to your walls (marks, gouges or even holes), track dirt on your carpet, or accidentally bump, scratch or break other items in your home. You want to make sure that the company you hire will stand by their work and take care of any problems that they cause. This includes minor repairs, carpet cleaning and the potential to replace damaged items that can not be repaired (this is where verifying their insurance and business license will help you!)
To protect yourself as much as possible, make sure that the junk removal company brings in protective runners for your carpet and uses booties on their feet. As well, be sure that any items being removed have all loose parts taken off and there are no fluids in any of the items that could spill upon moving. In addition, try to have an easy exit strategy for all the items so that there is as little as possible that can get damaged. This will reduce the possibility they you will have any issues like these.