A Highland ranch and a Chicago high-rise price out differently
A split-level with a full basement in Griffith and a 30th-floor condo sharing one freight elevator with forty other units are two different jobs, no matter what the square-foot number on paper says. Quote them the same way and the schedule breaks on move day, so we start with the property itself, not a spreadsheet.
A typical week on the schedule
Most weeks mix ranch and split-level homes in Highland and Griffith, newer construction out in Schererville and St. John, and a state-line run into a downtown Chicago building where the loading dock and elevator are booked in fifteen-minute slots.
- Crew leadTomas Zielinski, on staff since 2017
- Griffith & HighlandNarrow drives and full basements sized up before the truck backs in
- Chicago high-risesCertificate of insurance and elevator window handled by Andre Petrovic in advance
- Schererville, Dyer & St. JohnNewer subdivisions, generally a more straightforward load
What the flat rate includes
One number covers the truck, the packing materials, and crew time, and a lamp gets handled with the same care as a china cabinet.
| Home size | Approximate flat rate |
|---|---|
| Studio | $390 to $630 |
| One-bedroom | $630 to $1,020 |
| Two-bedroom | $1,020 to $1,780 |
| Three-bedroom | $1,780 to $2,900 |
| Four-bedroom | $2,750 to $4,300 |
Bed frames, sectionals, and oversized dressers get taken apart before the drive and rebuilt once they’re in place at the new address. In an older Highland home, original hardwood gets covered section by section while the crew works through, since old flooring won’t buff a scratch back out. A piano gets its own dedicated rig instead of riding with the rest of the load.
The building’s rules carry more weight than square footage
A downtown building that books its freight elevator in fifteen-minute increments is where an unfamiliar mover shows up without the right form and loses the slot for the day. This crew clears the certificate of insurance with the property manager and reserves the elevator days out, then wraps hallway corners and door frames on the way through so the lobby walls stay clean. A few older Griffith blocks can’t fit our full-size truck at all, so we send a smaller one instead.
Building paperwork and winter timing
On a Chicago high-rise job, Denise confirms the elevator reservation against the booked date before anything is finalized. From November through March, we build in an extra day in case lake-effect snow is moving through.
Where the habit comes from
Jeff’s father worked the blast furnaces at Gary Works, and Jeff spent his own teenage summers loading freight at the Hammond rail yards before Jeff’s Movers existed. Checking a driveway or a building’s paperwork before quoting a job isn’t new to him, it’s the standard the company started with.
