Moving a home office without losing a workday
Moving a home office in the Bay Area: monitors boxed, desks taken apart and rebuilt, filing cabinets emptied first. Same hourly rate any day.
- Send the form or callGive us your date, zip codes and home size.
- We confirm date and ETAMorning ETA windows are 8-10 AM in the South Bay and Peninsula, 9-11 AM in San Francisco and the East Bay.
- The crew calls aheadYour team calls you 30 minutes before they arrive.
A home office is small and fragile
Since remote work became normal, a lot of Bay Area homes have a room that matters more on Monday morning than any other: two or three monitors, a standing desk, a good chair, a printer, files. None of it is heavy, but most of it is fragile or full of small parts, and a move that loses a power brick or cracks a monitor costs a workday. Here we cover the home office; for a whole business, see commercial moving and planning a weekend office move.
Monitors and computers
Screens are fragile items and travel in boxes, the same rule as TVs and lamps. Monitors usually fit two to a dish-pack box, depending on their size, packed with paper between them; a large monitor or an all-in-one computer may need its own TV-style box. Desktop towers go in a box with padding. Laptops should travel with you, not on the truck. Packing materials are charged as used, or covered if you choose the Silver or Golden Package.
Desks, standing desks and chairs
Desks come apart and go back together as part of the service; that disassembly and reassembly is included in the hourly rate. Standing desks with motorized legs are heavier than they look; unplug the control box and let the crew separate the top from the frame where it is designed to. Office chairs are wrapped in blankets and carried whole.
Filing cabinets and drawers
We recommend removing files from filing cabinets before the move. Files slip through the gap between the drawer and the back of the cabinet when it is tilted, and a full cabinet is heavy and can tip. Pack the files in boxes in the same order, label them by drawer, and the cabinet itself moves empty. The same applies to desk drawers: empty them, for safety.
The night before
- Photograph every cable connection before you unplug.
- Bag and label cables, chargers and power bricks per device.
- Back up your computer.
- Pack the router and modem last and mark the box so it is unpacked first.
- Keep laptops, passwords and work documents with you.
- Empty filing cabinets and desk drawers.
Cost and timing
The rate is the same every day of the week: $175 per hour for 3 movers or $235 for 4, with a 3-hour minimum and 15-minute increments. Many people move on a weekend so the office is set up by Monday; Spartan works Sundays and the rate does not change. Morning arrival is 8 to 10 AM in the South Bay and Peninsula and 9 to 11 AM in San Francisco and the East Bay, and the crew calls 30 minutes ahead. Ask the foreman to set the desk and chair up first at the new home.
Printers, speakers and the small stuff
Printers should travel with the ink or toner cartridges removed and bagged, and with the paper tray emptied. Speakers, webcams, docks and headsets go in one labeled box per desk so the first hour at the new home is plugging in, not searching. Power strips and surge protectors are easy to lose; tape them to the box of the device they belong to. If the office has a large printer or scanner, mention it with your quote request so the time is planned.
Questions and answers
Do monitors need to be boxed?
Yes. Screens are fragile items that travel in boxes. Monitors usually fit two to a dish-pack box depending on size.
Do I need to empty my filing cabinet?
We recommend it. Files can slip behind the drawers when the cabinet is moved, and full cabinets are heavy.
Will you reassemble my desk?
Yes. Desk disassembly and reassembly are included in the hourly rate.
Is a weekend move more expensive?
No. The rate is the same on weekdays and weekends, and we work Sundays.