Donate your used bike to us and we will clean it up, make any necessary repairs and get it into the hands of a child who needs it right here in Austin. We also help find bikes for adults who just need a dependable mode of transportation.
Make more room in your garage and make someone smile, all without having to lift a finger. We take all types of bikes in any condition, parts and accessories too.
For those of you needing to put your belongings into storage, the task of selecting the right facility can be daunting. We are here to help make the decision a little bit easier. We have been inside just about every storage facility in the greater Austin area and many of them on a daily or weekly basis. This map represents what we think are some of the best storage facilities in the Austin area. We base this on a number of factors like, cleanliness, security and above all the staff.
You could have the most modern storage facilities in Austin with state of the art security, climate regulation and attack dogs but if you don’t have a good staff none of that other staff will mater to your clients. I could devote this whole post to the horror stories I’ve heard or have been a witness to over the years as a mover. It doesn’t matter whether the storage facility is a small Mom and Pop facility or a large national chain. We’ve seen everything from being locked in a facility after hours because the manager didn’t want to push a single button once his shift ended, to being shaken down for cash before a customer could get to their unit. As with any industry, there are good players and bad ones. We like to point out the good ones and send them all the business we possibly can. The bad ones? Just avoid them and move on. Karma has a way of working out the hiccups in human evolution.
If you are considering a storage facility in the Austin area that is not on this list, it doesn’t automatically mean we hate them. We just may not have enough experience with them to say good or bad. Believe me I can list the bad facilities off the top of my head and in my sleep. We don’t forget the bad guys and we don’t think it’s wise to post them on the web, but give us a call if you are in question as to a particular facility. We will be more than happy to tell you our honest opinions about any storage facility we have been in. Likewise, if you have had good experiences with a storage facility not on out list by all means let us know and we will add them here.
One of the coolest things about owning a moving company in Austin Texas, is that occasional phone call from a customer in Lakeway. Why is this cool? You never know what kind of moving job you’re getting yourself into. Being Lakeway movers means you have to learn to adapt to unusual terrain and environmental challenges. Lakeway is an awesome community to the northwest of Austin that has a lot of extremely interesting topography. Many of the homes in Lakeway are built very near, or in many cases right on Lake Travis and I mean RIGHT on Lake Travis, even practically IN Lake Travis. In addition to the Lake and very hilly topography, Lakeway also sports some of the most heavily wooded lots anywhere in Central Texas. I don’t know if this is because a city ordinance or just a general belief the people of Lakeway have about maintaining as much of the natural landscape as possible, but it really is pretty awesome. But because of this, moving in Lakeway can sometimes be an adventure.
Depending on the part of Lakeway a customer is calling from, I’ve learned that it is usually a good idea to go make a visual inspection of the home before the day of the move. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my movers call me up and say that they can’t get the truck down (or up) the driveway. I keep one of the extended branch saws handy for occasions like this. Yes, sometimes we have to physically cut our way through the brush to get our 26 foot trucks to the customers house, and it’s not just trees that are the issue. Sometimes the driveway is too steep or turns are too tight for the truck to fit. On many occasions we have actually resorted to shuttling the loads in a pickup truck to the actual moving truck. For really big Lakeway moves we sometimes even rent those dinky little 14 foot moving trucks to shuttle the loads. It’s always an adventure in Lakeway.
There are currently 156 homes for sale in Lakeway. At the time of this posting, these 156 homes in Lakeway have an average listing price of $563,161 and range anywhere from $139,000 to $4.1 million. The average size of these homes is 3178 sq ft. at an average price of $167.51 / sq. ft. An additional 42 homes are currently under contract with 31 of them taking back-up offers.
Year-to-date, 61 homes have sold in Lakeway. With an average sale price of $396,117, sellers were seeing almost 95% of their asking price with an average list price of $415,532. (NOTE: These prices do not include closing costs, etc.) This boasted an average sales price of $126.08 / sq. ft. Homes remained on the market anywhere from 4 to 608 (very rare) cumulative days for an average of 158 cumulative days on the market.
If you’re thinking about moving to Lakeway I would appreciate the chance to make your move the best it can be. Choose Two Guys Moving your Lakeway Movers.
When you move there are dozens of things that have to get done and priorities pulling you in every conceivable direction. A lot of things can get neglected or sent to the “I’ll do it later” pile especially when you are moving with kids involved. The one thing that I don’t ever like to see neglected is the proper set up and securing of a child’s bedroom furniture and especially the crib.
Check the crib twice when moving with kids.
Whether you are having the movers reassemble the baby’s crib or you have decided to take that task on yourself, take a step back and inspect the crib for any loose joints, missing pieces, sharp edges or misalignment before putting your child to bed after moving. Some moving companies won’t even allow their employees to assemble cribs for safety and liability reasons and I can certainly understand their fears. Our employees are pros at moving with kids and know how important this step is and communicate to the customer that the bed should be double checked by the parent before use, this way liability and more importantly the child’s safety won’t be an issue later on. This is the key point; never assume that a mover, your uncle ted or whoever assembled the bed checked it over as well as you would and just forget about it.
Other items in the kids rooms you should think about on moving day;
Bookshelves and dressers also need to be secured to the walls to keep them from potentially tipping over. Most people are good about doing this when the furniture is new, but many forget after moving especially after a long day of unpacking and settling in.
Wall hanging pictures are items that usually get put up last. This can present a problem in a kids room or play area because where there is glass and children, there is a potential for breakage and possible injury. I always suggest that pictures be placed in an out of the way closet or even the garage until you are ready to take on the task of hanging them. The more out of the way of foot traffic the better.
Tools and excesses clutter can also turn a room into a virtual minefield. You’ve got box cutters, hammers, empty boxes all over the place and safely negotiating around all of this is hard enough for even us adults after a move. Children want to run around and explore their new surroundings and a cluttered assortment of moving “stuff” looks to them like a playground so just do a quick sight inspection and make sure that none of that clutter could be a potential danger.
Now that I’ve pointed out all of the pitfalls and dangers associated with moving with kids, not let me offer a neat little idea to make your children more comfortable when they get to their new home. Help your kids pack an “open first” box the morning of the move and tell the movers to put it at the very back of the truck so it can be one of the first items off the truck. Have the kids put some of their favorite things from their room or play area in it. Things like their favorite stuffed animal, action figure, or even the game console. This way the kids will having something to occupy them with at the new home for a while and make them feel like a big part of the process.
This, of course won’t work for everybody, but if you are moving for business reasons than you may be eligible to have your moving expenses deducted from your taxes. Take a look.
As a general rule most moving companies only move hot tubs or spas that are small enough to fit inside a 26 ft. moving truck and light enough to be carried. There are very few spas that meet this criteria so most often people require the services of a speciality hot tub moving service. These types of companies have the flat bed trucks and special tools such as a fork lift or spa lift to perform this sort of service. But, when and old friend from “back in the day” calls up and asks if we can move five of them, well I just couldn’t resist the challenge. That old friend happens to be the owner of Lone Star Spas & More here in Austin, and after reconnecting on facebook a while back he decided to see if we could help him with some inventory shuffling. My first response was “no I don’t think that’s our cup of tea”, but after we discussed it further I got all excited and just had to give it a try.
The whole load up went off without a hitch and although not the prettiest looking load in the world, everything got to its destination in one piece. I would not recommend those of you at home try this though, Lone Star has done this sort of thing for years and they really know how to do it right. I didn’t even know spas could be stacked on top of one another like that, but as we were told “that’s how they come from the factory”. My crew and I learned a lot about the art of spa moving and the benefits of having a forklift around. If only we had one of those on every job. So any way, Thanks to the guys over at Lone Star and if anyone out there ever needs Spa advice or service on an existing unit these are the guys to call.
What the people of Cedar Park accomplished last night was nothing short of amazing. The whole place had a nice flow to it; kids play area over here (with two playscapes and a rock wall!), live music over there, carnival stands down the way, volleyball, horseshoes, and a swiming pool right in the middle of it all. The recent rains and overcast sky keept the temperature bareable if not just slightly muggy. The Fireworks were amazing! My nephew’s 18 month old son would say “Pop!” everytime one exploded, and my mother-in-law said the show was comparable to ones she had seen in Boston. I guess I never thought of Cedar Park as a big city, but it’s getting there.
*The picture you see here is not actually of the 2010 fireworks show at Milburn Park. My camera wouldn’t play nice with the lighting last nite and I had to give some visual representation of the show so I “lifted” this photo from the internet, who didn’t seem to mind too much.
John Tran, a 25-year-old Tetris master from Menifee California Talked to the guys over at Kotaku and gave them some advice he has learned from his years of playing Tetris. I’ve always said that packing a truck is exactly like tetris, I even posted this video a while back to show you guys what I mean by that. Now a real-live Tetris Pro is agreeing with me. Here’s what the master had to say…
Packing Tips From A Tetris Master
• “Take a glimpse at your next pieces (moving boxes in this case) to determine the best placement positions.”
Think ahead. Putting a box in a spot that fits nicely might seem like a fine accomplishment, but when it makes it difficult to place subsequent boxes it does more harm than good.
• “If you have a box that doesn’t fit neatly, hold onto it and un-hold it when it won’t mess everything up.”
The urge to simply cram everything into the back of the truck as quickly as possible is strong. Don’t force it. If a container doesn’t fit, simply set it aside until it does.
• “Stack as flat as possible. The even field will save you reaction time and give you more stacking options.”
Not only will stacking flat allow for more stacking options, it’ll also increase stability, reducing shifting while you make your move.
• “Avoid creating unnecessary gaps to maximize space usage.”
This tip goes along with saving pieces until there is a good spot for them. Don’t leave gaps. If you need to, dig through what you’re packing to find something that will fit the space. A tight pack is a stable pack.
• “Leave an empty column open for your long boxes, and if you don’t have any long boxes buy some.”
Long boxes aren’t just for comic books anymore. The long, slender containers are perfect for filling gaps where wide boxes won’t fit, adding precious stability to your stack while maximizing space usage.
• “Don’t waste your long boxes!”
That having been said, don’t simply toss the long boxes in where they aren’t needed. Save them for when you need to make a packing Tetris. A nice long box can stabilize several rows of boxes all at once.
• “Multiplayer will help you reach a faster time, so have some friends and family help you out.”
Extra hands are always helpful when packing, but make sure you and your friends and family are on the same wavelength. Without coordinated strategy, even the strongest stack can topple.
