Contents pack-out, cleaning, and storage.
When your home needs repairs after water, fire, smoke, mold, or sewage damage, we pack up your belongings, store them safely in our vaults, and clean what needs it. When the work is done, we bring everything back and put it where it was.
Your belongings, out of harm's way.
Water, smoke, and mold do not stop at the walls. When a home needs drying, cleaning, or rebuilding, the things inside it need a safe place to go. We take them out, store them safely in our vaults, and clean what needs cleaning until your home is ready.
In an emergency, we start by moving your things to a part of the home the damage did not reach. Then we walk through the house with you and decide together what goes. Sometimes that is the whole basement. Sometimes it is a couple of rooms.
How a pack-out works.
Starts with a walk-through of your home.
- 1
Walk-through
We walk through your home with you, decide together what needs to go, and put together an estimate for you and your insurance company.
- 2
Pack out
Our crew packs your belongings with plenty of paper and bubble wrap. In a kitchen, each drawer goes into its own box.
- 3
Photo and barcode inventory
Every item is photographed and every box gets a barcode, so we know exactly what we have and which vault it is in. You will not get a handwritten list.
- 4
Store
Everything goes into our storage vaults, or to a storage facility you choose, and stays there until the repairs on your home are done. We always make sure it is safe to store.
- 5
Clean
Anything that needs cleaning gets cleaned. Sometimes that happens before it is stored. Often we get everything safely into the vaults first and clean it vault by vault. Cleaned items go into new, clean boxes.
- 6
Pack in
When your home is ready, we bring everything back and use our photos to put each thing back where it was, drawer by drawer.
Our storage vaults.
Our vaults are wooden storage crates, 8 feet by 7 feet by 8 feet. We load them through the front, move them with a forklift, and scan every box that goes in.
Storage is charged by the vault, per month. A vault costs the same whether it is half full or all the way full. Some families use their vaults for six months, and some for more than a year. We hold them until your home is ready.
Cleaning your belongings.
If your things are already clean, they go straight into storage. If they need cleaning, we clean them: upholstery, carpet, and area rugs, mold cleaned and vacuumed off, and soot and smoke residue removed with products made for it. After a mold or smoke loss, everything goes back into new boxes.
Sometimes we clean your things before they are stored. Often the best way to protect them is to get them safely into our vaults as quickly as possible, and then we clean them vault by vault. Either way, we always make sure everything is safe to store.
Your insurance claim.
Insurance companies typically pay for contents pack-out, cleaning, and storage as part of the claim for your loss. We work directly with your insurance company, and the photo and barcode inventory documents everything we packed.
“What a great team you sent over! Their leader Rebecca was on top of the project and led her team professionally and efficiently!”
Questions.
A pack-out is when we pack up your belongings and take them out of the house. A pack-in is when we bring them back and unpack them once the repairs are done.
Very rarely. Everything goes into a vault together and comes out together, and reaching one item means unpacking layer after layer, so our vaults do not work like a self-storage unit. If there is something you will need while your home is being repaired, like seasonal clothes, keep it out before the pack-out.
Storage is charged per vault, per month, and a vault costs the same whether it holds one box or is full to the top. The total depends on how much we pack and how long the repairs take, and we go over it with you at the walk-through.
As long as the repairs take. Some families use their vaults for six months, and some for more than a year.
To the best of our ability, yes. We photograph everything as it is packed, so when we pack back in, each thing goes back where it came from, down to the drawer.
Insurance companies typically pay for contents pack-out, cleaning, and storage as part of the claim for the loss. We work directly with your insurance company.
Related services
Contents and storage near you.
From our shop in Petoskey to 58 towns within about an hour.
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Need help?
Water or sewage damage? Once the source is stopped, call, day or night. For everything else, request an estimate and we reply within 24 hours.