Movers & Co provides senior moving services in Lancaster, PA for older adults moving from a house into a retirement community, an apartment, personal care, or a family member’s home. The work is planned around the decisions rather than the boxes, and the pace is set by the person moving.
Two people usually read a page like this. The person moving, who has lived in one house for thirty or forty years, and an adult child arranging it, often from another state. This page is written for both of you. If you are the one coordinating from a distance, start with the next section.
If You Are Arranging This for a Parent
You deal with one person, not a dispatcher
A single coordinator holds the dates, the inventory, the community paperwork, and the layout of the new apartment. You are not re-explaining your mother’s situation to whoever picks up the phone, and neither is she.
You do not have to be in Lancaster
We can survey by video with your parent present, send you photos of what is being packed, confirm the layout with you before the day, and call you at the end of it. Plenty of these moves are coordinated from Florida, California, or overseas.
Your parent stays the customer
Nothing is discarded, donated, or left behind without the agreement of whoever owns it. If you and your parent disagree about an item, our crew will not be the ones to settle it. We box it and it travels.
A price you can share with siblings
The estimate is written, itemized, and easy to forward to whoever else is involved in the decision. Families split these costs constantly and vague numbers cause arguments.
Licensed, Insured, and Easy to Verify
Older adults are targeted by unlicensed operators more than any other group of customers. Check anyone you let into the house, including us.
USDOT Number
3195256
MC Docket Number
1290652
Pennsylvania PUC License
8923115
Insurance
Liability and workers compensation carried on every job
Every mover on the crew is a Movers & Co employee who has passed a background check. No day labor and no subcontractors, which matters a great deal when the customer will be alone in the house with the crew for part of the day. Look up our record at FMCSA.gov using the USDOT number above.
Senior Moves We Handle
House to a retirement community
The most common senior move in Lancaster County. A four bedroom of belongings has to become a one or two bedroom apartment, and the decisions are the hard part.
Independent living to personal care
Usually a smaller room, sometimes at short notice, and often coordinated with community staff rather than with the resident alone.
A room change inside a community
No truck, no drive, just careful handling and a new layout. We do these regularly and they are booked by the hour.
Moving in with family
Consolidating a household into one or two rooms of someone else’s home, with the overflow going into storage or to other relatives.
Out of state to be near children
A long distance move where the person moving may fly and the belongings follow. Handled with our long distance service.
Downsizing but staying put
Not moving at all. Clearing a basement, an attic, or two bedrooms that are no longer used, so the house is manageable again.
Clearing the house afterwards
Once the resident is settled, the remaining furniture has to go to family, to donation, or to disposal. Usually a separate visit.
A move that has to happen quickly
After a hospital stay or a change in care needs. Tell us it is urgent and we will tell you honestly what we can do and when.
Tell us where your parent is moving from and to, and roughly when.
Work Out What Fits Before You Sort Anything
This is the step almost everyone skips, and skipping it is why senior moves go badly. Sorting a whole house before you know what the new apartment holds means doing the job twice.
Get the floor plan
Most retirement communities will give you a floor plan with dimensions for the exact unit. Ask for it as soon as the apartment is chosen.
Measure what matters
Wall lengths, door widths, the turn from the corridor, and the ceiling height. Then measure the furniture that has to come, not the furniture you hope will.
Place it on paper first
Bed, dresser, one armchair, the table, the television. Most one bedroom units take far less than families assume, and it is better to know now.
Decide the non-negotiables
The chair she actually sits in, the bed she sleeps in, the table the family eats at. Those go on the plan before anything else competes for the space.
Check storage in the unit
Closet space, whether there is any additional storage in the building, and what the community allows in a corridor or on a balcony.
Then sort to the plan
Once the plan is set, every decision has an answer: it fits or it does not. That converts an emotional argument into a measurement.
Bring us the floor plan at the estimate and we will tell you plainly whether the furniture on your list will physically go in, and what will not make the turn from the corridor into the apartment.
Sorting a House Without Arguments
Forty years of a house comes down to four decisions per item. Here is how we keep that manageable.
How we run it
- One room at a time, finished before the next one starts
- Four destinations only: goes with you, goes to family, gets donated, gets disposed of
- Sessions of a few hours rather than whole days, because the deciding is the tiring part
- Boxes labeled by destination as they are packed, so nothing gets re-sorted later
- Anything undecided goes into a hold pile rather than into an argument
- Donation collections and disposal coordinated so the house empties as you go
Rules our crew follows
- The person who owns the item decides what happens to it
- Nothing is thrown away on an assumption, ever, including things that look like junk
- Paperwork, photographs, and letters are set aside for the owner to look through, never thrown out
- We do not comment on what anything is worth, because we are movers and not appraisers
- If a family disagreement starts, we pack the item and keep working
- Breaks happen when they are needed rather than when the schedule says
If you would rather do the sorting privately as a family and only book us for the lifting, that is completely reasonable and it is cheaper. See labor only, or ask us to quote packing for the rooms nobody wants to face.
How the Move Works, Start to Finish
- First conversation
Call (717) 690-1106. Tell us the two addresses, the timeline, and who else is involved in the decisions.
- Survey and layout review
In person or by video, with the floor plan of the new unit in front of us. We agree what is coming and where it will go.
- Written estimate and plan
Price, crew, date, and the services included, in writing and easy to forward to family. Sorting and packing quoted separately so you can choose.
- Community and building arrangements
Move-in window, elevator reservation, dock or entrance, and the certificate of insurance the community requires, all confirmed before the day.
- Sorting and packing
Room by room in the sessions we agreed, with the four destinations labeled as we go, or skipped entirely if the family is handling it.
- Moving day
Protection down, load out, drive, and place to the layout we agreed rather than to wherever there is space.
- Setting up before we leave
Furniture assembled and positioned, the essentials unpacked, and a walkthrough so your parent sees the room finished rather than full of boxes.
First Night Ready Before We Leave
A senior move is not finished when the truck is empty. It is finished when the room works. Everything below happens on moving day, not the week after.
The bed made
Assembled, positioned, and made up with the bedding from the old house, not left as a frame and a mattress in the middle of the room.
The chair in place
Facing the window or the television, wherever it was before. This is the single item that makes a strange room feel like theirs.
Television working
Mounted or on its stand, plugged in, and switched on before we go.
Bathroom set up
Toiletries, towels, and anything used daily unpacked and put where it belongs, not left in a carton.
Medication and phone
Kept accessible through the whole day and placed where your parent expects to find them, not packed.
Kitchen basics out
Coffee maker, mugs, plates, and the few things needed for coffee and a meal on night one.
Photographs unpacked
The family pictures out on surfaces the same day, even if the rest of the boxes wait.
Boxes cleared
Empty cartons and packing material taken away rather than stacked in a corner of a small apartment.
Coordinating With a Retirement Community
Lancaster County has a large number of retirement and continuing care communities, and each one runs move-ins its own way. These are the six things that have to be settled in advance.
Move-in windows
Most communities allow moves only on certain days and between set hours. We book the slot and work to it.
Floor plan approval
Some communities want the furniture layout agreed before move-in day, particularly where walkways and exits have to stay clear.
Certificate of insurance
Almost every community asks for one before a truck comes on site. We send it directly to their office.
Elevator reservation
Booked and padded, with doors held, so the crew is not sharing a car with residents all afternoon.
Entrance, dock, and parking
Where the truck can sit, how far the carry is, and whether a service entrance has to be used.
The community contact
We work with the move-in coordinator or administrator directly, so your family is not relaying messages between two organizations.
Send us the community’s move-in requirements when you book and we will deal with their office ourselves. It is a short phone call for us and it is one less thing on a list that is already long.
When the Change Itself Is the Hard Part
Some moves are harder for reasons that have nothing to do with furniture. If your parent has memory loss, or is simply not ready to leave, a few practical choices help more than reassurance does.
Practical things that help
- Recreate the old layout where the new room allows it, same furniture in the same relative positions
- Move the familiar bedding, chair, lamp, and clock rather than buying new ones for the new place
- Unpack the photographs and personal objects first, before the practical boxes
- Keep one room or corner in the old house untouched until the end of the day
- Ask us to work quietly and in a smaller crew if a full crew would be overwhelming
- Have someone your parent trusts present who is not also managing the logistics
Where we stop
- We are movers, not caregivers, and we do not provide any kind of personal or medical care
- We will not pack or remove a person’s belongings against their wishes
- We do not mediate family decisions about whether a move should happen
- We cannot advise on care levels, capacity, or anything a professional should be advising on
If a move is being arranged and the person moving has not agreed to it, that is a conversation for the family, the community, and their doctor, not for a moving crew. Tell us honestly where things stand and we will tell you honestly whether we should be booking a date yet.
What Happens to Everything That Is Not Going
The apartment takes a fraction of the house. Here is where the rest can go, and what we can and cannot do with it.
To other family
Deliveries to siblings, children, and grandchildren in the area, quoted as extra stops on the same job where the addresses allow it.
Into storage
For anything the family has not decided about yet, held and delivered later. See storage services.
To donation
Usable furniture and household goods taken to a local charity or collected by them. We will help arrange it and load it.
To disposal
Broken and unusable items removed. Ask us at the estimate, because volume disposal is priced separately from the move.
Sold privately
If the family is selling items, tell us what has been sold so it is not loaded, and what is still going so it is.
Left for the buyer
Appliances or furniture staying with the house. Marked clearly at the survey so nobody moves them by mistake.
We are not an estate sale company and we do not appraise or buy anything. If the house needs a sale before it is cleared, do that first and book us for what is left.
What Drives the Cost of a Senior Move
What adds to it
- Sorting and packing sessions, which are the largest variable on most senior moves
- The size of the house being emptied, rather than the size of the apartment being filled
- Extra stops to deliver items to family members
- Disposal volume, particularly a full basement, attic, or garage
- Stairs at the old address and a long interior carry at the new one
- A short notice date, which limits the crews available
What reduces it
- Deciding the layout early, so nothing travels that will not fit
- Family handling some or all of the sorting before we arrive
- Donation collections arranged before moving day rather than on it
- A midweek, mid-month date
- One consolidated visit instead of several trips as decisions get made
- Booking a few weeks out rather than in the same week
Ask about financing if the cost lands before the house sells, which is a common problem in these moves rather than an unusual one.
Where We Provide Senior Moving
- Address
- 1698 Temple Ave, Unit 1
Lancaster, PA 17603 - Phone
- (717) 690-1106
- contact@moversandcompany.com
- Hours
- Mon to Fri: 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Sat: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sun: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
If a piano is coming with them, it is quoted inside the move but handled as its own job. See piano moving.
Senior Moving FAQ
I live out of state. Can you handle this without me being there?
Yes, and we do it regularly. We survey by video with your parent present, agree the layout with you, deal with the community office directly, send photos during the day if you want them, and call you when the room is set up. Someone your parent trusts should be at the house on the day, but it does not have to be you.
Will you help work out what actually fits in the new apartment?
Yes, and it is the first thing we would rather do. Bring the community’s floor plan to the estimate and we will tell you what physically fits, what will not make the turn from the corridor, and what is not worth transporting to a room that cannot take it.
Can you do the sorting and downsizing, or only the moving?
Either. Sorting and packing are quoted separately from the move, so families can take on as much or as little as they want. Some book everything, some do the sorting themselves over several weekends and book us only for the lifting.
What if my parent changes their mind about something on the day?
Then it comes. Our crew’s rule is that the person who owns the item decides, and we will box something and load it rather than debate it. Changing your mind on moving day is normal and it costs almost nothing compared to the alternative.
Do you coordinate with the retirement community directly?
Yes. Send us their move-in requirements when you book. We arrange the move-in window, the elevator, the entrance, and send the certificate of insurance to their office, so your family is not relaying messages between us and them.
Will the room be set up the same day?
That is the standard, not an extra. Bed assembled and made, the armchair positioned, television working, bathroom and kitchen basics unpacked, photographs out, and the empty cartons taken away before we leave.
What happens to the furniture that is not going?
Whatever the family decides. Extra stops to relatives, storage for anything undecided, donation collection, or disposal for what is genuinely finished. Tell us the plan at the estimate so it happens in one visit instead of three.
How far ahead should we book?
A few weeks is comfortable, and it gives time to get the unit dimensions and do the sorting properly. If the move is urgent after a hospital stay or a change in care, call anyway. We will tell you what is actually possible rather than promise a date we cannot hold.
More questions? See our full FAQ or contact us directly.
