This sheet covers one job that falls between the house and any hired help: moving seasonal boxes, fans, window screens, and holiday bins between storage and the rooms where they are needed. Families often assume a regular visit covers it. Sometimes it does, and often it does not. Read the paper before the first box comes down from the shelf.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Labels used on this page: lines marked File come from a document the family can hold, such as an agency task list or an insurance certificate. Lines marked Editorial are the desk's planning advice and are not a statement about any agency.

Start with the list

Walk the house with a pad and write each load on its own line. Note where it sits, such as a hall closet, the garage, an attic hatch, or a basement stair, and which room it goes back to. Describe the weight in plain terms only: one hand, two hands, or a ladder. Do not write counts or weights in pounds. The point is to see which loads need a second person and which need a ladder.

Mark the lift line

Editorial: put a mark beside every load that needs a ladder, a full carry down stairs, the attic hatch, or two people. Those marked lines are the ones to assign to a hired crew, a trade you hire directly, or a family member. Loads marked one hand can usually stay with the family or a visiting worker, if the visiting worker's task list allows it.

Read the task list for the crew

File: ask the agency for its written task list and any line that mentions lifting, ladders, storage areas, outside work, or moving items between rooms and storage. Read the wording back to the scheduler and ask for a written yes or no on each seasonal job. A spoken answer is not yet a term of service. Ask for it on paper before the first visit.

Editorial: a regular in-home visit often names light housekeeping and errands. It may not name climbing, heavy lifting, or work outside the house. If the task list does not name the job, do not assume it is covered.

Check the insurance paper

File: ask whether any worker who climbs or lifts for the agency is covered by the agency's liability and workers' compensation insurance. Ask for a certificate of insurance before the first trip. Check the insurer's name, the named insured, and the coverage period printed on the certificate. Then confirm that the named insured matches the agency you are dealing with. The desk does not verify insurance for any named provider. The family asks the agency for the paper and checks it with the insurer named on it.

To confirm the agency's identity before any paper changes hands, use the desk's guide on how to check any home health agency in five federal lookups.

Compare the two routes

Editorial: lay the in trip and the out trip side by side for each marked load. For each route, write down the following.

  • Who carries the load, the family, a visiting worker, or a separate crew.
  • Who holds the ladder or steadies the step, and whether that person is named in the paper.
  • Where the load goes after the season, and whether it returns to the same shelf.
  • Who decides when the load moves and who tells the other party.
  • What the house needs for the trip: a clear path, a light at the top of the stairs, and a door that does not swing into the load.

Set both trips

Editorial: every seasonal job has an in trip and an out trip. The out trip is the one families forget. Write both trips on the sheet with the household member who will be home to confirm each one. Ask the agency whether the out trip is part of the same task line or a separate one. If the answer is separate, ask for that line in writing too.

Questions to ask before the first trip

  • Does your written task list name lifting, ladders, or moving boxes between storage and the rooms?
  • If a job is outside the task list, will you say so in writing before the visit?
  • Who climbs, who lifts, and who holds the ladder for each marked load?
  • Can you send the certificate of insurance that covers the worker on this job?
  • Does the out trip return each load to its shelf, and who confirms it?
  • What happens if a load is not moved as planned, and who tells the family?

What stays with the family

Editorial: keep the decisions about the attic hatch, the ladder, and what gets donated, sold, or thrown away with the household. Those choices are not a task an agency can settle for you on a shared sheet. If a marked load needs a trade, hire that trade directly and keep its paper in the family binder.

If the agency's answer on any line is spoken and not written, treat the line as not yet given. Write it down, read it back to the scheduler, and ask for a signed line in the plan before the first box moves.