I don't usually go into houses for scrap due to potential for liability. I ALMOST broke this "rule" today:
I got a call yesterday wanting me to pick up a dryer at her mother's; then go to this lady's house next door and pick up a gas stove from her shed. Explained to her that I don't go in houses and am not bonded. She'd seen my picture on my web site and "knew" she could trust me. The dryer was "just inside her mother's front door and would be easy to get". I get to the mother's house. The first thing she asks is if I have a dolly ("no"). She gets worried about marking up the floor. She decides we can set it on a rug and slide along the floor. Then I find the dryer is really in a laundry room down a short hallway from the front door. Then she says we'll have to take off the folding door to the laundry room so it'll fit. I'd been talking about how I wouldn't accept liability for any damage all along but now I tell her I will pick it up from outside - I won't be responsible for any damage - she has two tight doorways, new linoleum in the laundry room and fancy, highly polished wood flooring in the hallway and entryway. She said she understood and had someone who'd get it outside for her. She'll email me and I can pick it up from the outside stairway. I still got the daughter's stuff and didn't seem like there were any hard feelings.
Anybody else who won't go in houses? Think about the potential; even going downstairs for a water heater, furnace etc. Like I told the daughter - When I'm standing in front of the judge, I want to say "Your Honor, I didn't even go IN that house."
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