Self-Move Van Size Help

uglybug

I hope someone can help me with this. We finally have a completion date - 27th October! As we are running on quite a tight budget with our move we are going to do the move ourselves. We are moving from quite a spartan 2-bed terrace so we don't have a lot of stuff. However, I'm unsure as to the van size that I should hire. I can drive up to 7.5 tonner.

At the moment I am leaning towards a 3.5 tonner with tail lift. We are only moving 10 miles, so I can make a couple of journeys if necessary. Our friends live opposite our new house so they can keep an eye on things between us dropping stuff off and getting the keys.

BlondeHeadOn

Ummm... I am no expert, but I moved out of a 2 bedroomed maisonette (so no loft even) that I had lived in for 11 years, and thought that I would only need a smallish 3.5 tonne truck. Luckily a friend persuaded me to hire the 7.5tonne truck (with tail lift) instead.

I was so pleased that I had, after two totally full van loads later....

It was easier and cheaper in the long run to get the bigger van, believe me! I was amazed as how much stuff I had when I tried to fit it all into a van.

Happy moving day anyway, whatever you decide!

Poppycat

Good luck with your move

I cant help on you van size as I too are interested in the answers, are probably got more stuff if your spartan.

However I remember when we moved asuming your street is limited for parking is to get the Police/council to put cone sout possible at both properties so that you can easily get to and from.

Hope all goes well for you.

tigs78

I recently moved my from a two bed house (had a loft but was empty) and used a 3.5 tonne van. I made around three seperate car trips too as I only moved a few miles. I moved at really short notice on a week day so couldn't get friends or family brave enough to phone in sick and help me!

The hiring of the van itself can be quite expensive and obviously you have to do the driving and humping of heavy furniture yourself, I couldn't afford a full removal package (was getting quotes in the region of £700 :eek:) so I hired a man with van. For £20 an hour, he drove the van and would do the humping but obviously I would have to have helped hump stuff around as he couldn't carry a washing machine on his own!

So for £30 an hour it was two man and a van, I didn't have to lift a finger but obviously I wanted to get in as quickly as possible so I helped move the lighter stuff.

I have NEVER seen anybody work so hard in all my life, I thought that being paid hourly they would take their time and be stopping for tea every five mins. I couldn't be more wrong, they literally ran everywhere, even while carrying heavy furniture and every time I gave them a can of drink they would drink it whilst still moving stuff. I honestly didn't see them stand still once, and I was unfortunate enough to move in the middle of the disgusting heatwave we had this summer!

Anyway four hours at £30 = £120 plus I gave them a £20 tip so £140 all in, I had everything packed in proper packing boxes and got my strong friend to move everything that would fit into the living room the night before so it was all ready to go. I just had a look at thrifty it's £95 just to hire a truck on it's own!

voguemonkey

I used a man and van in London a couple of years ago and can PM you details if you want them. I was moving out of a flat in South London with part of my stuff going to East London and the rest going to my parents place in Cambridge. They did me a quote based on mileage and the lot cost me £200. The fella they sent was an absolute sweetheart and as strong as an ox! He ran up and down the stairs to my second floor flat with massive boxes like there was nothing in them.

Inzvestor

Man and a van is the way to go. Another point to consider is a company who offer insurance, which many man and van operations can do.

If you move and you break then you pay...