self move??

stu68

Just wondering if their is anyone that may be able to give some advice on renting a van for doing a self move ,we have the contents of a 4 bed house to move 150 miles, the removal companies are coming back with £1000 + quotes so I would like to do it myself with friends and family. Thing is I cant work out if say two Luton vans will be enough ,we don’t have a great deal of large stuff (i.e. no table and chairs) but lots of small bits and pieces. So if anyone has done a self move and can give any advice on Vans and size of I would be very grateful.

Thanks

cattie

Ooh, I'd say don't do it. The money you pay for a proper removal company to do the job is worth every penny in my opinion.

Shambler

I have self moved the last 2 times, used a Luton van last time which had a tail-lift making it great for getting the domestic appliances in/out.

The van cost £75 a day plus fuel on top.

If you have all small stuff then put it in sturdy (wooden) boxes otherwise you won't be able to stack it up in the van without causing an avalanche :eek:

It's impossible for me to guess how much stuff you have, but a Luton van is a pretty big beasty!

Doozergirl

I wouldn't do it 150 miles. When I moved from London, I insisted on a proper removal company but the Doozer insisted he could do it...The result was it took 10 car loads over a few weeks plus the van which turned out not to be enough and we ended up putting a load of stuff in the shed and having to go back for it after completion.

The stuff that was in the van, well, a lot of stuff got ruined. My wardrobe mirrors were smashed, something scraped right down the chest of drawers, a picture got broken.

It wasn't worth it. Shorter distance moves have worked out fine but it's easy to do multiple runs so you don't have to guess what space you need. You will be amazed at how much stuff it turns out you own.

Professional movers have all the right boxes and they'll pack it all up for you if you want. I've never been blessed by the professionals but my SIL moved her five bed house in about 10 minutes, I swear!

SuperTed_2

I have just done a 300 mile self move for a small two bedroom house. We also didn't have much furniture - 2 seater sofa, kingsize bed, TV cabinet, a few bookcases etc and we didn't think we had much other stuff at all, but once it was all boxed up it was amazing to see how much there really was. We flat packed some furniture to save space, but there was still way to much stuff to fit in a 3.5 tonne Luton.

In the end we had to rent a 7.5 ton box van for 2 days which cost £200. Diesel for 600 miles (there and back) was also around £200. We also had two cars completely filled with items we didn't want to risk getting damaged in the van.

A friend also self moved for small 2 bedroom house and used a 7.5 tonne and filled it to the brim. It was on their advice that we booked the larger van. I also know someone who is planning to self move their 3 bedroom house and as they have quite a lot of furniture will be hiring two 7.5 tonne vans, but as they are only moving locally they will have time to go back for another load or two if they can't get it all in.

Shambler is right - defineately use stackable boxes. We used plastic ones from the Really Useful Box Company and they stacked together perfectly and didn't move at all. Also, remember to tie large items to the side of the truck to stop them moving at well. A tail lift is a must!

Hope this helps.

Good luck with your move.

safesound

Don't do it!
We moved ourselves two years ago and both agree that if we ever move again we will fork out the money for professional movers. It was a complete nightmare. We only moved about 20 miles away and got up bright and early to start, the van broke down half way through the day and we were still at it at 11pm that night! We did three trips in the Luton and it still wasn't enough for a 3 bedroom end of terrace. Never EVER again.
On the plus side it gives you something to moan about on here

tonydee

Doozergirl wrote: »

I wouldn't do it 150 miles. When I moved from London, I insisted on a proper removal company but the Doozer insisted he could do it...The result was it took 10 car loads over a few weeks plus the van which turned out not to be enough and we ended up putting a load of stuff in the shed and having to go back for it after completion.

The stuff that was in the van, well, a lot of stuff got ruined. My wardrobe mirrors were smashed, something scraped right down the chest of drawers, a picture got broken.

It wasn't worth it. Shorter distance moves have worked out fine but it's easy to do multiple runs so you don't have to guess what space you need. You will be amazed at how much stuff it turns out you own.

Professional movers have all the right boxes and they'll pack it all up for you if you want. I've never been blessed by the professionals but my SIL moved her five bed house in about 10 minutes, I swear!

Self note. Make sure you have a big enough vehicle

tonydee

I would say a 7.5 tonne truck is bare minimum for house removals. You'll be surprsied how quickly it all stacks up.

Work out the savings for doing it yourself and then its up to you to do it not. It has to be a consideration, especially on this website.

Vampgirl

For local moves its just about do-able to do it yourself but if you're talking long distance then I'd go for the professionals every time! I know this website is about money saving, but sometimes its worth paying for someone else to have all the hassle. Personally this is one of those things that I don't mind paying for (tho I'll get quotes from several companies to make sure I get a good deal!)

Plus don't forget if anything gets damaged in transit then professionals have insurance so you're not out of pocket. Whereas if you're doing it yourself and the load shifts while you're on the motorway then you have the cost of replacing the damaged items.

DanceInThe_Dark

We've moved about 8 times in 16 years and every time was a self move.
The last two moves were both over 150 miles and we not only moved the house stuff but also the dog kennels and bird avaries (thats 8 dog cabins and runs 9 ft long by 6ft wide and sheds and flights 6ft by 12ft). Not to mention 8 dogs and 6 macaws in cages.

To be honest moving the house contents only I could do standing on my head it was all the sheds, cabins and runs etc that was the problem.
Organisation was the key.

We used a big HGV wagon (friend has a licence) and a large luton which made two trips (like I say the outside stuff took up most of the room.)
Pack everything up well in boxes beforehand (label them), wardrobes etc can be packed with boxes and furniture padded out with bedding or whatever.

There is no way we could have afforded to have a commercial company move all our stuff and as for the animals we'd still have needed to move them ourselves.

We've never had anything broken or damaged during a move as I believe I take better care of my items than anyone else.

Running_Horse

Make sure the van is big enough. My brother in law did this, and very quickly had to hire another bigger van on the day. Also, summer is coming; pay somone else to sweat like a pig for the day.

Have you tried removal companies from outside your area? Someone I know moved from Kent to Manchester, and it was a fraction of the price to get a northern company to come down here, than it was to use a local firm.