How fast were your packers/removals?

Halle71

We are moving from a 4 bed house with what I imagine is an average amount of stuff for a family with 2 kids, on Friday and we are using packers.

They want to come in early on the morning of the move with a couple of extra men and pack and move in the same day.

I'm worried they won't be ready in time for completion and we'll end up annoying our buyers.

Has anyone done this and how long did it take?

Cheers

H

PasturesNew

They go as fast, or slow, as they need.... I saw three of them pack a 3 bed house full of ornaments, glassware, artwork and general clutter in a day without breaking into a sweat.

I think they go at a pace that's relevant to the job, so will work faster some days and not others. The make the work fit the time available.

BettiePage

I've had a 2 bed house packed from scratch and loaded in about 6 hours. Be careful though, if it's lying around they'll pack it! A carton of half drunk juice with the straw still in made it from Buckinghamshire to Italy in one piece, as did the back door key and grill pan from the cooker (armed forces married quarter), lol!

Halle71

BettiePage wrote: »

I've had a 2 bed house packed and loaded in about 6 hours. Be careful though, if it's lying around they'll pack it! A carton of half drunk juice with the straw still in made it from Buckinghamshire to Italy in one piece, as did the back door key and grill pan from the cooker (armed forces married quarter), lol!

That's my worry and what my OH doesn't seem to understand - he can't see what I have to do if we're using packers - a bit like tidying before the cleaner comes....

We've got a suitcase each for things we'll need in the first few days in case stuff doesn't get unpacked and I'm going through all wardrobes and cupboards tidying and chucking away!

Thrugelmir

Halle71 wrote: »

They want to come in early on the morning of the move with a couple of extra men and pack and move in the same day.

It's their job to assess the time required. They won't spend any longer than they have to. Have far they are travelling will also form part of the equation.

BettiePage

Like you said, put stuff you'll need immediately to one side (in the car or spare room and ban them from it). The difference with ours was that my son was only small at the time and we would not get the rest of our stuff back for a while, plus more than half went into storage and we didn't get that back for three years! So that's why we had to be careful and presorted stuff. For a normal house move, it wouldn't take as long.

Paully232000

We moved at the end of last year and the packers came first thing in the morning.
Average 3 bed house to a 4 bed house, 2 adults, 2 children.

They had packed by lunchtime, and met us at the new house after lunch.

Everything was well packed and they didn't break or damage a thing.

We didnt do a thing in our old house except make them tea and give them biscuits. Just remember to put things into one corner and tell them, if you don't want it moved. We kept a few things back to clean the old house and things we would need for the new house without having to unpack, few clothes, toothbrush, some toys, cups, teabags etc etc

princeofpounds

They are remarkably fast. It does help to get stuff tidy however, otherwise it will go into the packaging in whatever state it was and come out the same way.

Halle71

Thanks everyone

I think I'm worrying too much :-)
I've tidied, offloaded to the charity shop, recycled and chucked - our drawers have never been so tidy!
And we are only moving 5 minutes round the corner.

I just remember at my previous flat waiting impatiently to get in because the vendor wasn't ready and I was paying my removals by the hour.

Now I need to relax and worry what to do with my 1 and 5 year old while they are packing!

Wirenth

When I moved, there were certain items that I didn't want packed. I placed a bright post-it sticky on each and the packers left them alone.

DaftyDuck

A good team is lightning-fast and incredibly careful. A bad team can be even faster....

By the time I'd met the last team and found whether they wanted tea/coffee/six or four sugars, and then made it, bedroom five was packed, empty bar the bed frame, even lampshade had been removed. I mean, they were super-fast. Nothing was damaged, and there're a fair few fragile antiques and technology (microscopes, also mainly antique; MSE an' all that).

Help them do their job. When they survey, be honest what's hiding in the attic or the shed. Check of they'll collapse furniture themselves and, if so, tie the relevant Allen key to it where possible. Check what they might not carry (paint tins, solvent, petrol, guns, explosives, pets, children, granny, for example). Show/give them a photo of the approach/front of new house if possible, to assess access, easy recognition).

If you want to clean stuff, do it a day before they arrive. Keep out of their way, but try to park your cars in the morning to reserve a space for their lorry. Pack anything you want left out the day before, and remove it to the car. Stick kettle, biscuits, milk, cake etc, in a bright red bucket or similar, label it "LEAVE IF YOU WANT COFFEE AND CAKE" or whatever, stick it in the kitchen, tie it to a handle or tap if you like.

Send kids to an aunt, or sell them on Ebay a month before.

Label rooms simply, and tell them if the layout of the new place is similar (helps unloading). Warn them if it is smaller! Label new house rooms on the door, again, simply. You may call it the "Front Parlour" and "Garden Room", let them call it Lounge and Conservatory, and don't sneer! Label bedrooms 1, 2, 3, etc for both houses. Keep it simple!

Send pets off to a friend's house, or sell them on Ebay a week before. Keep out of their way, unless asked. Offer any help at the beginning, or just sit it out, out of the way. Keep husbands away from helping with a box or two, or sell us on Ebay a day before. One of the scrawny sixty-year-old will hoik a virtually empty box up like a feather... us "real men" will offer to take that one out, only to find it's got the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica, dumbells, a set of saucepans, and the fire grate in it, and we'll be "out of it" for the next week while you cope.

Keep that tea and coffee coming. They may want lots of sugar, and lots and lots of biscuits. Buy twice as much as you think, then double that. Don't just buy cheap carp; they are carrying your worldly possessions, and a few pence more will make them happy and cheery. If the freezer is integrated and staying, they'll crawl over the broken remnants of your china for ice cream or cold, cold water. Otherwise, keep out of the way, unless asked.

If you need to clean once the sofa is moved (you better do so!) WAIT until that room is empty, better until they've gone. You will be in the way otherwise. I don't know what Odwal and g!wno mean exactly, but I don't think they're Eastern European terms of endearment.

Have the address you are moving to, your mobile number, husband's mobile number, quick diagram of parking, estate agent number, translator, anything, written down in clear writing. Yes, the manager has it, but he's in the BMW, not the clapped out old lorry.

Have even more tea, coffee, whatever, ready at the other end. Keep out of the way, until they are done. Tip them/kiss them goodbye/say you'll sue them later, whatever. Lock the door, buy kids/pets/spousal partner back off Ebay and.... breathe again.