Removal costs

Albala

Sounds high to me. Did they come and view the house and see that some rooms were empty? Ours did. Made the difference between an overnighter (it's about the same drive time as yours) and them deciding they could do it in one day. We're paying under a grand for a 3-bed, but two bedrooms, like yours, are empty, and we have moved a fair bit of stuff by van already, like all the garage, garden and shed stuff, and all the loft. Lofts can be a biggie. However, we have a lot of books remaining (which we are packing ourselves- we are packing everything) and they are doing our white goods. This is a decent sized but local firm- not a national one. Nice big and clean lorries, good staff (we have seen them moving neighbours in and out over the years).

AdrianC

Albala wrote: »

This is a decent sized but local firm- not a national one. Nice big and clean lorries, good staff (we have seen them moving neighbours in and out over the years).

Exactly what you want to be looking for!

Murphybear

We have moved twice in the last 2 years. On both occasions we used a local family firm with 5 * reviews. We had a part pack on both occasions, kitchen stuff, china , glassware, mirrors etc. Both firms did an outstanding job.

Don’t ever estimate how useful a packing service is. If they don’t pack things like your best china and something gets broken they may not be liable.

A few years ago we used a “2 men and a van” service and they were pretty bad. They didn’t organise properly how the van was packed and there were no straps and blankets to protect large items, our best table was scratched and we thought “never again”. It was only when started sorting things out the other end we found they’d packed some frozen veg in one of the boxes, no we never did find out how why

If you’re young and fit, don’t have much furniture or anything very valuable, have access to a large van and extra bodies then diy is fine. If you’re like us, pensioners with dodgy knees and stuff with sentimental value then go for the best you can afford.

AdrianC

Murphybear wrote: »

If you’re young and fit, don’t have much furniture or anything very valuable, have access to a large van and extra bodies then diy is fine. If you’re like us, pensioners with dodgy knees and stuff with sentimental value then go for the best you can afford.

We (early 40s/early 50s at the time) DIYd the move here - we were lucky enough to blag a week of overlap between the two houses.

An over-full but small house (with a lot of fragile, sentimental-value heirlooms), an over-full storage unit (with even more of them - and about 40 boxes of books), and too many garages of oily junk.

A 3.5t Luton rentavan, and a 2,000 mile week. By crikey, did it get [STRIKE]us[/STRIKE] me fitter...

Albala

AdrianC wrote: »

We (early 40s/early 50s at the time) DIYd the move here - we were lucky enough to blag a week of overlap between the two houses.

An over-full but small house (with a lot of fragile, sentimental-value heirlooms), an over-full storage unit (with even more of them - and about 40 boxes of books), and too many garages of oily junk.

A 3.5t Luton rentavan, and a 2,000 mile week. By crikey, did it get [STRIKE]us[/STRIKE] me fitter...

Only 40 boxes of books? Amateur. (only joking, 40 boxes is no small amount)

No, but seriously though, if packing books, chaps, use only smallish boxes which are easy to lift when full, unless you want a slipped disc and boxes disintegrating all over the place. And some books weigh a lot heavier than others for their volume- especially books with a lot of photos in, like art books. It's the type of paper they use. Solution- even smaller boxes, not louder grunting. Another tip- if you have a lot to get downstairs, and you feel like living dangerously, you could put boards on the stairs and slide the boxes down -leave space at the side to walk up and down though!
My old job as a scene shifter we used to say, with heavy stuff, never lift what you can drag and never drag what you can wheel. A sack truck can be a boon when moving. Worth every penny. Get a good welded steel one, not a cheap rickety one. And when lifting, stick to the rules- this link is not for those who cry 'nanny state' all the time, but could be useful if you're the sort that's capable of taking advice- 'good handling technique' is part way down the page: https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/manual.htm

AdrianC

Albala wrote: »

Only 40 boxes of books? Amateur. (only joking, 40 boxes is no small amount)

We'd already got rid of the other half.

No, seriously.

Albala

AdrianC wrote: »

We'd already got rid of the other half.

No, seriously.

I can believe it. Some of us have books like other people have mice, as Thurber would say.:o

MovingForwards

Is it really bad that I've only ever done DIY when moving, keeps costs right down; I will also do it when I buy my own place next year, hire a van, grab loads of boxes, pack, load, move out and move in.

pimento

We moved a four bed house 200 miles to a three bed house and did our own packing. They packed the van with everything except the bed, came back on the day for the bed, then they followed us, unpacked everything on the same day.
We had five quotes ranging from £1200 to £2800 and we went with the one who I felt most comfortable with - £2400.
We tipped each of the two blokes, who worked like Trojans, £60.

spender717

6 years ago to move a very full 3 bed 1.5 miles we paid about £800.

That included packing all house up, dismantling bed and wardrobes and reassembly at new house. Plus £50 for each of the four guys and a gregs lunch!

BEST money we ever paid!!

They had 4 guys, it started to rain, by the end another team who had finished early came and joined to help our team finish quicker.

4k plus VAT seems way too much even though it's a long journey.