Living on 2nd floor with no lift - problems with deliveries?

Mockingjays

Hi all. I've found a flat I like to possibly rent. My only hesitation is it's on the 2nd floor with no lift. As I've had problems in other flats above me with noise from people, including noise due to the hell of  laminate flooring, I like the idea of having no one above me. I'm wondering though if this could potentially mean difficulties with grocery deliveries or if I needed/wanted to replace any furniture in the future. 

Has anyone lived in a 2nd floor flat with no lift and been able to get any grocery deliveries? Anyone been able to get a washing machine, cooker etc, bed or sofa delivered ok?

I thought I'd do my research before taking the plunge, and any delivery experiences - good or bad - would be really appreciated. Thanks so much and have a good day. 

KatrinaWaves

Groceries I would expect to meet the delivery driver at the door and carry up the boxes myself. I wouldn’t expect the driver to make multiple trips up and down stairs unless I was extremely elderly or physically disabled.

I’m fairly sure most people living on upper floors have appliances and sofas so I’m sure as long as you consider this when looking at the sizing of sofas and inform the delivery company  there will be some way of getting it upstairs. 

gary83

A second floor flat without a lift wouldn’t appeal to everyone for the obvious reasons, there is some negatives & the elderly and people with small kids probably are never going to be your target market. but you wouldn’t be the only person needing to get a bed and other furniture upstairs very very occasionally - the rest of the country manages to do that just fine without a lift, on the plus side you’ll never get a large bill for lift replacement or maintenance work.

davidmcn

Speaking from urban Scotland (where flats are much more commonplace than rUK) and as someone who has been in second floor flats for over a decade, you can expect everybody to come up the stairs. Admittedly I haven't used online groceries, but one of the selling points I thought was that they bring stuff into your kitchen, and I've known people use them specifically because it saves them from carrying heavy shopping up the stairs themselves. 

knightstyle

Our grandson has just rented his first, second floor, flat and loves it, the stairs are not a problem for Hremes, Amazon and other companies.  As it is the top floor they often leave boxes outside his door as there is only 1 other flat on that floor and it is out of site from the road.

KxMx

davidmcn said:

Speaking from urban Scotland (where flats are much more commonplace than rUK) and as someone who has been in second floor flats for over a decade, you can expect everybody to come up the stairs. Admittedly I haven't used online groceries, but one of the selling points I thought was that they bring stuff into your kitchen, and I've known people use them specifically because it saves them from carrying heavy shopping up the stairs themselves. 

It varies between supermarkets but there are those who wouldn't deliver to a first floor flat never mind a second. 

dancing_star

Mockingjays said:

Has anyone lived in a 2nd floor flat with no lift and been able to get any grocery deliveries? Anyone been able to get a washing machine, cooker etc, bed or sofa delivered ok?

I thought I'd do my research before taking the plunge, and any delivery experiences - good or bad - would be really appreciated. Thanks so much and have a good day. 

Third floor with no lift. Three times.

Moving in and out wasn't a whole lot of fun, could barely walk for about three days afterwards as I felt too guilty letting the removal men get on with it.

Never had a problem with getting furniture delivered. I always checked with the delivery people first that it would be carried up stairs. This includes sofa (had to come to bits to get up the stairs), memory foam mattress (weighed about as much as a baby elephant) and fridge freezer. IIRC I had stuff delivered from Ikea and local independent white goods retailer. Can't remember re: sofa.

One time with Ikea flatpack furniture (brought home myself) I had to take it out of the box at the bottom of the stairs and carry it up piece by piece. No big deal.

Three times I managed to break legs/feet so had to get groceries delivered, again never had a problem as I warned the stores first and double checked it would be brought upstairs. Rest of the time I did my own shopping and hauled it up the stairs. Character (and muscle) building!

Never had a bad delivery experience. I can't say I'd like to do it all again, must have got soft since buying a three bedroomed semi. But suited me at the time - being young and fit (bar a couple of broken legs)

Hope that's helpful

davidmcn

KxMx said:

davidmcn said:

Speaking from urban Scotland (where flats are much more commonplace than rUK) and as someone who has been in second floor flats for over a decade, you can expect everybody to come up the stairs. Admittedly I haven't used online groceries, but one of the selling points I thought was that they bring stuff into your kitchen, and I've known people use them specifically because it saves them from carrying heavy shopping up the stairs themselves. 

It varies between supermarkets but there are those who wouldn't deliver to a first floor flat never mind a second. 

From my limited observations of deliveries nearby, I certainly get the impression that they're disappearing up to the flats, not just dumping everything at street level.

Mockingjays

Thanks everyone for your comments. 

Owain_Moneysaver

Builders merchants and similar will not deliver above ground floor. Consider this if you are considering any DIY.

125kg of plaster on a pallet ... 

And although you don't get people walking above you (although seagulls can be heavy footed), you are first to suffer from any roof leaks. 

davidmcn

Owain_Moneysaver said:

Builders merchants and similar will not deliver above ground floor. Consider this if you are considering any DIY.

125kg of plaster on a pallet ... 

I'm not sure what a tenant would be wanting with 125kg of plaster...