DIY Removals

maisie_cat

We did this by hiring a storage unit & transporting stuff we wouldn't need soon into that unit leaving us with a Luton worth on removal day. We packed the house into the van the day before completion, all we had in the house overnight was a mattress and a few bits. We moved 250 miles so it made sense for us, removal companies wanted between £3600 and £4800, but as you are moving 5 minutes it should be straightforward. 

fiwen30

I moved a 4 bed household into a 3 bed rental, with the help of 2 strong, motivated friends and a horse box. I had everything bagged, boxed, and ready to go - moving about 8 miles - and it still took all day to load the horse box, drive over, and then unload. Between the box, the towing vehicle, and my little town car, we managed to do it in 1 run, but loading took forever, and unloading was very much a case of ‘wherever it’ll fit’ in the new house.

Partner wants to DIY from our current rental into our new house (FTBs), but after reading this I think I might try to persuade him otherwise!

CBush86

fiwen30 said:

I moved a 4 bed household into a 3 bed rental, with the help of 2 strong, motivated friends and a horse box. I had everything bagged, boxed, and ready to go - moving about 8 miles - and it still took all day to load the horse box, drive over, and then unload. Between the box, the towing vehicle, and my little town car, we managed to do it in 1 run, but loading took forever, and unloading was very much a case of ‘wherever it’ll fit’ in the new house.

Partner wants to DIY from our current rental into our new house (FTBs), but after reading this I think I might try to persuade him otherwise!

If we were in rental I think I would consider it, as we did that when we moved into our current house as FTB, however we are now middle of the chain and even thinking about doing it ourselves makes my brain hurt, we would only have myself, husband and 2 other helpers so definitely going to go with professionals! Thanks everyone 😁

getmore4less

Its all about the planning and available space if it cannot be done in one trip.

Even just round the corner you need loaders and unloaders at each end to optimise the van time.
if it is raining you take a lot longer because you can't have people piling stuff up ready to load and the unloaders need to take it into the house.
Garage can help as you can have a lot out of the house if you overrun the new people can still get stuff in.

If the place you are moving  to have overrun you need somewhere to unload.

3rd party storage can help as you can get a lot of stuff out the way on moving day.

AS much as possible needs to be in boxes than can stacked and be moved easy carry or with sack truck or flatbed for heavier items.

The biggest issue is most people are just not fit enough to do a few hours moving stuff using their body in a new way

hazyjo

Know you've said you'll get removals in now, but for those DIY-ing, please also consider that the van will at times be unattended, especially if you're getting stuff from a flat above ground level, or floor other than ground in a house. 

Do you really trust everyone going past not to nick anything? Are you going to close the van doors every time you're going indoors, or literally make sure someone's standing by it at all times?

There are many things to consider saving money on. Removals is not one of them for most people! It's stressful enough! I always get them to pack too.

Literally the best money spent (and every penny earned by the removal bods) when moving house!

MovingForwards

GDB2222 said:

MovingForwards said:

Did it with the help of 4 mates, that took a few trips and I didn't have white goods. A van and two cars were used.

I wouldn't DIY again.

When I recently moved I found a local business advertising on gumtree, they did it effortlessly and I've since recommended them to people.

I assume you didn’t tell your solicitor. He’d have been horrified.

He knew what my plan was and supported it, even pushed the purchase through when I had the mortgage extension as at that time only 'exceptional circumstances' meant purchases were going through up here, for that I had to send a detailed email and there was next to no wait for the reply saying yes, that's definitely fine to go through.  

I moved about 6 weeks into lockdown and the business I used have been going for years.

As I'm disabled I will never be able to do a sole DIY move, it was hard enough filling my car with personal possessions and blocking the little heaters when I relocated, but I have fond memories of the very long drive up to here in a car older than me during winter 😁 

zagubov

I know this is a moneysaving site, but I'm giving another vote against DIYing this. In fact, I'm with Hazyjo on spending more for boxing.

GDB2222

MovingForwards said:

GDB2222 said:

MovingForwards said:

Did it with the help of 4 mates, that took a few trips and I didn't have white goods. A van and two cars were used.

I wouldn't DIY again.

When I recently moved I found a local business advertising on gumtree, they did it effortlessly and I've since recommended them to people.

I assume you didn’t tell your solicitor. He’d have been horrified.

He knew what my plan was and supported it, even pushed the purchase through when I had the mortgage extension as at that time only 'exceptional circumstances' meant purchases were going through up here, for that I had to send a detailed email and there was next to no wait for the reply saying yes, that's definitely fine to go through.  

I moved about 6 weeks into lockdown and the business I used have been going for years.

As I'm disabled I will never be able to do a sole DIY move, it was hard enough filling my car with personal possessions and blocking the little heaters when I relocated, but I have fond memories of the very long drive up to here in a car older than me during winter 😁 

I’ll admit that you’ve confused me.

You originally said that the move took several trips. (That was the first one you mentioned, and that’s the one I commented on.) I was thinking that several trips meant that you were not fully out of the old house by lunchtime, and it wasn’t clear what you did with the stuff you unloaded. But maybe you owned or rented both properties at the same time, so could move your gear at your own pace.

MovingForwards

@GDB2222 first rental (1) to last rental (2) was DIY with mates, van and two cars.

Last rental (2) to my purchase (3) was removal guys.

Always had an overlap when moving as it's nice to clean the property I'm moving to before trying to get possessions in, then allows enough time to clean outgoing property.

Sorry for the confusion!

Slinky

This is the one thing regarding moving that you'll find most MSE people agree with. Spend the money on the removal. Even consider the full packing service which isn't much more.  Our last removers weren't great, we couldn't get the people we wanted to move us who had moved us before, but having watched a DIY move from hell opposite us once before, we knew we'd never get involved with DIY move ever.