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Original poster

How bad will it be to move ourselves rather than use a removal firm

100 replies

PippaFawcett · 22/05/2016 11:14

We are moving from a three bed semi to a slightly larger three bed detached.

Removals quotes are coming in at £1000+ with one saying our stuff won't be insured unless we use their packing services Confused which is more £££.

We don't have an excessive amount of stuff but have all the usual beds/two wardrobes/table/sofa/white goods etc and we are only moving 40 mins away so could do a couple of trips if necessary. But it would only be me and DH really as it will be a weekday and we don't feel we can ask any of our friends to take time off work to help.

The DC can go to childcare so at least they will be out of the way. We thought we could hire the car the night before and load it up at night - with help - so it is ready to drive the next morning.

Would we be mad to do this? Or is the saving worth it? We are going to be renovating the new house so every penny counts.

OP posts:
MardleBum · 22/05/2016 11:41

40 minutes away is quite a lot and unless you have access to your new home a day or two before you have to leave your old one you will NOT be able to do two trips. To think you can is madness and you will massively inconvenience the people moving in if you haven't vacated fully by the time the money has cleared and completion has happened.

Also if there is just the two of you I think you will find it very difficult to move large items. We once tried to get a sofa out of one room and into another and it got stuck to the point where we ended up hacking chunks out of the wall to free it but had to put it back where it was to begin with. A few months later and we moved house and watched with disbelief as the professionals got it through doorways and around corners without any problems at all. They knew what they were doing and we didn't. If we'd been under pressure to get it out of the house ourselves it would have been awful.

EsmesBees · 22/05/2016 11:41

Just to echo others, I've done it both ways, and would never do it ourselves again. Last time we booked a basic moving service which was 2 men to lift and pack boxes and furniture into the van and unpack them again at the other end. Worked really well. They will work so much quicker than you and are used to heavy lifting/moving furniture round corners etc.

GiddyOnZackHunt · 22/05/2016 11:45

Do remember you will need to clean as well as move. And all potentially before midday. There was a thread on here a while back about moving horror stories and an awful lot involved sellers who had decided to move themselves and were utterly unprepared for the amount of stuff they had to do. Still ferrying lorry loads at 5pm whilst their buyers were paying extra for their removal men to wait.

Original poster
PippaFawcett · 22/05/2016 11:45

Vegas, good point but the van being stolen is probably unlikely. Whatever we did, we would make sure we didn't delay our buyer or our vendor, I have read enough threads on here to know that isn't fair!

OP posts:
Original poster
PippaFawcett · 22/05/2016 11:46

Re cleaning - I figured if I did the bathrooms and kitchen in advance and gave them a freshen up before we left then it would just be a quick hoover through, surely?

OP posts:
GiddyOnZackHunt · 22/05/2016 11:52

Well you'll have boxes everywhere for a week or two beforehand. Plus there are inevitably different standards in cleaning so it'll need all the big furniture pulled out and cleaned behind, skirtings washed down etc. Even if that adds 30 minutes to your morning then it's got to be factored in.Mud might get trampled through when loading the van. Stuff might get dropped.

NinjaTwat · 22/05/2016 12:07

No I wouldn't advice it. We moved from a flat to a two bed house, and just hired a van. That was do able.

When we moved from the 2 bed to a 3 bed, we had self storage containers delivered, we filled them, then they took them away to store. We did that as we were not moving straight into the new house. The people moving out of our new house, did it themselves, with a van and cars, they took all day, and left halve there shit, as they couldn't be bothered by the end of the night.

This last time we moved it was over 300 miles away. We booked the removal men, but packed everything ourselves, everything was insured by them. It cost just £1300. Which given the distance thought was bloody good.

I think you need to find another company, who will come, but are happy to just put the things on the lorry. They're plenty out there, with lots of different prices.

NinjaTwat · 22/05/2016 12:09

I think you are going to have to do many many trips in a van for a three bed house.

Every time we moved, it was a real shock at just how much stuff we had!

limesoda · 22/05/2016 12:14

We have moved out of a house, into my parents with their garage as storage, then after a couple of months moved all the stuff into our now house.

Everything was in the garage, in boxes, ready to go IYSWIM, my mum helped and it was full to the brim so we got it all sorted in one day, but we started at 7am, and were being the Luton van back at about 11. No cleaning, my mum fed us, some friends came round in the evening to help unpack.

In a conventional situation, it would be so difficult without the pros and I think even my stingy DH would pay at least a man with a van.

dimots · 22/05/2016 12:14

I don't think it's doable with just 2 of you. I've done it with 4 people and it was really difficult. And this was before we had children and their associated clutter.

BrieAndChilli · 22/05/2016 12:25

We moved with a 7 month old and a 2.5 year old.
We had us, and a car, FIL (and FILs transit van) FIL best friend (and another van) DH best friend, DH Aunt (and another car) and DH cousin
We also had a week overlap of the 2 houses so we're able to clean new house first, move then clean old house/get rid of junk etc after the move.
I swore never to move ourselves again and to pay someone else to do it!
Didn't help that most of our furniture was okra flatpack that we had purchased while in the old house and so ten put together inside the house to then realise we couldn't get half of it out the house!

BrieAndChilli · 22/05/2016 12:27

Even with 2 cars and 2 vans it was a lot of trips, at least 5 for each vehicle I reckon.

GoblinLittleOwl · 22/05/2016 12:42

It will be exhausting; have you any friends who can help carrying furniture?
I did it once, with ex-husband, because we simply couldn't afford removal charges, but I have never been so physically exhausted in my life.

didireallysaythat · 22/05/2016 12:43

Anyvan.com.

If you've got a chain you want to do it in one trip but you can get quotes for that. We ended up with a bidding war over our job (paid £300 for 3 men and a van to move us & piano 5 miles). Hiring a van was going to cost us >£100

dudsville · 22/05/2016 12:56

Honestly, I think once you have acquired a household's worth of stuff you're beyond being able to do it quickly. Also, our last move happened to fall on the hottest day of the year and friends of mine also moved on the wettest day. Getting fit and healthy movers in who are used to the work and need only to be supplied with kindness and refreshments is more than a luxury. We packed ourselves and this took weeks, where my friends had the movers pack them and they accomplished this the night before. Also, while the movers moved us in we were free to do other things like put the bed back together, make it, get out some basics sorted, set the tv up, etc. After they left we could shower and be comfortable for the evening, unlike if we had moved ourselves where the evening would be spent doing all those things.

Original poster
PippaFawcett · 22/05/2016 13:11

I am looking at that AnyVan website and that seems like a good option as it is the experience and manpower that we need.

OP posts:
superwormissuperstrong · 22/05/2016 13:25

The thing that takes the most time is good packing - if you can start doing that yourselves in the weeks leading up then it's half the battle. I would go with man and van to keep costs low.
I've done both the removals firms and man with van and I'm not convinced with the premium of the removals firm. Although the man with van was a recommendation - so if going down that route ask neightbours/family/friends for someone reliable...

Original poster
PippaFawcett · 22/05/2016 13:28

superworm, that is what I was hoping to hear that if I am organised, it will be fine to do it ourselves/use a smaller outfit.

OP posts:
Ruhrpott · 22/05/2016 13:36

We did it ourselves but we had both houses for a month and could do it slowly. We hired a van for a weekend and spent Friday just me and DH moving stuff and then Saturday with 9 friends moving the bigger stuff. Then Sunday me and DH clearing the garage. It was hard work and we would never have managed it all in one day. I would say get movers in to help. I had also spent weeks before decluttering and packing boxes which I got free from work

NorbertDentressangle · 22/05/2016 13:39

Don't underestimate how much stuff you have , how long it will take and how physically exhausting it will be.

Honestly, I would go with paying a firm to pack , move and unload at the other end.

I helped my mum move recently - well, she had removers (team of 4 men) who did the packing and moving but even then I came home knackered just from doing bits of cleaning, unpacking and shifting things.

cansu · 22/05/2016 13:41

Have done it a few times with parents as help. It was a nightmare but possible. The last time we moved we had movers and I was actually amazed at how brilliant it was. They had it all loaded up in no time and were fab. It was definitely worth the money.

Bails2014 · 22/05/2016 13:43

Having moved house 5 times in the last four years, I can totally say DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF, we own vans, Land Rover, estate cars, have a fleet of family to help us and have never really moved more than 20 mins away and still I would not move us, the only moves I have done on my own (with around four helpers, so five in total) have been when I was a single lady in a flat, even then we hired vans etc and it took at least a full day.

This move I put my foot down and we got people in, even OH agrees it was stress free and worth every penny!

thisishardwork · 22/05/2016 13:50

We were moving to a vacant house , had lots of help and movers and their van. I still have flashbacks. We're maybe just very disorganised though!

MightyMeerkat · 22/05/2016 14:08

I did this today! There were 3 of us and we moved the contents of a 1 bed flat into storage. It was really hard work. 3 trips in the end and moving the furniture was really hard. Both my furniture and me took some damage!
If you're going to do it then get the biggest van you can, a barrow with wheels for moving things more easily and at least 3 people. Good luck.

allegretto · 22/05/2016 14:10

I don't know how strong you are but I physically couldn't lift a lot of our furniture. Imagine if you put your back out in the first 5 minutes - what would you do? We are moving this summer and we aren't hiring a van, just the movers as the new place is very close but we still need people to carry stuff.

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