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Property/DIY

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Original poster

how long do removals actually take?

17 replies

mooneypie · 04/09/2017 12:53

We currently live in a largish 4 bedroom house, with loft, garden, sheds, garage. Just finished decluttering, but still loads of stuff everywhere that we want/need. Moving to a roughly similar size house about 30 mins away. I'm actually putting off ringing for removal quotes, as I just can't get my head around HOW on earth they will remove it all!! Surely it must take at least 2 days? But how would that work? They will have to dismantle and reassemble so much. We need a full packing service too. It's going to cost me a small fortune isn't it :(

OP posts:

gingercat02 · 04/09/2017 13:06

Ours (Pickfords) came and packed the day before and loaded the lorry with things we didn't need. They did the beds, lounge and kitchen stuff on the morning we moved. We were out by 12. 3 bed townhouse inc garage, shed and very full loft, to 4 bed 10 mins away

gingercat02 · 04/09/2017 13:07

Was less than £1000 including disassembly, packing and reassembly

nancy75 · 04/09/2017 13:09

My parents moved out of a 6 bed house in a day, packers came the day before and did all but the essentials. It does cost an arm & a leg because the more stuff you have the more people they send to remove you

Zampa · 04/09/2017 13:12

We moved last week from a 3 bed townhouse (with shed and cellar) to a larger house, 10 minutes drive away. They packed on day 1 and were fully loaded by 3pm on Day 2. Lorries were emptied and furniture reassembled by 10pm on Day 2. Total cost including packing and furniture (dis)mantling was £1,200.

Original poster

mooneypie · 04/09/2017 13:14

Thanks. I looked into renting a storage unit that would could slowly put stuff in, then take it to our new house, but this was 1k for 6 months so doesn't seem worth it either.

OP posts:

53rdWay · 04/09/2017 13:20

We moved from a 3-bed house to another about an hour away, with full packing service. They arrived at 7am, were fully packed and loaded onto the vans by 1, and all unloaded and reassembled where needed at the new house by 4. I was stunned, I thought it'd take days.

CMOTDibbler · 04/09/2017 13:24

Our last move, we had a very full 3 bed where they couldn't get the lorry to the door. I had packed nothing more than overnight bags and basic cup/plate/kettle.
From totally normal, cluttered house to on the lorry was under 5 hours. Absolutely amazing.

Original poster

mooneypie · 04/09/2017 13:28

how do they do it?!

OP posts:

WatchingFromTheWings · 04/09/2017 13:30

They're very clever with how they do it, literally experts! It's daunting when you look at it with an untrained eye though. We moved from a very full 3 bed with shed to a bigger 4 bed.

I packed all China/ornaments/kitchen ware etc in the months leading up to moving day. They came in (3 of them) and loaded up (2 trips) and put everything in the right room within 7 hours. Would have been 6 but we had to sit outside the house for an hour to wait for the key.

Get several people round for quotes. I'll bet you'll feel better about it after!

CrazyHairSister · 04/09/2017 13:31

Professional removers are incredible. They go through a house like locusts. Ours were running up and down the drive carrying furniture and boxes.

We moved from 3 bed detached about 15 minutes / 8 miles away to similar size house, £1300ish including a full packing service.

They packed up everything that we didn't need the night before, and then came the following morning and packed up beds etc.

I literally had to do nothing other than make them the odd brew. I didn't even need to pack up my underwear drawer as they just shrink wrapped the whole unit and carried it out.

Worth every penny.

MajorClanger123 · 04/09/2017 13:32

Can I hop onto this thread & ask at what point in the sale process did you start your packing (if doing it yourself)? I was assuming to wait until after exchange otherwise you might risk packing & whole thing falling through, but does that leave enough time if exchange & completion are 1 wk apart?

Ecureuil · 04/09/2017 13:35

We have just moved ourselves (3 bed to a large 4 bed). Hired a van and me, DH, my dad and a friend did the moving while my mum had my two pre schoolers. We did it in a day.

Ecureuil · 04/09/2017 13:36

MajorClanger123 I started packing after exchange, but having moved 14 times in 8 years (and done all the moves ourself, including to 3 different countries) im an absolute packing pro!
I'd suggest you start sorting/decluttering now then it should just be a case of putting things in boxes after exchange.

AJPTaylor · 04/09/2017 13:40

We recently relocated 150 miles. We paid 1750 that included a 7.5 tonne lorry and a box van. Arrived 9ish day 1 and loaded everything in the lorry. They offered to come back for beds etc but we elected to have it all gone. Then i cleaned. Then we stayed in 5 star hotel overnight. Removers came next day at midday when we got the keys and were unloaded and away by 2.30.
We packed ourselves as i had left work a few weeks before
If i hadnt id have paid for it happily

WatchingFromTheWings · 04/09/2017 13:47

Can I hop onto this thread & ask at what point in the sale process did you start your packing (if doing it yourself)?

A week before we went on the market! I wanted a declutter and tidy before the photos were taken for the estate agent. I started with ornaments and those kitchen gadgets that take up worktop space but rarely get used. Also packed up dvds and cds that don't get used. Then I did a box here and a box there. Even things like sorting old clothes/toys for charity.

MajorClanger123 · 04/09/2017 14:45

Ok thanks all.
We're pretty clutter free as we had a large, 2 storey extension 2 years back so I had a massive de-clutter then, although i'm sure we've accumulated more in the meantime.

I'm currently pushing solicitor for all to agree on rough move dates otherwise there appears to be no deadline and its feels like the conveyancing process could just keep going on and on forever, asking for endless pieces of paperwork for paperworks sake!

wowfudge · 04/09/2017 14:54

We moved from a 3 bed house with large, dry cellars and a huge garage to a 4 bed with attics, cellar and garage half an hour's drive away. The packers were there for 1.5 days before we moved and everything was packed up by 11.30am on moving day. Some stuff went onto the van and was securely stored overnight in order to give everyone room to move. We had our bedroom furniture save wardrobes, sofa and TV on stand until moving day.

The movers took everything to their depot until we rang them to say we had the keys. We paid around £1500 but our new house has difficult access and things had to be shuttled up from the van in transits/Lutons.

We did lots of decluttering and organising things into lidded plastic boxes - we had a lot of boxed storage in the cellar to keep things clean. We had no packing to do ourselves to speak of. It was my non-negotiable for moving. I am never packing myself again after the time we moved seven and half years ago as it was exhausting.

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