Moving house

[Tashyboy]

Not me. Bro in law and sis in law. I helped them move lock stock and barrel on weds. Yesterday I have never ached so much in my life. Both biceps have gone. Me left thigh feels cut In two. I have never seen so much junk in me life. Me and Missis T have come to the conclusion we have as much if not more Junk in our house, garage and shed. We need a Major de clutter. Weds night due to physical exertion and dehydration my head was banging.
If anyone is moving house soon. Please accept my deepest sympathies and admiration.

 

[IanM]

In 1997 Donna and I moved from a small 3 bed to a larger 4. We were 30 somethings as were two of my mates who offered to help.

We'll be over at 7-30am they said, we'll be done by early afternoon and then go and play golf...... At 8pm, the pizzas arrived, one of them was crashed out on the sofa and missed out. They still give me stick over this, and they were volunteers. We were knackered for days.

In 2009 when we moved from there, it was a company relocation and they paid for a removal firm. An army of seriously strong blokes arrived and it was like clock-work! When they left, we got spruced up, walked the 100 yards to our new local and had dinner. That's the way to do it.

Lesson: Get a removal firm in. Pay them whatever they ask ( ) . It's worth it.

 

[PJ87]

Moved twice in my entire life and that's enough for me.

1996 3 bed end terrace, grandad had moved in after my nans death so we moved to a 5 bed semi

2014 wife and I bought a 3 bed semi .. 2019 stuck a loft extention on it making it 4 bed

Never moving.

I'd rather go through more building works

 

[Tashyboy]

In 1997 Donna and I moved from a small 3 bed to a larger 4. We were 30 somethings as were two of my mates who offered to help.

We'll be over at 7-30am they said, we'll be done by early afternoon and then go and play golf...... At 8pm, the pizzas arrived, one of them was crashed out on the sofa and missed out. They still give me stick over this, and they were volunteers. We were knackered for days.

In 2009 when we moved from there, it was a company relocation and they paid for a removal firm. An army of seriously strong blokes arrived and it was like clock-work! When they left, we got spruced up, walked the 100 yards to our new local and had dinner. That's the way to do it.

Lesson: Get a removal firm in. Pay them whatever they ask ( ) . It's worth it.

It wasn’t just the removal bit, bro in law said “ we will empty the upstairs first” so we loaded up the van and cars. Got to the new bungalow and waited for the keys and waited and waited. 3 hours later the keys were released. The house that bro in law moved out of he let the lady move in. She had four guys move everything.They said to bro in law “you have screwed up“. You should of moved everything from the garden and shed first. Dumped it into the garden, gone back for the second load and then waited. It always happens, waiting for keys. Made me smile reading about eating pizza. I was that hungry and thirsty at 9.00 am when they came I shovelled it down. Thursday before golf I thought I was passing a breeze block ?
I was ready for a bath after golf yesterday and rang Missis T to see where she was. At in laws helping them to sort out stuff. I spent the next three hours building beds and wardrobes. I could of fell asleep in the bath last night.
on a positive I shot 34 points in the wind and rain, won my division and got cut 0.2.It must go down as one of me greatest ever rounds.

 

[fundy]

Weve moved every few years most of our lives, one of the big pluses is we clear out any excess each time Oh and pay professionals to do the hard work!

 

[ColchesterFC]

The last time we moved was the first time we'd got a removal firm to do it for us and we'll never do it any other way again. Previously we'd always hired a van and done it ourselves with the help of friends, and ending up aching for days. We hired a local company and the boss and his two assistants turned up with the boss staying on the van and the other two carting everything out of the house. Watching them load the van was like watching experts playing Tetris. I stayed at the old house while Mrs Colch was at the new house. Everything went like clockwork, so much so that on top of their £340 bill we tipped them £60 so they could go out for a few beers or a meal that evening.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

First move was from Mill Hill to Dusseldorf, bloke came around and worked out how many Cubic Metres we’d need, next day MFO boxes were delivered flat packed with 4 boxes of screws, we then had to assemble the boxes and pack all our belongings in to them apart from white goods and furniture.

3 days later Removal firm arrived and loaded everything on to their van.

Everything was then delivered to new house 3 weeks later in Duss.

Unpack boxes, then dismantle MFO Boxes and hand them back to QM Stores.

Did this another 3 times before the MOD updated the system and the way they moved families.

 

[williamalex1]

The last time we moved was the first time we'd got a removal firm to do it for us and we'll never do it any other way again. Previously we'd always hired a van and done it ourselves with the help of friends, and ending up aching for days. We hired a local company and the boss and his two assistants turned up with the boss staying on the van and the other two carting everything out of the house. Watching them load the van was like watching experts playing Tetris. I stayed at the old house while Mrs Colch was at the new house. Everything went like clockwork, so much so that on top of their £340 bill we tipped them £60 so they could go out for a few beers or a meal that evening.

It's amazing how over the years you accumulate things you'll never use again.
My big mistake was flooring our loft , now she stores all sorts of stuff that'll never be used again. Plus all HER out of season coats, jackets ,dresses, tops ETC.
She says she can't climb up the loft ladder , so I have to fetch what ever and when she needs something.
Where as in my shed/man cave everything is at hand and used regularly
We moved 3 times during our 1st 3 years, never again, next move I'll be in the big box.

 

[ColchesterFC]

It's amazing how over the years you accumulate things you'll never use again.
My big mistake was flooring our loft , now she stores all of stuff that'll never be used again. Plus all HER out of season coats, jackets ,dresses, tops ETC.
She says she can't climb up the loft ladder , so I have to fetch what ever and when she needs something.
Where as in my shed/man cave everything is at hand and used regularly
We moved 3 times during our 1st 3 years, never again, next move I'll be in the big box.

We've recently been through this. I hired an 8 yard skip and put it on the drive. We then went through every room in the house including the garage and the loft. Anything that hadn't been used or looked at in the last year was either thrown in the skip or if it was in decent condition put in a separate pile to be donated to a charity shop. It's amazing the amount of crap that you put to one side "just in case we need it" and then never look at again.

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Some of the best money I've ever spent was paying a removal company to dismantle everything and pack our ould house up. Then unpack and rebuild it at the other end.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Like others I've moved myself and used a firm. I'll never hire a van and do it myself again.

Tash, if you want to de clutter there's only one way to do it. One room at a time, empty the room fully and only put back what you want. You'd be amazed the difference actually taking everything out makes to the psychology of it.

In terms of excess, a few years ago an auntie of mine died. All of her life she had collected things expecting her two daughters would want them. When she died her daughter's got in a house clearance company, filled charity bags, brought in a skip. They kept a few pictures, that's all. That was a total eye opener for my mum, a real hoarder. It's changed her mindset completely. I'd told her before that I'll line the skips up after she's gone and previously she never quite took me seriously. Now she is going through each room one by one and thinning everything out. Do it @Tashyboy . If you don't you are just leaving a slog for your kids ?

 

[PJ87]

Have to admit we did borrow a van off a friend and do it ourselfs

But because we both were moving out our parents houses and into a house with room we could do it in about 1 luton van plus a few car trips

We very position tho, we purchased the house 22nd December, we didn't move in until 10th January just use that time to get everything set up. Decorated, sofa in, broadband in etc etc

Made it a lot easier

 

[jim8flog]

My last move was many years ago.

I had professionals in to do the work. At 11 in the morning* the buyers turned up to do a self move with their first load. "No way" I said how will my guys know what is mine and what is yours.

In the end we came to a compromise my guys would empty the garage and they could put their stuff in the garage. I also pointed out that I was expecting to do a full clear out, clean and tidy up with a few trips to the dump planned and they agreed they would do this for me. About 3 months later I get a letter from the solicitor asking for an amount to be paid to the buyers for the cost of skip hire and rubbish removal!! Which I, naturally, refused to pay.

* normal practice than was to move in at 2pm

 

[jim8flog]

First move was from Mill Hill to Dusseldorf, bloke came around and worked out how many Cubic Metres we’d need, next day MFO boxes were delivered flat packed with 4 boxes of screws, we then had to assemble the boxes and pack all our belongings in to them apart from white goods and furniture.

3 days later Removal firm arrived and loaded everything on to their van.

Everything was then delivered to new house 3 weeks later in Duss.

Unpack boxes, then dismantle MFO Boxes and hand them back to QM Stores.

Did this another 3 times before the MOD updated the system and the way they moved families.

I like those boxes I have some in my loft I kept for the next move- they have been in the loft for 35 years now

 

[Tashyboy]

Like others I've moved myself and used a firm. I'll never hire a van and do it myself again.

Tash, if you want to de clutter there's only one way to do it. One room at a time, empty the room fully and only put back what you want. You'd be amazed the difference actually taking everything out makes to the psychology of it.

In terms of excess, a few years ago an auntie of mine died. All of her life she had collected things expecting her two daughters would want them. When she died her daughter's got in a house clearance company, filled charity bags, brought in a skip. They kept a few pictures, that's all. That was a total eye opener for my mum, a real hoarder. It's changed her mindset completely. I'd told her before that I'll line the skips up after she's gone and previously she never quite took me seriously. Now she is going through each room one by one and thinning everything out. Do it @Tashyboy . If you don't you are just leaving a slog for your kids ?

Probably the worst room to de clutter would be the loft. And 90% is Missis Ts. Scalelectric. Bro in law has one of them. So do we. ? why? Am 58. Sega Megadrive ?

 

[cliveb]

Lesson: Get a removal firm in. Pay them whatever they ask ( ) . It's worth it.

Not if it's Pickfords. We moved in February and got three quotes. Two of them were sensible and said it would be a 2 day operation (Herts to Devon). Pickfords wanted to take 3 days and quoted over £1000 more.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Not if it's Pickfords. We moved in February and got three quotes. Two of them were sensible and said it would be a 2 day operation (Herts to Devon). Pickfords wanted to take 3 days and quoted over £1000 more.

We had that when we last moved. Weren't moving as far as you, only 10 miles. Got two quotes. The first was three guys with one van (Company A) who said it would take three trips and they'd do it for £340. The other was a big local firm with three guys and a massive van (Company B) who said they'd get it all done in one trip and quoted over £1000. When we rejected the quote they asked if they could requote and asked who we went with instead. It turned out that they didn't get on with the other firm and had tried to put them out of business.

One lady was moving from a first floor flat to a ground floor flat in the same block, due to having mobility issues, and Company B went to quote on the job. When she said that Company A were also coming to Quote B said, "We'll do it for £200 less than them" - and got it in writing. When Company A turned up to quote she told them what B had said and the boss of A said "Well that's fine, we'll do it for £100". Company B then refused to honour their offer so Company A went in and did it for nothing as a good will gesture.

 

[road2ruin]

We moved in November, 3 bed house to a 4 bed, 7 miles between the properties.

We got 3 quotes, Local Company A (£1,000), Local Company B (£1,400.00) and Pickfords (£3,900.00). Needless to say Pickfords were binned straight away and we ended up going with the middle of the quotes as they were the most responsive and genuninely seemed to want the job. We decided to go for the option of full packing (including all dismantling of furniture) at the old house but with no unpack the other end, they would simply put everything into the appropriate room and would reassemble any furniture.

On the day of packing only 1 guy arrived to our suprise, I think in our heads we'd have an army of them but nope, just one. He started work at 8am and obviously had this down to a fine art, he stopped for a 30 minute lunch break and then ploughed on. By 6pm all of our worldly possessions were neatly stacked in the lounge and we were ready to go! On moving day the army that we thought were coming on packing day arrived, it looked like they'd hired an Eastern European paramilitary group, 2 of the guys weren't far off 7ft tall and didn't look like chaps you would argue with. Again, finely tuned operation and they had the vans packed and off in a couple of hours. Similar situation the other end, was very impressed with them.

The downside was that I think a lot of people take the packing as an opportunity to thin out the stuff that has been accummulated over the years, we realised that we still had a lot of rubbish as we unpacked and our garage is still full of things waiting for the tip/freecycle and eBay!!

 

[Rooter]

Ooof not jealous at all. moving is hard work!!

IF we move again? i am going into a hotel for a few days, our stuff into storage for a few days and I'm hiring professional cleaners to go into the new place to blitz it from top to bottom (regardless of how clean I think it looks). i reckon that would be the biggest game changer for me.

Our new place when we moved turned out to be disgusting, took weeks to clean to an 'ok' standard in amongst boxes and 4 kids.. Was a nightmare!

 

[Robster59]

We'll be moving home once the FiL goes into his home. We live in a big house with junk accumulated over nearly 20 years. Not looking forward to it at all.