Moving house

[GB72]

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!!

I have always done exactly the same, get a local firm in to pack and move everything. There are many places to save money on a move but that is one I am not willing to compromise on.

 

[Bazz]

Our first home together as a married couple is a 4 bed town house...I made two trips back and forth to mom and dad's and got everything in the back of my Peugeot 306. I had bugger all.
This time (if we ever bloody get there) I'll be getting the pros in, already had quotes and both are around £700. Worth it I think.

 

[Mel Smooth]

When we moved back from Spain we had all our possessions in the back half of the back of a transit van - the dogs had the space behind the seats.
Van had no air conditioning, so we intended to set off early as a heatwave was making it's way up from Northern Africa that day and hopefully stay infront of the heat. Left it a little late setting off due to saying our goodbyes etc, eventually got away about 10.30, pulled onto the motorway slip road and the van went into limp mode....
Back to the house with the dogs, air con on for them as it was starting to get hot - shot over to the local Ford garage - which was owned by an Indian guy from Keighley - van fixed, we eventually left at about 1pm. Drove up to Bordeaux where it was a little cooler than the 44 degree temps we'd had through Spain - stopped in Bordeaux for a few hours and then drove from Bordeaux to West Yorkshire the following day - arriving at my brothers house about 8pm. It was certainly memorable...

 

[williamalex1]

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.

Oops! no big box yet, lots of small boxes though as I just separated from the wife and sold the house.
I did my half of the move at no cost with the help of a couple of mates using a small van and a towing trailer,.
only took 3 journeys,
All my man cave stuff is piled in boxes crammed in the cellar at my new place, probably won't be able to find anything for years.
My new man cave has a king size bed, fridge freezer, booze cabinet and a 65 inch smart TV with full sport and movie package, happy days
The wife used professionals and put some stuff into storage cost £350, but I still had to empty the loft space.