Moving house - anyone done it themselves?

Removal firms will generally estimate pretty accurately what size van you will need depending on the size of your house and other factors, you could call for a quote and then take into consideration their suggestion. You'd need to allow for the fact that it's very unlikely you'd pack the truck as well as they would though....

To be honest, we've moved ourselves once and paid for movers once and I'd never, ever, ever, ever, ever again move without people doing it for me. It's SUCH a nightmare, things always take far longer than you think they will and the process is stressful enough without making it any more difficult than it needs to be. I'd always find the money to pay for movers personally, it can also be a bit of a false economy by the time you factor in hire costs, petrol costs, feeding of helpers, divorce lawyers etc.

We moved from the isle of skye to the east coast of scotland, so about 200 miles a few years ago. It was hard work but doable. we had friends at skye end to help load the furniture in the van and then family at the other side to help unload. My h had a 7.5 tonne truck and it took that and a transit van and car to get us across. The thing to be really careful of is not that you can fit into the vehicles you have, but that you don't overload them. we were fornuate that we lived near the weigh bridge so were able to keep them all within weight. Its not worth the troubles if you were stopped by the police..

We did it, only 15 mins down the road, and never, ever, ever again. It's great in theory but doesn't leave you with the energy to unpack and set up.

It's bad enough to pack everything up only to have to unpack it again a day later, without having to haul it all over yourself in between.

Thanks all.

All the removal firms we've contacted say a Luton (3.5 tonne) but that's the smallest they offer, so that doesn't really help with figuring out if we could do it in a smaller one and two hatchback cars.

I completely see where you're coming from regarding removal firms. When we first moved to London we did it ourselves and I said never again. We've hired removal people the last three moves within London. However, there's a couple of factors that are making us reconsider our "never again" stance.

Last time we moved the removal firm wrecked two pieces of furniture and put a hole in the wall of the place we were moving out of. It took 5 months of going back and forth to get the money for the furniture (and they didn't give us full value even then) and a further 6 months of toing and froing about reimbursement for the element of our bond we lost on the damage to the property. They never did give us that money back, despite threats to go to small claims court and reporting them to Trading Standards. With hindsight, it would have been much less hassle to do it ourselves.

The second factor is that, even after paying for hiring the van and fuel in both the van and my friend's Volvo, we'll save around £800. My sister is also pretty expert, having moved 14 times in the last 10 years and done it herself every time.

We also won't be unpacking most of the stuff as we're temporarily moving in with my Mum, so the vast majority will go straight into storage as is. It's only clothes that are coming with us really.

We moved from Southampton to Sheffield. Rather than getting a removal company from Southampton to bring us up, we got a Sheffield company to come down and collect us! Half the price - £500 rather than 1k.

May work out cheaper for you to do the same?

Really interesting, thanks! Will look into that.

My parents did it in december and it was a nightmare! they had a luton and had to do two trips in the luton, with another two car full's a couple of days later! where abouts in yorkshire are you moving to? i'm in yorkshire and might be able to give you some removal firm names and numbers if it will help you, and if it's near my area of course!? also when asking for prices from the london firms check that they are not quoting you for packing your stuff too as some automatically include this, good luck with the move

Thanks Mrs T. We're moving to the Wakefield/South Leeds area. The quotes we've had definitely do not include packing. They all say something along the lines of "pre-packed and ready to load items".

Right i'll have a think for some names from that area, i'm nearer to york so not a million miles away

?

We moved ourselves 3 times in 5 years (only 50-60 miles each time though). We hired a 3.5 tonne Luton van, and had to make two journeys each time. We only *just* had enough room each time, and had to bin off a ton of stuff at the last minute. That said, hire was only £200, and the timing of the moves were configured in such a way that we could take a couple of days to do it. If you passed your test before 1 Jan 1997 (or thereabouts) you are actually able to drive up to 7.5 tonne. Whatever you get, make sure you get a tail-lift!

What you have to think about is the ease with which your stuff will stack in the van. Garden plants, for example, took up 1/3 of the floor space in one journey, and couldn't stand on anything (nor be stacked on top of, obviously). We also had a 8ft 1960s sideboard, with a delicate finish, and a glass topped coffee table. Again, these took up a lot of space with no potential for major stacking. The other thing is that we had to rope in extra muscles, as some of the stuff was so bloody heavy that 10 of me couldn't lift it (70kg TV took an age to move, even with two men).

I didn't drive it, but OH said that it was very easy because you have such a great vantage point. Apparently it's like driving a big car. However, it is difficult to reverse park as you can't see out of the back and have to use your mirrors.

He pretty much fell in love with our van and was so sad when we had to take it back. He would have slept in it if I'd let him! I had to share this pic I took of him with it ?

You know what? If you or your are nervous about driving, I reckon you'd have a willing volunteer here in Sheffield! He's very cheap (pizza and a few pints)!

How abouut this as a middle path?

http://www.manandvan.co.uk/

We used these guys moving from S to NW london and they were fab. We had to be all packed and ready to go, but they're a small operation, really professional and even qualified to take out our sash window (and put it back in) so we could get the sofa out. I just stood on the stairs directing them, and they didn't stop for a second.

Thanks flissy. I passed in May 1998, but it would be my sister driving the van anyway. H doesn't drive and I'm the only person insured on my car, so I have to drive that.

We definitely don't have enough stuff to warrant two trips with a Luton. Last time we moved the removal guys did one trip in a Luton and we aren't taking everything we had then - some of it is already gone and some more is going to the dump and on freecycle. We're in a first floor flat so no garden plants! ?

We have:

Hmmm... it's hard to say whether a single trip would suffice. Big and heavy stuff needs to be firmly strapped to the wooden railings that run along the two side walls of the van. If they're not strapped in, they could topple and break, smashing everything that's under them. Perhaps measure the widths of your wardrobes, tables, etc. and them see if they fit down the two sides.

Personally, I find that I pack things too well, and they take up too much room, i.e. 8 plates in a box! Nothing broken so far though ?

Thanks for the advice flissy. I personally don't have a concern about doing it in one trip if we had a Luton, as we've got two hatchback cars as well and last time we moved we only had the Luton and we had more stuff, but because we don't want to use a Luton I need to figure out if it would go into a smaller van and the two cars.

Lady F, just saw your post. Might be a compromise. Will see what kind of price they'd quote. I'm a bit concerned with any removal firm that it'll cost more because we need a stop at a storage place as well as at my Mum's. The quotes we've had so far have just been direct from here to Mum's as online quote generators don't give you the option to add a "via".

I've driven a Luton twice - having never driven a van in my life before ever. It was cool. I did it for a friend when She moved 50 mile round trip. 2 Bed flat in to a house and she did it all in one journey. And I did it when I moved. Again 50 miles round trip. I moved a large 2 bed flat in a Luton my dad's truck (garden stuff) and one small hatchback. It is doable but tireing. I did it to save money and would again. And as someone said if poss gat a taillift it makes the heavy stuff much lighter work.

Even though movers seem expensive doing it yourself is far from free and you've only got to break a couple of things and there goes your profit. If lots of friends and family help that's great, but you also owe each of them to return the favour should they need it.

We did the same move as you 2 months ago. London to Leeds. we did it with a Luton Van as I could not justify the extra money. we saved £300. The van hire was £200 sat-mon. and petrol was about £80 I think.

It wasnt that bad to be honest, and we hadnt completley finished packing the day we moved so we had that extra stress.

But we did have lots of friends helping with the loading. 6 people in total, it took 2hrs to load up. But it could have been less if we were more organised.

I would do it again if money was tight like it was when we moved.

Which removal firm quoted you £580?! We've been quoted ~£1k.