Come talk to me about moving companies who do packing too

[culturemulcher]

Can anyone give me a rough idea of costs for companies who pack and move?

Obviously it will depend on how far the move is (about 100 miles) and how much 'stuff' there is to move - but any info which will give me a rough starting point would be a big help.

[dannydyerismydad]

Full packing cost £200+VAT on top of the standard removal fees. This was from 2 bedroom house with a very full shed and loft. We filled 2 big lorries

I think we paid around £950 in total.

[lessonsintightropes]

We paid £1445 for a move from 2 bed plus loft and shed to three bed in London - two lorries as well! I was delighted with the service and would be very happy to recommend by PM if you are in the SE. They did a beautiful job, not a scratch or broken glass, and they were pretty quick with it.

[Aberchips]

Ours is about £300 on top of standard moving charges of about £850 for a 4 bed semi, to about 2 miles away.

They are coming the day before our move and will pack everything. They come and do a full recce of your house before they quote & look in your cupboards - cue hastily tied away things falling out in a heap on the man's foot when he looked round our house...

[culturemulcher]

I've just been quoted £3,000... Was hoping more in the £1.5 - 2K range.

I'll keep going with a few more quotes I think - we've got a 5 bed house and its 100 miles, so I guess it is going to be on the high side.

Interesting, thought that packing only adds around £300 on to the price (thanks Aberchips - maybe I should ask for a move quote first, then ask them how much they'd charge to pack too.

[dottyaboutstripes]

We've been quoted approx £1800 for a 4 bed detached to move over 200 miles

[CMOTDibbler]

If you are moving far enough that its a 2 day move anyway, the packing does add less than you'd think.

We've used Pickfords twice for pack and move - one 2 bed, one 3 bed, and it was £1.5k last time for 150 mile move and pack

[mupperoon]

culture I think that sounds on the high side of reasonable for the distance you're going and the size of the house - we paid £2000 last year to move from a 4 bed semi, only 7 miles but a LOT of stuff (2 lorries full, packed over 2 days).

The full pack service is so worth it. Pro removal teams can pack faster, and generally better, than I ever could.

[culturemulcher]

That's really good to know mupperoon and dotty - did you use local or national companies?

[mupperoon]

No problem - I used a local company which I found through the Rightmove moving quote service. They were brilliant, even though on the day our sellers were 5 hrs late moving out and our guys were unloading until 9pm!

A national company might be better for you if something similar happened to you, given how far you're moving...

[mupperoon]

Argh posted too soon. Simply because we needed an additional 5 men to unload. Might be worth asking how the company would deal with this (unlikely) situation.

[AnythingNotEverything]

We used Pickfords. It was worth every penny. They were like ninjas.

[culturemulcher]

Could do with Ninja movers anything - so Pickfords are now coming to recce and quote on monday

Good tip mupperoon - will remember to ask, thanks.

Anyone else got any great tips that I should be asking potential movers? I have remembered to ask about insurance, but that's all that I could really think to ask.

[CMOTDibbler]

Ask where the lorry will be parked overnight when in transit. A big movers will have access to secure yards local to your new house - a smaller one won't, and then its more risky.

[GirlWithTheLionHeart]

Moving next week, paying £525 for packing and removal service for a 2 bed house

[afussyphase]

It was the best few hundred £ I have EVER spent (the packing service was a few hundred extra, I mean; the whole move was about 1800£ but that included storing it for a month, picking it up and driving it here (200 miles). They packed up all the stuff! They were so fast, it saves weeks of disorder and so many hours of time. In the weeks before the move you are not suffering in an endless pile of boxes. All you need to do is make sure you get rid of the things you don't want, because their secret is: they don't think about the stuff, reminisce about it, try to pack it in socks instead of getting more packing material, remember the time your mum gave you that thing, whatever. They just pack it. They will pack your used yogurt containers if you don't get rid of them :) Brilliant. We did it twice. Unless I couldn't afford rent and food, it's what I'd spend my last few hundred on.

[GirlWithTheLionHeart]

It really is worth the money especially if you have toddlers!

[LIZS]

£600 incl part pack (kitchen , breakables, pictures etc) to move 3 bed about 15 min drive

[culturemulcher]

Wow, Lizs - looks like you got a fantastic deal.

We're moving 95 miles, and have a 5 bed house with double garage and outbuilding... lots of stuff. Anyone done an equivalent move recently?

[zeeww]

We moved 150 miles, fully packed service, 3 bedroom house with single garage. 1250m3 worth of stuff (1 big lorry!)

IIRC it costs about £1600 and well worth the packing service. 1 day pack and load, the next day deliver, unload and position (we choose to unpack ourselves).

[CelticPromise]

We paid about £2k for two day pack and move, 3 need house 200 miles. Packing was soooo worth it.

[OutDamnSpot]

4 bed house (but apparently we are quite minimalist according to removals guy) moving locally (few miles) quoted at £1000 for move and £400 for pack.

Same (local) company recently packed and moved 2 lots of friends, both from 4 beds. One paid £1700, the other £2,800 but they have a lot of stuff.

[Kerberos]

We also used Pickfords. Agree they are packing ninjas.

They made our move day almost enjoyable. Would defo recommend the guys we had.

[Pinkfizzy]

I may be asking a really obvious question to those of you have packers, so apologies in advance...

I am planning on using packers. Did you dust all the stuff you hardly ever get to eg I have a good 7 fullsize book cases of open bookshelves & I haven't taken books off the shelves to dust for over a year, so I checked yesterday & v dusty...

What do you/did you apart from decluttering?