You tried doing it yourself · 2
You did it in carloads
It works, and then it does not. The boxes, the clothes and the kitchen cupboards all go in a car quite happily. The sofa, the wardrobe, the bed and the washing machine never will, and that is where every carload move ends.
What is left is precisely the part a firm was always going to be needed for. There is no failure in it.
What a remainder job looks like
Why the last twenty per cent is eighty per cent of the work
Because the easy things go first. Everything light and portable moves in the first two weekends, which makes the whole plan feel like it is working, and what remains afterwards is the entire reason removals firms exist.
A house that looks nearly empty can still be a proper day's work, and that is not a sign anything went wrong. It is the shape of the problem.
The morale part, which nobody writes about
Three or four weekends of carloads is genuinely tiring, and people tend to ring us at the point where the tiredness is doing more damage than the furniture is.
It is worth saying plainly: stopping and booking somebody is a sensible decision rather than a defeat, and the job at this stage is usually smaller and cheaper than the one you would have booked at the start.
The appliances
Washing machines need their transit bolts, or at least draining and securing. Fridges and freezers need emptying, defrosting and drying. Neither travels well in a car and both are frequently the last things standing.
They are ordinary for us and awkward for everybody else, which makes them a good reason to book the remainder rather than attempt one more weekend.
What we will tell you to keep doing
The boxes. If you are genuinely happy carrying cartons and you have time left, keep going — it is real money saved and it is the part of a move that a car does perfectly well.
Book us for the furniture and finish the boxes yourself. That split is the commonest arrangement on this page and it is nearly always the right one.
You did it in carloads
Questions about you did it in carloads
- 01
Is a half-house job worth booking?
Yes, and it is one of the commonest bookings we take. Half a house of furniture is a normal day and usually a shorter one than people expect.
- 02
Should we keep doing the boxes ourselves?
If you have the time and you are happy to, yes. That is the part a car does well, and booking us for the furniture only is the sensible split.
- 03
Can you take the washing machine?
Routinely. It needs draining and securing, and transit bolts if you still have them. It is awkward in a car and ordinary for us.
- 04
Will you dismantle the bed and the wardrobe?
As standard, and rebuild them at the other end. They are still standing there because they will not pass a doorway whole.
- 05
How quickly can you come?
Depends on the week, and we will tell you in the first minute rather than taking your details and ringing back.
- 06
Is it cheaper than booking at the start?
Frequently, because there is less to move. That is a real consolation for three weekends of effort and it is worth knowing.
Where are you up to?
Both addresses, roughly what is left, and how much time there is. If you are partway through something already, say so — that is the useful part rather than the embarrassing one.