Service
Flat & apartment removals done properly
Purpose-built blocks, converted houses, new-build apartments and walk-ups. Flat moves succeed or fail on three things that never appear in a room count.
Flats are the moves where a quote taken over the phone goes wrong most often, because the things that make one hard are invisible from a bedroom count. Two identical one-beds can be an hour apart in work depending entirely on the building.
The three things that decide it
The lift — its door, not its car
A lift that looks generous inside is useless if the doorway will not take a wardrobe on its side. In converted houses especially, lifts were fitted into a stairwell void long after the building went up, and the door opening is the binding constraint. Measure the opening — height and width — and send the numbers.
The stairwell turn
Specifically the half-landing. Older staircases turn tightly and plenty will not pass a three-seat sofa at any angle. Where that is the case the sofa comes apart, or a different route is used, and we would far rather establish it at survey than discover it at the second landing.
The standing distance
How far it is from the communal door to the nearest legal place to put a vehicle. Twenty metres is nothing. Eighty metres, twice, for every single item, is a materially different job — and it is the variable people most often forget to mention.
What we do differently on flats
- Measure the lift before the day rather than at the door
- Plan a stair route as a fallback even when the lift works
- Protect communal hallways and lift interiors — those belong to other residents, and damage to them becomes your problem, not ours
- Take a sofa apart if the half-landing says so, and rebuild it upstairs
- Match crew numbers to the carry distance, not to the volume
Building rules
Managed blocks frequently set the terms: a permitted window, a lift booking, a requirement to cover the lift and stairwell, occasionally a deposit. None of that is difficult, but it has to reach us before the day, and most buildings will only accept a booking from the resident. Ask your building manager as soon as you have keys and pass the answer on.
Getting a quote
Both addresses, the floor at each end, whether there is a lift and how wide its door opening is, and a rough list of what is going. Photographs of the communal entrance and the stairwell turn are worth more than a paragraph of description. Larger loads sit under house removals; a single room is man and van.
Before you book
Questions
Why do you ask so much about the lift?
Because it decides the day. A lift with a wide door takes a wardrobe standing up and the move is quick. A lift whose door is narrower than its car does not, and then everything above the second floor goes up the stairs with more hands. Measuring the door opening takes a minute.
What if the lift is out of service on the day?
It happens, usually on the day. If we have already planned the stair route as a fallback it costs time rather than derailing the move. That is exactly why we plan it even when the lift is working.
Who books the lift with the building?
Usually you — most managed buildings will only take a reservation from the leaseholder or tenant, not from a contractor. Tell us the building rules and the window you have been given, and we will work to them.
Can you do a flat with no lift at all?
Routinely. Walk-ups are a normal part of the work. We send more people rather than fewer, because two crew on a fourth-floor walk-up is how furniture gets damaged and backs get hurt.
Is a flat move cheaper than a house move?
Usually less volume, sometimes more labour. A ground-floor flat with a bay outside is one of the cheapest moves there is. A top-floor walk-up with restricted parking is not. It is the access, not the property type.
Next step
Tell us about the move
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and your dates if you have them. We will arrange a survey and come back with a written quote.