I feel like we're in the middle of brutal sodomy from a steam shovel.

[reddragdiva]

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I feel like we're in the middle of brutal sodomy from a steam shovel, and it's not over yet. We have FINALLY signed the fucking lease and get the keys Monday morning. We then pay an outrageous sum for a moving van over the course of that day. Our internet goes off some time Monday and goes back on Thursday, assuming BT are flawlessly competent. We are now flat fucking broke. All good so far.

We spend Tuesday to Thursday cleaning the old place. Moving is taken care of, but can anyone spare their able bodies to help with the cleaning? Thank you. Beer! Hookers!

Comments

[rbarclay]

Hmm, hereabouts one get 2 people with a small (3.5ton) truck for €40-50/h. Is London - where AFAIK the "guy with a van" businesses were practically invented - so much more expensive?

(Alas, borrowing my car wouldn't be very practical, as it resides in Vienna and can haul no more than 4-6 crates of lager ;-) )

[reddragdiva]

Three men and a removals truck for 7 hours, £500. That number looks FUCKING OUTRAGEOUS, except the other quotes we got were in the region of £800. This is the generic "three bedroom house" quote. FUCK ME. The one we really wanted was the one we used for our last three moves, who would have beenaround £300 or so, but is booked weeks ahead ... funnily enough.

[pndc]

Google "man and van" and phone around. You should be able to knock it down to £50/hour or less if you're doing so many hours. Saturdays cost more because everybody wants to move on a Saturday, so take a day off work for the move to get a cheaper rate. Also take a note of any parking restrictions in the areas you're moving from and to since this may direct the day.

Needless to say, decluttering and packing such that it's less effort to move reduces the number of billable hours. I got my last move down to two hours on a Sunday (so no tribute payable to the local council), for £135.

[reddragdiva]

I should add: that includes moving a piano, which is a somewhat skilled operation that rightly attracts a premium - you actually don't want just any bozo doing it. Annoyingly. If we'd gone for man-and-van, we'd still need to fork out for an experienced piano mover.