How long does a house move take, 1-bed to 4-bed?

How long a house move takes depends far less on the number of bedrooms than people expect, and far more on three things: whether everything is packed, how far each item has to be carried, and when the keys arrive.

So rather than a single number, here is where the hours on a moving day actually go, what stretches them, and what you can do the week before to take time off the day.

Where do the hours go?

A moving day has four parts, and most people only picture the second one.

• Loading. Wrapping furniture, carrying it out and packing the van so nothing shifts. This is usually the longest part, because it is where the stairs, the carry and the dismantling all happen.
• The drive. Across Durham, this is the short part — often the shortest of the four. Between two towns, or at rush hour through Newcastle, it is not.
• Waiting. For a key release, a lift, a parking space or a neighbour's car. Nobody plans for this part and it is often the biggest.
• Unloading. Carrying everything in and putting it in the right rooms, so you are not moving boxes around on your own that evening.

What makes a move take longer

1. Packing that is not finished

This is the single biggest cause of a long day. A crew can carry a sealed, labelled box in seconds. A half-packed kitchen — the usual one — has to be finished before it can move, and kitchens look like an afternoon right up until the third cupboard.

If packing is the part you are dreading, our packing service does the whole house the day before moving day, or only the rooms you would rather not face. Either way, the move itself then starts with everything ready.

2. Stairs, lifts and the carry

Every item carried down a flight of stairs takes longer than one carried across a hallway. A lift only helps if it is big enough for furniture and booked for your slot. And the distance from the van to the door is walked once for every item in the house — twenty metres instead of five, across eighty items, adds up.

Tell us how many flights there are at both ends, and sort the parking weeks ahead. Our parking and access guide covers what to check.

3. Dismantling and reassembly

Beds, wardrobes and garden furniture are not taken apart automatically. It needs requesting when you get your quote, so we bring the right tools and allow the time. A house with four beds to take down and put back up is a longer day than one where they are already flat.

4. The loft, the garage and the shed

These are where most of the gap between a guessed move and the real one hides. A two-bed with a full loft is not a two-bed. Mention them when you ask for a quote, and the day is planned for them.

5. The key release

On a completion day, nothing can go into the new house until the money has moved through the chain and the keys are released. That can take until the afternoon, and it is entirely outside your control. The van is loaded and secure while you wait, but the clock on the day keeps running. What happens if it runs very late is in what happens when a completion slips.

How to make moving day shorter

• Finish packing the day before. Every box sealed and labelled with the room it is going to.
• Defrost the fridge and freezer at least 24 hours ahead. We will move the appliance — just not what is inside it.
• Sort the parking at both ends. A permit or a bay suspension can take days to arrange, so it cannot be done on the morning.
• Clear a path. Hallways, stairs and the front step, at both houses.
• Tell us everything at quoting stage. The loft, the shed, the stairs, the piano. A day planned for the real job is a shorter day than one that discovers it at nine in the morning.

Our moving house checklist has the rest, week by week.

Why the time matters to what you pay

This depends on how you book. We price moves two ways, and the full reasoning is in how we price a move.

• On an hourly booking, the rate is set in advance and the total depends on how long the job takes. There is a two-hour minimum, and waiting time is charged after the first 30 minutes. Everything above that shortens the day also shortens the bill.
• On a price for the whole job, the figure is built from the details you give us and the crew takes no other job that day. How long it takes is our problem, provided those details were accurate.

The honest catch: on hourly, what you know in advance is the rate, not the total. If the timing of your day is in somebody else's hands — a chain, a solicitor, a lift you cannot book — the length of the day is the thing you cannot predict, and hourly is not the way to buy certainty.

Questions people ask

How long does it take to move a three-bed house?

It depends more on the house than the bedroom count. The biggest factors are whether everything is packed, the stairs and carry at both ends, how full the loft and garage are, and when the keys are released. Tell us those when you ask for a quote and we will give you our estimate for your move.

Is it quicker to pack myself or use a packing service?

On the day itself, it is quickest when packing is finished before the van arrives, whoever does it. Our packing service packs the house the day before, so the move starts with everything ready.

Can a move be done in a morning?

Sometimes, if the move is small and straightforward and everything is packed. A full house is less likely to be, and a completion day is the least likely of all, because nothing goes into the new house until the keys are released.

What happens if the move runs into the evening?

If a delay looks like running past about four hours, or far enough into the evening that we could not finish safely, we will talk to you about taking your belongings into secure storage overnight and delivering the next day.

Does moving at the weekend take longer?

No. A Saturday move takes the same time as a Tuesday one and is priced the same way. Weekend dates do book up first, so if your move has to be a Saturday, book it early.

Getting a time for your own move

Fill in the quote form with the rooms, what is in them and the access at both ends, or ring us and talk it through. We will tell you how long we expect it to take and how we would book it.

The short answer to "how long will it take?" is: less than you fear, if the boxes are sealed and the parking is sorted.