Semi & family homes
Family-home moves in Hayes
A house somebody has lived in for twenty years moves differently from one they have lived in for two. The difference is preparation, not method — and most of the preparation is yours.
Six things worth doing, in this order
No dates on this list — your chain sets those. The order is the useful part: each one makes the next easier, and the first one makes your quote accurate.
- 01
Open the loft and the garage
Do this before the survey, not after. It is the single change that most improves the accuracy of your quote, and it gives you time to decide what is genuinely coming rather than deciding under pressure with a crew waiting.
- 02
Find out what your road needs
Whether it is controlled parking, and whether a full-size vehicle can turn. Tell us and we will handle the dispensation — but Hillingdon wants notice, so knowing early is worth more than knowing accurately later.
- 03
Deal with the appliances
Gas, plumbed and hard-wired appliances need a qualified engineer. Book them, then tell us when they are coming so the day is planned around the visit rather than interrupted by it.
- 04
Decide about the awkward pieces
The wardrobe that went up before the carpet was replaced. The piano. The chest freezer in the garage. Each of these has an answer; all of them are easier to arrange in advance than to improvise on the doorstep.
- 05
Separate what you need first
Kettle, bedding, tools, chargers, a change of clothes. Tell us which boxes those are and they go on last so they come off first. It is a small thing that makes the first evening in a new house bearable.
- 06
Sort the paperwork for anything valuable
Anything of unusual value should be flagged before the move so it is properly accounted for under the cover in your quotation — not discovered afterwards.
Why we treat these differently
Four practical differences, none of them expensive, all of them the gap between a calm week and a miserable one.
- Long-stay houses hold more
- A family that has been in a Hayes semi twenty years has filled the loft, the garage and the shed as well as the rooms. The room count tells you almost nothing about the volume.
- Deciding takes longer than carrying
- On a downsize the packing is the easy part. We work through the house at a pace that leaves room to decide, rather than loading everything and making it somebody else's problem at the other end.
- Two labels, not one
- Every box gets a room and a priority. The second label is what makes a family house unpackable — it tells you which cartons are wanted tonight and which can wait.
- The walk round is not a formality
- It is when people notice what has been missed, and there is still a vehicle outside to do something about it.
Family moves — common questions
We have been here twenty years. Where do we start?
With the survey, before you start sorting. Knowing what the volume actually is makes the deciding far easier, and it means you are not throwing things away under time pressure because somebody told you the van was too small.
Can some of it go to family and some with us?
Yes, and it is common. Tell us at survey so both drops are in the plan and in the figure — as one job it is cheaper and calmer than two.
What if the new place is smaller?
We measure the awkward pieces at survey and, where you know the new dimensions, we will tell you plainly what is not going to work. Better to know now than to watch a wardrobe fail to get through a door.
Will you help with the sorting?
We will pack whatever you have decided to take and work alongside you while you decide. What we will not do is clear the house — that is a different trade under a different licence.
Can things go into storage while dates settle?
Yes. Containerised and listed on the way in, which matters more on a family move than anything else — you want to find one box later without opening all of them.
Moving after a long time in one house?
Tell us roughly where things stand. We will arrange a survey before you start sorting, which makes the sorting far easier.