Moving house in Celbridge

Shandon

Moving from one side of Celbridge to the other early next month.
Haven’t got a huge amount of furniture but would probably fill two van loads. One single bed some wardrobes and shelving units the only big things.

What would be my best option for this? Man with a van? Hire van myself? Removal company?

cormie

It depends on your budget and also how much you value your time and value the care taken with your goods, reliability etc.

Most man with a van type operators are doing so illegally, without the proper motor insurance (for hire and reward) and without any of the other insurance needed for providing such services as a business. I know plenty of operators with nice websites etc that appear to be legitimate, but aren't. There's also then the reliability and experience issue that a lot of the time, you don't really know who will be turning up at your door and what the outcome of any damage or lost/stolen goods will be. If you have no valuable goods or furniture and don't care what condition your goods arrive in as long as they get there, then a man with a van will probably be your cheapest bet as you can find lads willing to do moves for unsustainable prices when it comes to running such a service.

With van rental, all you're getting is an empty van and everything else is up to you. You'll have the time and hassle of going to collect the van, doing the move and needing to find your own hands to help with the lifting and loading. Again experience will be an issue here and if things aren't handled correctly during loading, or loaded and stacked properly, damage can easily occur, to either the items, the property or indeed the persons body if they have handle any big/awkward/heavy items without experience. You will then again have the time and hassle of having to drop the van back and hope that whoever was driving it didn't take any corners too tight with a lack of experience of driving a larger, longer vehicle and have any damage bill to deal with either. You'd be looking at around €100 (regular size) - €150 (larger box body) for a van for 24 hours and you may need to pay extra for insurance cover if your don't have an existing policy that will allow for commercial vehicle driving.

The larger players in furniture removal will typically provide a service where a surveyor will come and view the job and they will work out a fixed price and there may be clauses then to account for any undeclared goods that you decide to move on the day etc. These will typically send a team out to carry out the entire move and pack and protect where necessary. They will be able to offer insurance and peace of mind and can take care of everything for you.

I run www.VanTasks.ie which is something between a man with a van and larger furniture removal set up. Charging is pretty much exclusively on time for moves within Ireland with no need for prior on site surveys to quote. The end cost will greatly depend on how well prepared you want to be. You can keep costs low by packing, disassembling and preparing everything before arrival and having everything as close to where the vehicle will park as possible and providing your own helpers for anything the driver can't manage alone, getting everything dropped then to as close to where the van parks and then doing all unpacking, assembly and placement of items yourself. Or if you prefer, all of this can be provided with a 2 or more porter service where you wouldn't even need to be present and all disassembly/assembly, items placed in particular rooms etc can be accommodated for and any extra items you forgot about won't cause any issue either as it's all just based on time. I'd be happy to provide a quote and then you can decide between your options.