I should be a house moving expert: as an adult I’ve moved eighteen times and this week I moved to my tenth Edinburgh address. However, I’m a long way past a flit with just a rucksack, or a stuffed car boot. I now come with a fiancé, three children from our blended families, and a hell of a lot of stuff. This move will hopefully be the last for a very long time.
In those many house moves, I only used a removals company once and it was not a positive experience. The removal team were late, made rude comments (including, “you couldn’t pay me to live here”- what a charmer), and threw things into boxes without any care. When we reached the new property, one of the two-man team stormed off in a huff when he saw the stairs to the first-floor flat. This time round our moving date falls just days after my partner is scheduled to have knee surgery. With no lifting allowed, we’ll definitely need reinforcements, so decide to call in the professionals.
Broughton Removals is a family run company started by Sonny Munro in 1970. Now joined by his daughter Jo and son Kris, the company prides itself on “first class service at the best possible price”. Broughton Removals is also a member of the British Association of Removers so we knew we were in safe hands. From the outset, all of the staff at Broughton Removals were professional, polite and efficient. Their quote was competitive and we felt confident in their abilities. As a bonus, as an egg member I saved £50, and the company made a £50 donation to Breast Cancer UK too. Here’s how it went…
Tuesday 9pm
It’s the night before the packing team arrive and the house looks very… lived in. Books on shelves, cupboards full, piles of clean laundry. Our buyers don’t make it to their measuring visit because they’re too busy packing, and I’m quite glad. I think they might panic and think we’re not leaving. Apart from a bit of DIY and all the legal and financial admin, there hasn’t been any of the usual pre-moving stress with weekends spent surrounded by boxes and packing tape. It feels like cheating, I love it.
Wednesday 8.45am
The cheery removal team arrive. They introduce themselves and start covering the stairs in a runner, already this feels very different. After a tour they get packing, radio on and in good spirits. Feeling pretty lazy, I sit with a coffee and crack on with my emails.
Wednesday 12pm
The team is still going strong and the big lorry outside the house is starting to fill up. All the wee kids in the street have been for a look. Apart from offering cups of coffee and ice creams, I don’t have to do anything. The team check in frequently before they pack things, making sure we have clothes for the next day and everything we need. They also share horror stories, like when they had to dig through eleven pallets of boxes looking for a passport.
Wednesday 4.30pm
The packing team are off for the day, leaving the upstairs rooms empty apart from our beds and the kitchen still functional. As we need to be out quickly tomorrow we’re having a two day pack.
The only mishap is entirely our fault: they’ve packed a big unruly pile of shoes by the door, including both my teens only trainers. They’ll just have to wait ‘til tomorrow!
I’m a bit stressed that we still have so much stuff to pack, where did it all come from? Have they remembered about the shed?
Thursday 8.45am
The removal team are back and it’s crunch time. With a bit of tricky manoevering the sofa makes it out the awkward doorway, our many guitars and keyboards are safely stowed and the kitchen pack up proceeds with pace.
Thursday 10am
We try to be helpful and empty the shed, a job we meant to do a month ago. We weren’t asked to but we need a job (it probably doesn’t help). I frantically list things on Olio (a great give-away app) and manage to gift a play tent and a small plastic table and chairs to a family in my street with a toddler, and a bike rack to someone on the app. I wish I’d managed a bit more decluttering!
Thursday 12pm
They’ve finished! I might have been stressing but the team never were. You’ve never seen wrapping so speedy and efficient (I wonder if they’d do my Christmas wrapping?). Somehow the lorry is full, and after asking me to check all the rooms to make sure I’m happy, the team head off for a lunch break. We speedily clean crumbs out of kitchen drawers which were the last to be emptied.
Then it’s all go, my buyer's purchase has finalised and they are standing outside, with a van parked around the corner. We don’t live here anymore!
Thursday 12.40pm
My purchase is complete and I jump into the car in the rain, the hoover and cleaning materials slung in the back. My son inexplicably runs out with a soap dish which I bung into the car's footwell (where it stays for several days). I zoom across town to the seller’s solicitors office, pick up the keys and get back as soon as I can to let the Broughton team into the new house. Like most companies, there’s a waiting charge, and I avoid it, just. Meanwhile my family get a nice chat with the new owners, snap a few photos and then walk the few streets to the new house. My 15 year old turns having no shoes into a style choice, a great way to make an impression on our new neighbours?
Thursday 1pm
We’re in. All those months of planning and hoping the house is as nice as we remembered. And now we live here? It’s a little surreal. No time to dwell: the unloading has begun and we’re directing boxes and trying to make speedy decisions.
Thursday 4.20pm
The embarrassingly large lorry is empty, and our new home is a city of boxes. We wave off our packer pals and try to work out where to start. Our sellers have left us a bottle of fizz so we get that in the fridge pronto (we’ve done the same for our buyers, it’s such a nice ritual).
Thursday 6pm
As I start to unpack kitchen boxes, I remember the advice to make beds first. The removal team have put the beds back together so it’s just a case of digging out duvets and clean linen. All the boxes are well labelled and in the right rooms. My bed is surrounded by boxes but it doesn’t matter.
Thursday 7pm
Open the fizz, order the take-away. We can’t find the crockery, but have located the plastic camping bowls: they’ll do. The unpacking can wait.
Top tips for a stress free house move
- Book in early with Broughton Removals and choose the full pack option. With all of the expenses around moving house, the packing cost is well worth every penny. It’s saved us weeks of packing and living surrounded by boxes.
- With a month to go, call your utility companies and internet provider and inform the council of your move. This way there’s no down time waiting for your internet etc (with two adults that work from home and two sociable teens this is serious business!).
- Tidy up well before the packers come. A couple of highlights when unpacking our boxes were an empty ‘useful’ box and a well wrapped jam jar that was for the recycling bin. It’s not the packers job to throw away your rubbish or discern what is important. If you need to declutter or find homes for things your family has outgrown, start early.
- The night before, pack a bag per family member with enough clothes for a day or two, plus medications, phone chargers and any essential items. Include a towel and your shampoo (I forgot to do this so moving day was a bit grungy!). Keep it with you, or stick it in the car if you have one.
- Be ready to pick up the keys when they are available. Find out what time they’ll be released and where you need to be. Avoid a last minute dash if you can.
- Take time to think where you want furniture and items in your new home to go. You won’t have time to stand around and deliberate when the unloading is happening so make a plan before you get in. Or be prepared to lug furniture around the next day.
- As soon as you can, make the beds. That way as soon as you hit a wall of tiredness, you have a comfortable place to crash, and you’re not blearily fumbling through boxes looking for pillows.
- Arrange an online shop for the first night, with bread, milk and something nice for breakfast the next day.
- Have your favourite take-away on speed dial. Nobody is cooking tonight!
- When you’ve unpacked give Broughton Removals a call to pick up the empty boxes. Job done!
Egg members save £50 on removal costs with Broughton Removals, and for every removal booked Broughton will donate £50 to BCUK. To redeem this offer, simply inform the team that you are a paying egg member and use the special code found on your certificate.