House movers - advice needed and recommendations.

I've never had a large house move before, so have never had to employ house movers. Do professional movers take furniture, e.g. beds apart and reconstruct them later? Can anyone recommend a house moving company and if anyone has any tips for moving house and using a moving company that would be great. In relation to furniture, I am moving into a much smaller house - do people usually take their furniture with them, e.g. sofas etc. I'm not sure how well they will look in a smaller space, but they are lovely sofas - they were made by specialist craft workshop about 10 years ago.

I've used a moving company twice, best investment I ever made!

They didn't dismantle or reassemble beds for me (I was able to do that myself),but you could ask. They will pack everything, so no need to take items from cupboards, etc.

I used Careline, and found them very helpful, especially when I got caught between houses for a weekend.

They don't unpack boxes at the destination,but will put the boxes in the designated rooms.

I downsized on my last move, and found I had too much furniture, especially in bedrooms (lockers, dressing table, etc) - my own bedroom is very cluttered as a result,I haven't gotten round to deciding what goes and stays yet.

I gave away some other furniture items, I didn't leave anything in my old house though.

Mothergoose said:

Do professional movers take furniture, e.g. beds apart and reconstruct them later?

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Yes absolutely. They will pack and move anything that will fit out the door save for certain liquids.

in terms of recommendations, it depends a bit on what part of the country you live in. as with most things there is an element of you get what you pay for. Larger firms cost more, but will be fully reliable on dates and times. You could save 50% by going with two lads and a small van and pay in cash but you run the risk of things not working out as planned.

The business is very seasonal. Very few people move house between November and January if they can avoid it and you are likely to get more choice, and even a bit of scope to negotiate on price, if you can move around this time.

Always get insurance.

My elderly mother moved & downsized in February. We did all the packing into boxes / bags ourselves, then used anyvan.ie for quotes for moving everything - beds, couch, shelves, boxes & bags. Nationwide service, it ended up being very reasonable.
(Don't go with 1st quote that comes in, they will get lower. You can check the experience levels of individual drivers before booking)
She was not tied to a particular day so was able to move when van was available.
Re: downsizing - she had considerable downsizing to do. She measured new place & mapped out furniture, so she could see what fitted & what wasn't going to work. No point in paying to move furniture that doesn't fit in smaller living space !
St Vincent dePaul (I think) collected everything she was giving away & we did online order from ikea for new smaller dining table etc. Downsizing & deciding what precious moments to bring / give away took time, & rightly so. Leave plenty of time for this and hope it goes easy on you !