How to Move From a Flat With No Lift (Walk-Ups & Conversions)

Stairs cost time, and time is the bill

A move out of a second-floor walk-up takes noticeably longer than the same amount of stuff on the ground floor — in our experience roughly half again as long for a two-bed, and more if the stairwell turns tightly. Every item makes the trip on someone's shoulders instead of on a trolley, and nobody can carry at a jog for three hours.

We charge £8 a flight of stairs on top of the hourly rate, and we say so up front rather than discovering it on the invoice. The hourly rate itself is £40 for one person, £65 for two, or £90 for a three-person Luton crew, after a £25 call-out (£45 on Sundays). For a walk-up the honest advice is usually that two people cost less than one, because one person doing four flights repeatedly is slower than two people doing it half as many times each.

Measure the stairwell, not just the door

The doorway is rarely the problem. The half-landing turn is.

Before move day, measure the stairwell width and stand at the turn with a tape measure to work out the longest thing that can physically pivot around it. Then check your three worst items against that number — usually the sofa, the mattress and the wardrobe.

A double mattress will bend and go almost anywhere. A sofa may not. A solid wardrobe almost certainly will not, and needs dismantling; we carry tools and can do it on the day, but it is quicker if you have already taken the doors off.

If you are unsure, photograph the turn from the bottom and from the top and send it over. It takes us a minute to tell you.

Communal areas are where deposits go

This is the part people do not think about until the check-out inspection. Landlords and freeholders deduct for scuffed walls, chipped paint and scratched treads in shared hallways — and in a block, damage to communal areas can come out of your deposit even though everyone uses them.

Wrap the door frames. Put corner protectors on the turns. Lay something down on the treads if the carpet is light. We carry blankets and protectors and set them up before we start; it costs ten minutes and it is the cheapest insurance in the job.

If your building has a lift that is out of service, tell the managing agent in writing before the move. If it fails on the day and you have a record of raising it, you are in a much better position.

Parking is half the battle in a walk-up

The carry from the van to the front door is often longer than the stairs themselves, especially in Westbourne and the Boscombe side streets where the parking is permit-controlled both sides. Get a permit or suspend a bay if your council allows it, or at minimum put a cone out early on move day.

In Charminster and the streets off Wimborne Road, we plan which end of the road to load from before we arrive, because the wrong end can add twenty minutes to every single trip.

Get the order right

Load the heavy, awkward things first while everyone is fresh — the sofa, the wardrobe, the washing machine. Boxes last. The temptation is the opposite, because boxes are easy and it feels like progress, but nobody wants to carry a sofa down four flights at hour three.

Stage everything by the front door before the van arrives if you can. A hallway full of boxes ready to go is the single biggest thing you can do to cut the bill on a stair-only move.

When to add a second person

As a rule of thumb: three or more flights, or more than five large items, and two crew is faster and safer, not more expensive overall. You are paying for hours, and two people do not take half as long as one — they take considerably less than half, because the awkward items stop being a struggle and become a straightforward lift.

We do walk-up flat moves across Westbourne, Boscombe, Charminster and the rest of BH1–BH25 every week. See man and van or house removals, or call 07879 168 829 and tell us the floor and the turn.

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