Hi,
Getting very close to moving now (early April) and getting anxious as I have 3 dogs as well as the family and house contents etc. lol

Just wondered what the procedure was for a removal company to pack up the house for shipping.

i.e how long does it take the company to pack up a large 3 bed

do they bring the container to the house.

who did you use (we are on the essex/london borders).

Did you find out the shipping date first and was this a factor with who you went with.

Thank you

Tracey

The time to pack depends on how many people they send and whether you do any packing. You will probably get mixed messages about packing things yourself - we were told not to, but then they delivered a stack of boxes for us to use! For insurance purposes you might want to leave fragile things for the packers to pack, but there is very little reason for you not to pack books, clothing, toys, etc. yourself.

People don't realise, but the quotes you get likely depend in part on availability of staff at the company. If they don't have a full order book when you want to move you'll get one price, but if they're fully booked they won't turn you down but will subcontract the loading to someone else, and mark up their quote to you. ..... So be sure to get several quotes, and don't leave it to the last minute either - I would suggest around 8-12 weeks ahead of your move date.

I don't believe it is usual to bring the container to your house, not least because getting an artic lorry with trailer parked in an urban/suburban street is rarely practical. The floor of the container would also be about 5ft off the ground, making loading unduly difficult.

For a move in early April, you are actually leaving this really late and you need to get onto this pretty sharpish now. I moved with five weeks notice, but it was very tight and I had to push a lot, it could take you a week even to get someone round to quote.

I would contact three of the big firms and go with cheapest, they are pretty much of a muchness. You might not get an exact shipping date up front.

As for packing well they come to the house and pack up, they might do it in one day or possibly two depending on how much stuff you have. We have had the 20foot containers brought to the house for packing twice and unpacking once, they just fit on the back of a lorry cab. The other time we moved we had a forty foot container, can't remember what they did then.

Have to agree with BS - we did a move in early April, and everything we wanted to ship was packed and loaded onto container (brought to the house) at the end of Feb. They came the day before the container and packed most of our belongings that were going and finished off in the morning as well as loading the container - 2 guys who were very quick but made a mess of some stuff.

We went with John Masons but you may have to go with whoever you can get to quote and get it on a ship in time. Leaving it late means you are going to be without your things for a long time in Australia - I think from packing to unpacking was around 10 or 11 weeks.

Hi, Thanks for the replies. I had contacted a few companies about 4 weeks ago and told them we were planning to leave in April but put them on survey hold as I had not organised what we were and were not taking not BUT I will get on the case and organise surveys asap.

Thanks Everyone your are great, so glad I asked now

Tracey

We had our house packed up and sent just a couple of days before we left. Our movers packed everything up for us, and took 2 days to pack a 5 bed house into a 20' container. We just stored the things that weren't to be packed, in a cupboard that was locked and signed 'not for packing'!

Doing it this way meant we were without our things for about 2 months when we first got here, but it was no problem for us. The first 4 weeks were in a long term holiday rental, and then we moved into a long term rental. the kids slept on blowup mattresses, and we bought a sofa bed for us to sleep on. We knew we would need a new fridge and washing machine (we'd had builtin in the UK), so we bought those anyway. It was like CHristmas when our stuff arrived though!!

We have always packed up the day before we move too. I don't mind being without stuff the other end, we just stayed in temporary accommodation for five weeks and then we did indoors camping.

However OP is seriously pushing it to even get packers booked with a month to go.

Yes we have booked furnished accommodation for 8 weeks in anticipation for our furniture to arrive. We are intending to pack a day or so before our flights to Adelaide (which I also need to book lol)

Will get surveys done next week if I can

Thanks Tracey

You certainly like living on the edge!
What happened to the first time round, a few years back? Did you just decide to stay in the UK for longer after all?

No we were all booked to go (only had 2 dogs then) but 2 weeks before we were due to fly I had a C scare and had to have an op in Jan 2013 to remove the offending ovary fortunately it was just pre-C so no further treatment needed but Consultant said she did not recommend I fly to Oz and then our visa run out in Feb 2013. Luckily Hubby managed to get us a RRV due partly to my circumstances. Once a C scare, living life on the edge is nothing lol all in a days work.

First survey and second survey booked for next week. Dogs DEFRA done, quarantine booked, official vet treatment flea/tick/boosters done and forward vet planning booked for dogs blood tests, 2nd flea, 2nd worm, vet cet A and dog medical.
Furnished Accommodation for 8 weeks in Adelaide booked
Overnight Accommodation to drive to quarantine to collect dogs booked
Overnight Accommodation to drive back to Adelaide with dogs booked

Oops just need a car lol

Well at least flights are easily booked. Mr BS booked his the day before when we moved.

glad its all working out in the end

Can I ask for approx. cost of shipping for 20' container?

From where to where?

From the port in the UK to the port in Australia, not much, maybe £1,000.

The bulk of the cost is in the handling, loading and unloading, and hauling the container to and from the port. I'd guess today that all-in, you're looking at around £5,000 +/- £1,000, with the well-known companies at the upper end of that range, or even higher.