Moving house - please critique my plan

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

RogerS

Established Member
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Messages
17,921
Reaction score
276
Location
In the eternally wet North
We're on the move after some 20+ years. The actual date is Jan 31st which is a Tuesday and we're moving from sunny Worcs to even sunnier Northumberland.

So totally out of touch with practicalities. Just the two of us. No pets. Not that much indoors TBH. The main headache is what's outside. LOML's garden and the workshop. Seems to me that it will take at least two days to load up. Most of LOML's garden will be crated up and sitting in a very large polytunnel. Most of the workshop will be packed up in various boxes. So my thoughts are....

Day One (Thursday before) ...pack up plants and workshop content. Garden furniture. Scaffold towers etc. Everything stored outside in the garden/behind the workshop. Cement mixer, Acro's ..that sort of stuff.

Then after the removal men have gone, dismantle the polytunnel. Dismantle shelving, benches, storage units in the workshop ready for ....

Day Two. (Friday) Pack up polytunnel kit, rest of workshop stuff and the house.

The other conundrum is getting the wee beastie aka Honda S2000 up there. SWMBO, understandably, is not too keen on driving it up the M6. I've looked into trailering it up but getting quotes in the region of £600-£700. Plus there is the logistics of handing the car over as if we hand it over too early, no-one will be up there to take delivery. But equally if we've packed the house up on the Friday, we need to hand it over to them but then that means they are storing it etc.

So my cunning plan is that we go and stay somewhere for the weekend. Monday I drive up and book myself into a pub, ready to greet the removal men when they arrive Tuesday. I then get the house shipshape, clean it etc over the following few days while LOML ambles her way up A roads and B roads, stopping as and when.

That's the plan, at any rate.

Comments very welcome.
 
I'd pack a comprehensive tool kit to cover plumbing electrics and general emergency DIY materials including a workmate as both a hop up and bench and take that in the car with you.
Should save ages of searching through boxes for tools or even worst case when the removal truck(s) are later than expected.

Bob
 
take emergency rations and drinks for when you are stuck in the snow, plus shovel, blankets etc and hope you don't have to use them. Make sure your phone is charged and in credit. Oh and don't forget trade goods, though I think the natives are friendly.
 
2 things,
1/ The north is NOT sunnier than the south. Trust me.

2/ start day 1 two days early, you always under estimate the time involved in packing up for moving.
 
personally I think i'd take the car to a friends house for them to look after while you are moving, do the rest of the move and then go and retrieve it.
 
Adam9453":2bk4ai9p said:
personally I think i'd take the car to a friends house for them to look after while you are moving, do the rest of the move and then go and retrieve it.

That's probably a ten hour round trip !
 
General point when moving - dont let the estate agent have your keys until you are ready to move out. I mean finished all the packing (and in my wifes case cleaned the house from top to bottom). The agents are too keen to get the deal going to care about niceties. A chap I know got pushed out before he had finished packing because the estate agent did not check that he was ready. Very stressful. And there was nothing that he could do. Legally the house then belonged to someone else, who wanted him and his stuff out. NOW.

If the agents do not have the keys the solicitors will not complete. Simples. It is always our last act to deliver the keys to the agents.
 
I wouldn't go on the M6.

I've done M1, A1 for the past 25 years.

Get me a cheap train ticket back with a seat and I'll drive it there for you.

Last time I did it cost me £22.
 
Having recently moved and found the whole process a complete nightmare I would advise that you trust no one solicitors ,vendors and estate agents are very capable of lying through their teeth to get you to do what they want you to do.Practically be sure to have some of your tools handy,furniture removers will just pile up your things and you will find the gizmo you could just do with is right at the bottom of the pile.Oh and by the way Wilkos can be life savers.Most of all whatever you have budgeted double it then add a10 percent contingency.Sorry to be so pessimistic but these are things I have found to be the case.Good luck and I really do mean that you are going to need it!
 
MrTeroo":1xa4vkx5 said:
Leaving beautiful Worcestershire? You really do need help :D

Northumberland is stunning, one of my favourite places and i would live there no problem.

Pack the kettle and tea making stuff where you can find it easily.
 
We moved house just to a mile away. We packed up two large transit vans and got to the new house while family kept packing back at the old address.
He hadnt started to pack the lorry. we waited outside so long that the neighbourhood busybody (ooops, meant to type watch) came and asked us which house we were preparing to rob.

We moved some friends once as I had a van. Despite full months of warning, we got there on the day and they hadnt even emptied the kitchen cupboards.

When we moved abroad, despite 3 months notice and THREE seperate phone calls, the shippers STILL had no idea how to get my 350kg motorcycle up into the container 5ft above the ground.

Moving is a big thing (if youre not used to it). Accept things WILL go wrong, they WILL take time, and make sure the missus is ok at all times.

(Still cant work out why you would move further north though. We've moved 5 times, and every one has been further south than the last)

Oh, good luck.
 
Re. the S2000. Get over your mid-life crisis and trade it in for a useful van. :-D

I just solved two problems for you. ;-)
 
Your removals guys can advise on what you need to do for them, but chances are it won't be a lot. I'd take a photo of all your machines etc before moving so if there is damage you can prove it. With regards to the car I'd just drive it up after the removals guys have gone. You'll beat them there anyway.

As others have said pack a few essentials in it including the kettle and food and some tools.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I never understood "sports" cars.
Cant carry anything, bumpy ride, wet draughts all winter long, hearing loss due to wind noise, massive insurance premiums, and performance only marginally better than a decent saloon.
Hey, does that mean I havent reached mid life yet?
 
sunnybob":tn3whxrg said:
I never understood "sports" cars.
Cant carry anything, bumpy ride, wet draughts all winter long, hearing loss due to wind noise, massive insurance premiums, and performance only marginally better than a decent saloon.
Hey, does that mean I havent reached mid life yet?

I can't either I have a friend who plays about with cars, he had a Ferrari and also a Aston Martin DB9. The Aston was the most uncomfortable modern car I have ever been in. As for any cars they are o.k. but my VW.Camper puts them all to shame. The wife has a VW Golf SE but I only drive it if I really have to.!!!!
If I did not have a Camper I would buy a VW van they are so useful
But each to there own.
RogerS is it you who has the Legacy Mill ??
Timber
 
sunnybob":31dofaid said:
I never understood "sports" cars.
Cant carry anything, bumpy ride, wet draughts all winter long, hearing loss due to wind noise, massive insurance premiums, and performance only marginally better than a decent saloon.
Hey, does that mean I havent reached mid life yet?

I think you've never tried a modern sportscar ! I agree that they can't carry much but no wet draughts at all. Insurance premium same as an ordinary car. Performance - as in handling, braking, power, acceleration....significantly better than many saloons.

Besides ours is now a modern classic and actually going up in value. It's a 1999, we're the second owner virtually from new and it's only just run in having but 25000 on the clock.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top