Studio & one-bed
A two-person crew and a short-wheelbase van, usually finished inside a half day.
- Up to four stair flights included
- Flat-pack dismantle and rebuild
- Same-day finish in one load
Walk-ups · Narrow stairs · Canal-side access
We move the flats that other crews quote around
A small, surveyed moving service for buildings with awkward turns, booked lifts and short loading windows. Every job is measured before it is priced, and the same crew that surveys your rooms carries them.
Stage by stage
How a River Ward move runs
Four stages, each with something you sign off before the next one starts. Nothing is estimated from a photo.
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Survey and access check
We walk both properties, count stair flights and turns, measure the widest doorway and note where the van can legally sit. You get a written volume figure, a crew size and a time band — not a range that moves on the day.
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Pack and label
Full pack, part pack or your own boxes. Everything is labelled by destination room and priority, so the first three boxes off the van are the kettle, bedding and tools rather than whatever was loaded last.
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Protect and carry
Door frames, bannisters and floors are covered before a single item moves. Soft furniture is wrapped on site, mirrors and glass are crated, and anything over two metres is dismantled rather than forced around a landing.
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Place and clear
Beds rebuilt, wardrobes upright, white goods levelled and the rooms laid out from your labels. Packing waste leaves with the van, and we hand over a short list of anything we flagged on the way.
Pick your lane
Four kinds of move, priced differently
Find the closest match before you send the form — it tells us which crew and vehicle to hold.
Family home
Three to four movers, a box van and a packing day scheduled before the carry day.
- Room-by-room labelling plan
- Wardrobe cartons on the day
- Appliance disconnect and level
Single item & piano
One awkward object, properly rigged: upright pianos, safes, stone tops, large artwork.
- Stair-climbing trolley and skates
- Crated or blanket-and-strap
- Hoist assessed at survey
Studio & workshop
Makers, photographers and small workshops where the kit matters more than the furniture.
- Tool chests moved loaded
- Anti-static and foam-lined crates
- Out-of-hours loading windows
Before you book
The access details that change a quote
Nine times out of ten, a surprise on move day is an access problem nobody wrote down. These are the things worth checking this week.
Have these answers ready
- How many stair flights, and how many turns on each landing
- Whether the building lift can be booked, and for how long
- The narrowest point on the route — usually a hall door, not the front door
- Loading restrictions, permit requirements or barrier access times
- Distance from the nearest legal van position to your door
- Any item that came in through a window or balcony
- Floor surfaces that need covering, such as new timber or tile
Materials
What the crew rate covers
Two plain lists, so the quote holds. Anything in the right column is only added if you ask for it.
Included
- Blankets, straps and corner guards
- Mattress and sofa covers
- Floor runners and door protection
- Dismantle and rebuild of flat-pack
- Trolleys, skates and stair climber
- Waste removal of our own wrapping
Quoted separately
- Full packing service and cartons
- Custom crates for glass or stone
- Wardrobe boxes left overnight
- Second vehicle or extra mover
- Overnight hold between properties
- Out-of-hours or weekend slots
Boxes you pack yourself are carried without question. We will tell you at survey if a carton looks too heavy for a stair carry, and we will repack it rather than risk it.
Timing
A standard move day
A two-property weekday move with a mid-morning lift booking. Your plan will shift, but the shape holds.
- 07:45
- Crew brief. Route, parking position and lift window confirmed before the van leaves the yard.
- 08:30
- Arrival and protection. Floors, frames and bannisters covered. Final walk-through with you, room by room.
- 09:00
- Wrap and load. Soft furniture wrapped on site, boxes out by room, heavy items staged last for a balanced van.
- 11:30
- Transit. One driver, one navigator. We message when we leave and when we are ten minutes out.
- 12:30
- Unload to labels. Boxes go to the room written on them. Nothing is stacked in a hallway for you to sort later.
- 15:00
- Rebuild and level. Beds, wardrobes and appliances set. Washing machine feet levelled and hoses checked.
- 16:30
- Handover. Walk the rooms together, note anything flagged, take the wrapping away.
Stair-heavy jobs run longer in the carry stage, not the setup stage. If the survey shows more than six flights between properties, we add a mover rather than add hours.
Questions
Asked before most bookings
The seven things people actually ask on the survey call, answered in full rather than deferred to a phone conversation.
Do you take a deposit, and when is the balance due?
A small deposit holds the date and comes off the final figure. The balance is due on completion, after the handover walk-through — not before the van is unloaded. If your completion date slips, the deposit moves with it to the next available slot.
What happens if it rains on move day?
Rain changes the method, not the date. Upholstery gets a waterproof outer layer, cartons are staged under cover and the tailgate becomes the working platform so nothing sits on wet ground. We only reschedule for conditions that make a stair carry genuinely unsafe, such as ice on an external stair.
Can I pack some rooms myself and leave the rest to you?
Yes, and it is the most common choice. Most people pack books, clothes and kitchen cupboards, then hand over glassware, artwork and anything they would rather not wrap. Tell us which rooms you are keeping at survey so we bring the right carton count.
What about pets, plants and houseplants in transit?
Pets travel with you, never in the van. Plants we will carry as a final load item, boxed upright and unloaded first, though we will not promise a long transit does them no harm. Anything in a heavy glazed pot is treated as a single-item carry.
My dates do not line up. Can you hold things overnight?
Short gaps are workable. Goods stay loaded and sealed in the vehicle overnight, or go into a holding crate run for a few days. Anything beyond a week is better handled as two bookings, and we will say so rather than quote a long hold you do not need.
How do you handle damage if something goes wrong?
We note any existing marks at survey so there is no argument later. If we damage something, you tell us at handover or within a few days, we photograph it and we deal with repair or replacement directly. Items you packed yourself are a grey area, which is exactly why we offer to repack anything that looks risky.
Will the crew dismantle furniture that was built in place?
Usually. Flat-pack wardrobes, bed frames and desks come apart and go back together as part of the rate, with fixings bagged and taped to the piece. Fitted joinery, glued units and anything that will not survive a second build get flagged at survey instead of attempted on the day.
Lead time: three to four weeks for a surveyed move
Request a quote
Enough detail to book a survey and hold a provisional slot. We reply with a date for the walk-through, not an instant price.