Moving is a stressful experience, but worth it in the end. Whether you’re moving because you finally bought a home or just because you need a change of scenery there are many things to plan. This is especially true when you decide to hire professional movers. Among many other questions, you’ll probably want to know how many movers you’ll need. It’s imperative that you understand all the variables that can affect the answer to this question. Let’s take a look at the most important things to keep in mind when planning for this part of the move.
The first thing to consider is who will be packing your belongings. Will you do it yourself or have the movers do it? Most moving companies anticipate that you’ll disassemble items and pack before they arrive, needing them to simply load the boxes and furniture on the truck.
Since the disassembly of furniture and packing will add time and work for the movers, be sure you discuss this information upfront. When you consider that packing and unpacking a small apartment can take upwards of 4 hours, this can add a significant amount of time. Depending on your time schedule you may want to add another mover or 2 to speed up the process.
In an ideal situation, the movers will be able to pull the truck to the front door and load furniture without walking far. However, in reality, this rarely happens. If they are required to carry from the house to the street or up and down flights of stairs you’ll probably need more movers. You may be wondering why this is the case. Well, the simple answer is the movers are human and will require breaks.
This will be even more true if you own a great deal of heavy, large furniture that has to be walked long distances. Just consider, that the more movers you hire the faster the job will be done. The fact is the fewer movers you have the longer it will take, and there’s an increased likelihood that your furniture may get damaged.
If you are moving long-distance, the same movers who load the truck will not be unloading it. If you are looking to save money and cut down on the number of movers it may be smart to unload the truck yourself. The most difficult process is always loading the truck as it requires knowledge of where to put certain things to make it all fit.
The amount of time it takes professional movers to load a truck depends on what your belongings consist of. Do you have mostly square items or are there a mix of many shapes? Once the loading is completed, unloading the truck is easy. If you are up for the task of unloading the truck yourself you can cut the number of required movers in half.
If you’d rather not unload it yourself, you’ll also need to consider the distance between your new home and the truck.
Most movers are paid hourly, rather than flat-rate. Hence, the more movers you have the more cost you are looking at. For instance, a 3 or 4-bedroom home takes four movers an average of 10 hours to load the truck and unload. That’s 40 hours of work you’re paying for. If you cut the number of movers down to 2 the time it takes them will average about 25 hours to load and unload. Thus, your move will turn into 2 days and you’ll be paying for 50 hours of work.
You must look at your unique situation and plan accordingly because more movers may actually save you money in the end.
While the following guide is not true for every situation, it’s a good starting point to determine how many movers to hire.
small apartments - usually takes 2 movers 4 hours to load/unload
1 or 2-bedroom house/apartment - usually takes 2 movers 5 hours to load/unload
2 or 3-bedroom house - usually takes 3 movers 6 hours to load/unload a moderately sized house
3 or 4-bedroom house - usually takes 3 movers 8 hours to load/unload a larger house
4+ bedroom house - usually takes 5 movers between 8 and 10 hours to load/unload large family homes
In the end, there are many factors you need to take into consideration to determine how many movers to hire. While professional movers can be more expensive than doing it yourself, it cuts down on the stress and hassle of carrying heavy furniture. An added bonus is that your furniture is less likely to get damaged during the move, so your furnishings will still look great in your new home.
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