Piano moving
from £180
Uprights and grands, with the trolley, the crew and the staircase worked out first.
£180 to £950, most near £380
Moving one thing rather than a whole flat
14 items priced from £90, each with the sizes and weights we actually meet, measured against the door widths you actually have. Because the real question is never what it costs. It is whether it goes through the door.
Sofa removal and delivery
from £90
Collections, deliveries and marketplace pickups, with the door width checked first.
£90 to £260, most near £140
Mattress collection
from £90
Deliveries, collections and licensed disposal, with the sprung ones carried flat.
£90 to £220, most near £120
Wardrobe moving
from £110
Taken apart where the half landing demands it, and put back together at the other end.
£110 to £320, most near £175
American fridge freezer moving
from £130
The one appliance that genuinely will not fit through a standard door.
£130 to £330, most near £195
Washing machine moving
from £100
Straightforward, heavy, and ruined by moving it without the transit bolts.
£100 to £240, most near £145
Pool table moving
from £290
Slate beds dismantled, transported in sections and re-levelled at the other end.
£290 to £850, most near £480
Safe moving
from £150
Domestic through to commercial, with the weight and the floor checked before the day.
£150 to £700, most near £310
Gym equipment moving
from £140
Treadmills, racks, benches and the plates, which are heavier than the machines.
£140 to £480, most near £245
Artwork and painting transport
from £100
Framed work, canvases and mirrors, carried upright and wrapped off the surface.
£100 to £460, most near £195
Aquarium moving
from £150
Drained, carried on a rigid base, with the filter media kept wet.
£150 to £520, most near £285
Plant moving
from £90
Large houseplants and small trees, upright, supported and out of the cold.
£90 to £240, most near £135
Motorbike transport
from £150
Scooters and bikes loaded on ramps and strapped down properly, not leaned on a stand.
£150 to £420, most near £230
Bicycle transport
from £90
Road bikes, e-bikes and cargo bikes, carried rather than crammed.
£90 to £210, most near £120
The measurements that decide it
Almost every item that fails to get into a Central London flat failed against one of these numbers, and almost every one of those failures was predictable with a tape measure.
Doors
| Opening | Width | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow internal doorCommon in Victorian and Georgian conversions, and in bathrooms everywhere | 686mm | Common in Victorian and Georgian conversions, and in bathrooms everywhere |
| Standard internal doorThe default in most UK housing, and the number to assume if you cannot measure | 762mm | The default in most UK housing, and the number to assume if you cannot measure |
| Wide internal or front doorNewer builds and most front doors, which is why things often get in but not through | 838mm | Newer builds and most front doors, which is why things often get in but not through |
| Standard door heightUseful because a tall item goes through on the diagonal rather than upright | 1981mm | Useful because a tall item goes through on the diagonal rather than upright |
| Taking the door off its hingesSounds trivial, decides a surprising number of jobs, and we do it as part of the work | gains about 45mm | Sounds trivial, decides a surprising number of jobs, and we do it as part of the work |
The diagonal, which people forget
A tall item does not have to be shorter than the doorway is high. It goes through at an angle, and what matters is the diagonal of the opening. A standard 762 by 1981mm doorway has a diagonal of about 212cm, which is why a two metre painting or a two metre wardrobe goes through an opening that a straight measurement says it should not.
Vans
Long wheelbase transit
3.4m long, 1.75m wide, 1.9m high
Payload around 1,200kg
The default. Fits anywhere a car fits, including the mews and the basement bays a Luton cannot enter.
Luton box van
4.0m long, 2.0m wide, 2.2m high
Payload around 1,000kg
More space, tail lift, and ruled out by a great many Central London streets and every bay with a height limit.
Measure the route, not the item
Walk from where the van will stop to where the thing is going to stand. Measure every doorway, the hallway at its narrowest, and the landing width at the point the staircase turns. Write down the smallest number. That one number answers the question, and it is almost never the front door.
Single item questions
How much does it cost to move one item in London?
From £60 for a bicycle and £70 for a sofa or mattress, up to £250 and beyond for a pool table or a grand piano. Most ordinary single items land between £95 and £200. The floor at each end and whether there is a lift move the figure more than the item does.
What is the one measurement I should take?
The narrowest opening on the route, which is often not a door. Walk from the street to where the item is going and measure every doorway, the hallway at its tightest, and the width of the landing where the staircase turns. The smallest of those is what decides it.
How do I work out whether something will fit through a door?
For most furniture the item goes through on its end or its side, so what has to clear the door width is the smaller of its depth and its height, not its length. A standard UK door is 762mm. For tall items, remember the diagonal: a 762 by 1981mm doorway has a diagonal of about 212cm, which is how a two metre painting goes through.
What if it will not fit?
We take the feet off, then the door off its hinges, then try the angle, and those three solve most tight jobs at no extra cost. Beyond that it is dismantling the item, or in rare cases a hoist through a window. What we will not do is force something through an opening that is too small, because the damage that causes is not covered by anyone.
Do you do collections from shops and marketplaces?
Regularly, and it is most of this work. Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, eBay, Ikea and warehouse trade counters. The thing people forget to tell us is the seller's floor number and whether their building has a lift, which changes the price more than the distance does.
Is one item cheaper than a small move?
Yes, and the gap is smaller than you might think, because a large part of any job is the van arriving and finding somewhere legal to stop. Two or three items on one booking costs far less than the same items booked separately, so it is worth combining if you can.
Moving everything rather than one thing? What a move costs prices a whole flat or house, and the services cover how we do it.
Get a price for your item
What it is, the floor at both ends, and whether there is a lift. We reply the same day.
Prefer to email? quotes@manandvancentrallondon.co.uk. We answer monday to sunday, 7am to 9pm.