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How Many Movers Do I Need?

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How Many Movers Do I Need?

Moving companies in Canada

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Moving can be exciting and stressful all at once. With so many things to do and plan, there’s no doubt that it can become overwhelming quickly. One way to minimize stress and make the process easier is to hire professional movers. But, how many movers do you need to hire? There are several variables that you should consider before making a final decision. We’ve compiled the most important factors below to help you make an informed choice.

Who will do the packing?

The first thing to determine is who will pack your belongings? Will you take care of this part or have the professionals do it? Keep in mind that most moving companies expect that the client will pack items and disassemble furniture before they arrive. If you plan to add this to their services, you’ll need to discuss these needs upfront. Rather than the movers arriving and simply loading the truck, they will now need to spend more time packing and unpacking.

Consider that a small apartment can take up to 4 hours to pack and unpack, so this adds a considerable amount of time. To speed the moving process up, you may want to hire one or two additional movers in this case.

How far from the house to the truck?

In a perfect world, the truck will be backed right up to the door and the movers won’t have to walk far. Yet, this is rarely the case. If your home sits back off the street or has flights of stairs then you may want to hire more movers. Remember that the movers will require breaks, so these added obstacles will add more time to the process.

This is especially true if you own large furniture that’s heavy. Even though they are professionals, the movers will get tired quickly when walking such items a long distance. Hiring additional movers will not only speed up your move, but it will also reduce the risk of your furniture becoming damaged.

Will the movers load and unload?

If your move is long-distance, the movers who load your truck will not be the same ones who unload it. If money is a factor, consider unloading the truck by yourself. While it may not be an ideal situation, it can save you a great deal of money. Not to mention, loading the truck is the hard part as it takes experience to know how to make everything fit correctly!

The load time for professional movers depends on what types of items you own. Do you have mostly items that are square or boxes, or do you have a mix of many shapes? Unloading the truck is much easier than loading, so if you’re up for the work, you can save yourself money by requiring half the movers.

If you have movers unload the truck, take into consideration how far the new house is from the truck and what other obstacles they must deal with.

Other Cost Considerations

Most moving companies pay their employees hourly, rather than a flat-rate fee. So, in general, the more movers you hire, the higher the cost you will pay. To put this simply, here’s an example:

A three-bedroom home takes 10 hours for 4 movers to load and unload the truck. This equates to 40 hours of work. The same home will take 2 movers about 25 hours to load and unload, so this is 50 hours of work you’ll have to pay for.

The best idea is to evaluate your entire situation and come up with a plan that works for you, but just remember that hiring more movers may save money.

How many movers do I need?

The following outline doesn’t fit for every situation, but it can give you an idea how many movers you need.

Size of Home Number of Movers Hours Required
Small Apartment 2 4
1 or 2 Bedrooms 2 5
2 or 3 Bedrooms (Moderate) 3 6
3 or 4 Bedrooms (Large) 3 8
4+ Bedrooms (Large Home) 5 8 - 10

As you can see, there are many factors that need to be considered when it comes to hiring movers. If you are looking for movers in Canada, check out Top Move and start getting quotes from reputable companies today!

What do our customers say?

Read reviews of Top Move to learn stories from our customers.
$200
Treadmill
Sainte-Catherine, Québec
Sainte-Catherine, Québec
10
Carlos
Reviewed 3 weeks ago
Very professional movers. Thanks for the help. Would hire again
$100
Surrey, British Columbia
Burnaby, British Columbia
10
Randy
Reviewed 1 month ago
I was looking for a local motorcycle transport and found top move. The site was well done easy to used. Quoated me very reasonable price. I cant thank enough martin for transporting my bike. He was there on time and even help me to park it. Its was a very good experience as a first time using top move im glad i found their site. Again its very reasonable and affordable compare to other. Ill definitely recommend. Very friendly and proffesional. Cant thank them enough.
$166
Motorcycle Kawasaki KLR 650
Squamish, British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia
10
Jeremy
Reviewed 3 months ago
This was my first experience transporting a motorcycle through a private carrier & Martin (Mesh Motorcycle Delivery) made the experience more than memorable! He was early to the pickup location, handled loading of my bike safely and professionally, with a pre-trip bike inspection (which gave both of us piece of mind), & promptly delivered my bike to the drop-off location in the perfect time frame. The quoted price of the move was as priced on the day of & very fair. He even offered to help me move the bike to my underground parking garage after unloading! I encourage anyone requiring a moto move to use Mesh Motorcycle Delivery, as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with Martin’s amazing service. Thanks again Martin for helping get my new (to me, used) KLR650 off on the right track for its new owner!
$358
Motorcycle Ducati 2006 Sport 1000
West Kelowna, British Columbia
Richmond, British Columbia
10
Mabo
Reviewed 4 months ago
The transport company MESH through Top move is my best transport experience ever before ! Thanks Martin