Guides / Moving into a split-level
Moving into a split-level: what happens on the day
A split-level house isn't a house with a quirk; it's a different geometry, and a move that ignores the geometry pays for it in stair-hours. Here's how the day actually runs when it's planned for one, from the first truck decision to the last bed bolt.
First, understand what the house is doing
Most split-levels around here were designed onto the slope rather than fighting it: an entry mid-way, living areas half a flight up, bedrooms half a flight again, and the garage or rumpus tucked under the lot. That means the house has several front doors' worth of entry points: the actual front door, the garage, often a lower patio slider, sometimes a side door onto the middle level.
The single biggest planning decision of the day is matching each part of your load to its best entry. Furniture that enters through the wrong door pays the toll twice: once up, once around.
How the day runs, start to finish
Before the truck opens: the ten-minute walk
The crew lead walks the route with you: confirms where the truck stands, opens every entry the plan uses, checks the internal stair widths against the big pieces, and lays floor protection on the carry lines. It's the scope, verified in person, and it's ten minutes that buys the whole day.
Boxes first, into the garage
Every box goes to the under-house garage (or the plan's staging room), sorted into level piles as it lands. The living levels stay clear, the trolley runs are short and repetitive, and the truck empties fast, which matters, because furniture wants the crew fresh.
Furniture, routed by level
- Lower level first when the slider or garage entry serves it; the rumpus sofa never sees the internal stairs.
- Bedroom level through the front door and straight up its half-flight: beds, wardrobes, drawers, each placed in its room, not parked in a hallway.
- Living level last, so the biggest pieces cross floors nobody needs to walk again that day.
The heavy singles get their own moment
Piano, fridge, the marble table: each has a planned route, the right trolley, and the crew's full attention with nothing else moving. This is its own craft.
Then the settle
Beds assembled first, kitchen unpacked to a working bench, box piles broken down level by level. If you've booked the full arrival service, this is where the settled-by-Sunday finish takes over.
What you can do that genuinely helps
- Label by level, not just room. "Upstairs bedroom 2" beats "bedroom" by half a staircase per box. If we packed you, this is already done.
- Decide furniture positions before the day. "Against that wall" said once beats "actually, could we try it near the window" said at hour seven.
- Claim a no-go room. One room (or the bathroom tub) for the things no mover should touch: documents, jewellery, the kettle kit for the first night.
- Park your own cars out of the plan. The truck's spot and the trolley line both want to be empty at 8am.
The whole guide in one line: give every box and every big piece its own best door, and the split-level stops being a difficulty and starts being a design.