Residential Movers Vancouver
Looking for residential movers in Vancouver? Always Best Moving moves the whole home: houses, condos, townhouses, and apartments, from the first packed box to the bed rebuilt in the new bedroom. We give you a clear, no-obligation quote agreed up front and put in writing before we start, and we answer the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from 422 Richards Street downtown. Behind that is a 4.8-star record across 100 reviews. A home move in this city is shaped by the two buildings on either end of it, so we plan for both before the truck rolls.
Free moving quote
The Homes We Move, Street by Street
Start on the West Side. Dunbar is mostly single-family houses, built out in the mid-1920s, and some of those originals still stand between West 16th Avenue and the Fraser River, with Dunbar Street running down the middle and Pacific Spirit Park’s 55.5 km of trails along the edge. West Point Grey runs from Alma Street west to Blanca, with Spanish Banks, Locarno, and Jericho on the water and the shops on West 10th between Tolmie and Discovery. The ground there drops steeply downhill north of West 4th Avenue, which matters when you park a loaded truck on a grade. Families moving in for Lord Byng Secondary or Queen Mary Elementary usually want the keys and the boxes settled before September, so late-summer dates go fast.
Cross Ontario Street and you are in East Van, where single-family homes took over by the 1940s and basement suites came with them. This is Vancouver Special country. The Special was mass-produced from 1965 to 1985: a boxy, front-gabled, two-storey house built right on grade, brick or stone below, stucco above, a low roof, and a shallow second-floor balcony with sliding glass doors. The main living space sits upstairs and a secondary suite sits below, which is why so many East Van moves are really two moves in one house. Around Commercial Drive, where Little Italy grew up in the 1950s, the same blocks now mix old family homes with new townhouses. We move all of it, in both directions.
What a Whole-Home Move Actually Takes
Take a three-bedroom Dunbar house heading to a Vancouver Special in Kensington-Cedar Cottage. The pack happens first: dish barrels for the kitchen, wardrobe boxes so closets travel on the hanger, mattress bags, TV boxes, and paper around everything with a finish. On moving day the crew runs floor protection through the old house, pads the door frames and the stair rail, and carries to a truck sized for the street. If the house sits at the back of its lot, we plan crew size for the longer carry instead of discovering it at 9 AM. Beds and big tables come apart at the old place and go back together at the new one. That is a standard part of a Vancouver residential move, not an extra we spring on you.
At the Special, the load splits. Upstairs furniture goes up the interior flight to the main living floor, and the suite load stays down. If either end of your move is a condo instead, the playbook changes: most towers want the service elevator booked at least 2 weeks ahead, a certificate of insurance filed before move day, and the parkade is out, because most clear around 2.0 metres while a moving truck stands 10 to 13 feet tall. Our local moving page walks the condo side in full. And when the street has no legal spot for the truck at all, we pull a City of Vancouver street-occupancy permit, which takes 7 to 10 business days, so it goes on the list early.
Our Residential Moving Services
We can pack the whole house or just the rooms you dread. Dish barrels for plates, wardrobe boxes for closets, TV boxes, mattress bags, bubble and paper for the breakables, every box labelled by room. On the other end we unpack, break down the boxes, and take the paper away. A sealed, labelled box moves faster than a loose pile, and a smoother load keeps your move on track from door to door. The full list lives on our packing services page.
Full packing and unpacking
We can pack the whole house or just the rooms you dread. Dish barrels for plates, wardrobe boxes for closets, TV boxes, mattress bags, bubble and paper for the breakables, every box labelled by room. On the other end we unpack, break down the boxes, and take the paper away. A sealed, labelled box moves faster than a loose pile, and a smoother load keeps your move on track from door to door. The full list lives on our packing services page.
Detached house moves
Point Grey, Dunbar, and East Van houses trade elevators for driveways, hills, and back lanes. We size the truck to the access, protect floors and banisters inside, and stage the load so the drop-off runs in room order. If there is an upright in the living room, our piano moving crew handles it inside the same move, with the board and straps that job needs.
Vancouver Special and suite moves
A Special often means two households: the family on the main living floor upstairs, a tenant or in-laws below. We can move both in one day or split the loads, and we keep the two households’ boxes separate from the first label onward. The interior stairs to the upper floor are the pinch point, so drawers get shrink-wrapped shut and the rail gets padded before the first piece moves.
Condo and apartment moves
Elevator bookings, insurance certificates, hallway protection, and the concierge’s clipboard. We file the COI 48 to 72 hours ahead, pad the elevator, and lay Masonite over hardwood. In a Kitsilano or West End walk-up there is no elevator to book, just flights to carry. We count the flights when we plan the move, so the quote you approve up front already accounts for the walk-up.
Setup at the new home
The job is not done when the truck is empty. Beds go back together, tables get their legs, and boxes land in the room on their label. Anything not making the trip can leave on our junk removal truck instead of riding to the new place. And if your possession dates do not line up, we hold the load in storage between homes.
Built for a Vancouver move
We book the building, not just the truck
When a condo is on either end, the service elevator slot and the certificate of insurance get lined up before your date. The building sets the liability amount it wants, with the strata named as additional insured, and towers in Coal Harbour and Yaletown often ask for more. We file whatever certificate of insurance your strata requires, on the building’s timeline.
We pull the City permit when there is no parking
Reserving curb or metered space takes a Temporary Street Occupancy Permit from the City of Vancouver, and the City needs 7 to 10 business days to post signs and bag the meters. On a no-loading-zone block in Kitsilano or a narrow East Van street, that permit is the difference between a working move and a towed truck.
Protection at both ends
Houses get floor runners, door-frame padding, and padded rails. Condos get elevator blankets, hallway runners, Masonite on hardwood, and corner guards, which most strata buildings require anyway and which keeps your damage deposit whole. Every piece of furniture rides in a blanket, not just the fragile ones.
An up-front quote and a 4.8-star record
You get a clear, no-obligation quote agreed up front and put in writing before we start. It covers the crew, the truck, and the equipment, with no surprise at the end. We are open 24 hours, so an early start or a late elevator slot is a plan, not a problem. 4.8 stars across 100 reviews says the plan holds.
How We Price a Residential Move in Vancouver
One story, told straight. You get a clear, no-obligation quote agreed up front, and we put it in writing before we start. The quote covers the movers, the truck, and the working equipment: dollies, straps, blankets, shrink wrap. It also accounts for what each address involves. A full pack. A back-of-lot Dunbar carry. Walk-up flights. A two-suite Special with a second load path. We factor all of it into the quote you approve first, so nothing is a surprise at the end.
Building charges are separate, and they belong to your building, not to us. Strata move fees and refundable damage deposits are set by each strata. Guides put the fee around $50 to $300 and the deposit around $200 to $500, and a 2024 Civil Resolution Tribunal ruling held that a move fee has to fit the size of the actual move, one $300 fee was cut to $150 for a luggage-only job. We flag your building’s numbers during booking, so our written breakdown and the strata’s invoice never fight.
- Free, no-obligation quote up front
- The breakdown in writing before we start
- No mystery number over the phone, no surprise at the tailgate
Nine Tips for Moving a Vancouver Home
Purge before you pack
Every unloved couch you keep is one more piece to wrap, carry, and unload at both ends. Sell it, donate it, or send it out with the junk run before moving week.
Book the elevator the day you get your dates
If a condo is on either end, the service elevator slot fills 2 to 4 weeks out, faster at month-end and in summer.
Measure the big pieces against the new home
A sofa that fit the old living room still has to clear a Special’s interior stairs or an older elevator cab.
Pack a first-night box
Kettle, sheets, chargers, toiletries, school clothes. It rides last on the truck and comes off first.
Label by room, not by contents
The crew reads the room name at the door and the unload runs itself.
Empty and defrost the fridge the night before
A wet fridge soaks the blankets and slows the load.
Send us photos of both accesses
The lane, the hill, the back-of-lot walk. Truck size and crew size come from those photos.
Family move? Aim ahead of the school year
Late-August dates near catchment schools like Lord Byng and Queen Mary book earliest, so lock yours in first.
Keep the strata paperwork
If a condo end holds a damage deposit, follow up after the building signs off so it comes back to you.
A 4.8-star record across 100 reviews
“On time, careful with every piece, and the price was exactly what they quoted. They rebuilt the bed and placed everything by room.”
“Booked the elevator, pulled the parking permit, and wrapped everything. A downtown move with zero stress.”
“Answered the phone at night when I called last minute. Same crew start to finish, and they took the paper away after.”
Frequently asked questions
Do you move whole houses or just condos and apartments?
Both, and everything between. Houses in Dunbar and Point Grey, Vancouver Specials in East Van, townhouses, condos, and walk-up apartments. The plan changes with the building. The service does not.
Can you pack the entire house for us?
Yes. We bring dish barrels, wardrobe boxes, TV boxes, mattress bags, and packing paper, pack room by room, and label every box. Most whole-home packs happen the day before the move, so moving day starts with sealed boxes, not open drawers.
Do you take beds and furniture apart and put them back together?
Yes. Disassembly and reassembly of beds and large furniture is a standard step in a Vancouver residential move. It is part of the service, not sold as an extra.
We are moving into a Vancouver Special. Anything we should know?
The main living space is on the upper floor, so most of your furniture goes up an interior flight of stairs. If there is a suite below, keep its load separate from the first box. We pad the stair rail and shrink-wrap drawers shut before anything moves.
One end of our move is a downtown condo. What does the building need?
Usually a service elevator booking at least 2 weeks ahead and a certificate of insurance with the strata named as additional insured, filed before move day. We file whatever certificate your building requires and plan the whole day around your elevator slot.
How far ahead should we book a house move in Vancouver?
Two to four weeks is comfortable. Month-end and the July to August window fill first, and if a condo elevator is involved, that slot is the real deadline. We run 24 hours a day, so early starts and off-peak days are always on the table.
What if there is nowhere to park the truck at either home?
We reserve curb space with a City of Vancouver street-occupancy permit. The City takes 7 to 10 business days to post the signs and bag the meters, so tell us at booking and we start it right away.
How do you charge for a residential move?
You get a clear, no-obligation quote agreed up front and put in writing before we start. That quote covers the crew, the truck, and the equipment. No guessed number over the phone, no surprise at the tailgate.
Can a moving truck get down our lane or up our hill?
That is a photo question, and we ask it every time. North of West 4th Avenue in Point Grey the streets drop steeply toward the water, and plenty of East Van lanes are tight. We match the truck to the access and bring a shorter cube van when that is the only fit.
Areas we serve across Vancouver
We load and unload across Vancouver, from Downtown and the West End to Mount Pleasant. See every area we serve.
Want the bigger picture? Browse all our local moving services.
Ready to book your move?
Get a free quote with the plan and the price agreed before we start.