Flat removals across W6.
Hammersmith has three quite different kinds of flat, and they need three different plans. The red-brick mansion blocks are the ones that catch firms out.
The three kinds
Mansion flats
The defining W6 flat. Red-brick blocks around Brook Green, Barons Court and the riverside, built at the turn of the last century for people who had staff to carry things.
They come with a porter, who needs telling rather than discovering you. A lift that was sized for two people and a suitcase. A service stair which is, in practice, the route most furniture actually takes. And a managing agent who cares about the state of the hallway. We plan all four before the day — which block, which lift, which stair, whose permission.
Converted terraces
Victorian houses split into two or three flats, common across the whole of W6. One original staircase serving everybody, a turn at each landing, and original bannisters that mark. Boarding and padding the shared route is not ceremony here — the other residents did not ask to be part of your move.
Riverside and newer apartments
The developments along the Mall and towards the bridge. Better lifts, better internal access — and frequently no vehicle access to the door at all. The carry from the nearest legal stopping point is the variable, and on some riverside addresses it is substantial.
What we need before quoting
Five answers make a flat move predictable: the floor; whether there is a lift and its internal size; whether the stair turns; where the van can legally sit; and how far the carry is from there to the door.
In a mansion block, add two more: the porter's requirements and whether the managing agent needs notice.
The pieces that cause trouble
Three-seater sofas, sprung mattresses, tall wardrobes and full-height bookcases. In a period block the question is never whether we can carry them but whether the geometry allows them through. Send a photo of the staircase and the landing if you are unsure — it takes a second and saves an argument.
A whole house instead? House removals. A single room? Man and van. An office? Office removals.
Flat move questions
Why are mansion flats treated differently?
Because they are. A mansion block has a porter who needs notice, a lift installed decades before modern furniture existed, a service stair that is often the actual route, and a managing agent with opinions about communal areas. None of that applies to a house, and a firm that treats them the same will be improvising by ten in the morning.
Will the lift take our sofa?
In a period mansion block, frequently not. Those lifts were sized for people and shopping. The answer is usually the service stair, occasionally dismantling, and very occasionally a window. We would rather know which at survey than find out with the lift doors open.
Does the building need notice?
Almost always in a managed block — a booked lift slot, porter notification, sometimes evidence of our insurance for the managing agent. Ask them as soon as you have a date; that permission is more often the bottleneck than our diary is.
What about riverside apartments?
Lovely, and a longer carry than people expect. Parts of Lower and Upper Mall have no vehicle access to the door at all, so the nearest legal stopping point can be a genuine walk. It is not a problem when it is planned for; it is a bad surprise when it is not.
Do you protect communal areas?
Always, and in W6 it matters more than most places. Managing agents inspect, residents notice, and communal damage becomes a bill. Floors boarded, bannisters padded, lift interiors blanketed before anything moves.
Moving a flat in W6?
Both addresses, the floor at each end, and roughly what is going. That is enough for a real figure.