Straightforward advice, written to be read at your pace.
Moving in Laval
Laval is mostly houses, townhouses, and newer condos in Chomedey, Sainte-Rose, Vimont, Duvernay, and Fabreville. Driveways are common. Condos still need an elevator time. A move to Montreal crosses a bridge, so we count that drive in the day. Residences are concentrated near Centropolis, in Chomedey, and along the main boulevards. The room is often smaller than the house being left behind. Chomedey, Sainte-Dorothée, Pont-Viau, Laval-des-Rapides, Auteuil, and Sainte-Rose come up often on these moves. Those details change the arrival time, the way furniture is protected, and the time between the door and the truck. They belong in the quote, not as a discovery in the morning.
In Laval, the same care applies to a house, an apartment, or a small office. The phone is still the simplest way to describe the stairs, the elevator, and the date.
What the quote actually looks at
A fair quote starts with two addresses, not a price given on the phone with no detail. We ask for the floor you are leaving, the floor you are going to, whether there is an elevator, and how many steps there are if there is not. A house with a basement is not the same volume as a small apartment. A piano, a built-in fridge, or a very heavy bed has to be named at the start, or the first number will not hold on truck day. Distance counts too, especially when a bridge sits between the two doors. Where the truck parks is part of the time: a driveway, a dock, or a street that needs a permit is not the same half hour.
The quote is written, and it is free. It says whether packing, unpacking, or holding goods between two dates is included. It books nothing until you accept it. If a floor was left out, or twenty boxes appear in the morning that were not in the story, the work changes and we say so before going on. The aim is not a surprise at the end. The aim is that the text you read stays the text of the day, as long as the home you described is the home we find.
How the day actually goes
We arrive in the window we agreed. Someone on the crew says where we start: often the fullest room, or the one whose doorway blocks the others. You do not have to carry. You can sit, answer the phone, or simply point to the corner for the bed and the wall for the sideboard. A family member can be there for the decisions. One person confirms whether a piece goes or stays. Too many instructions at once slow everyone down and scuff the door frames.
Medication, papers, the charger, and a change of clothes stay with you, not at the back of the truck. So do the keys to both homes. If the building has an end time for the elevator, we keep it. A finished room and boxes grouped together is better than running past the hour and leaving everything in the lobby. At the end of the load, we do a last walk of the closets, the balcony, and the garage if you told us they are part of the trip.
The pads go on one piece at a time.
Buildings, stairs, and parking
In Montreal and nearby, many moves are decided by the building’s rules more than by the road. The elevator is often booked days ahead, especially at the start of the month. Management sometimes wants a certificate of insurance before they release the time. Ask them the exact name to print and the deadline. We prepare the document. Then tell us the start and the end, and whether it is the service elevator or the one in the lobby. A narrow hall or a low ceiling changes how a sofa turns.
Without an elevator, the number of steps is the detail people forget most often. A third floor in a walk-up is nothing like a ground floor. Turning stairs in a duplex sometimes mean taking a piece apart on the landing. The truck does not always park at the door. Some streets need a permit, some buildings have the dock at the back, and in Old Quebec a large vehicle stops farther away. The longer the carry, the more it needs to be said beforehand, not on arrival.
Packing without losing track
Packing often takes longer than loading. If you do it yourself, start with the kitchen and with what breaks: dishes, lamps, mirrors, frames. Fill the empty space. A half-empty box gets crushed under the others. Write the room on two sides, not only on the top, because the top disappears in the stack. “Fragile” alone does not say whether the box belongs in the bedroom or the living room. If we pack, we use paper and pads, and the boxes carry the same kind of label.
Unpacking can be added to the quote, or left for the next day. Nothing requires every box to be opened that night. Open the essentials first: sheets, the coffee pot, one pot, toiletries. The rest can wait. What is not coming should not sit in a box “just in case”. A quote based on the whole house will be too high if half the furniture is staying with family. Decide before the truck, not while the ramp is already out.
Straps hold the stacks. The mattress stays upright, on its own.
Inside the truck
The order in the truck is not random. Heavy, flat pieces go against the walls, strapped, so nothing walks when the brakes come on. Mattresses often stay upright, away from furniture corners. Heavy boxes go low, light boxes go high. A piano or an armoire is not braced like a carton of books. If the drive crosses a bridge or lasts more than an hour, the straps matter more. We do not fill the floor at random just so it fits.
You can look before the doors close if you want to see that the bed and the sideboard are actually there. Then the truck rolls. On a local job, unloading often follows the same day. On a longer distance, the delivery window is said ahead of time. You do not have to guess where the boxes are. If the two addresses are not ready on the same day, holding the goods between those dates can be planned. The place and the length of time belong in the quote, not as a surprise at the dock.
At the new address
At the new address, the same idea: a clear path, one person pointing to the rooms, and the building’s rules if there are any. We set furniture where you show us, not only inside the door. The bed goes against the wall you chose, and the sideboard too, as far as the room allows. Labelled boxes go to the room written on them. If a door is narrower than the piece, we say so before forcing it. Sometimes the feet have to come off, or the piece has to come in through another opening.
Plan a place to sit from the start, even a kitchen chair. The day is long for you as well. When the last room is empty in the old home and the new one has received what was on the list, we confirm it with you. If a box is missing, it is better to see that while the truck is still there. Keep the labels until the next day. They still help when you are looking for the lamp or the sheets.
The piano stays in the room until the doorway is clear.
Dates, July 1, and lead time
A few weeks of notice makes the day simpler, especially in summer. In Quebec, many leases change on July 1. That day, elevators are taken and the streets in apartment neighbourhoods are full. If your date can be a Tuesday in May or September, the same home moves more calmly. If the date is fixed in that busy week, call early and already have the elevator time. We say clearly whether the day is still open.
A weekday move is often smoother than a Saturday, because buildings and streets are less crowded. That is not always possible, and it is not a rule. Evenings can be discussed when the building allows them. In winter, in Quebec City as in Montreal, ice and snow add time on outdoor steps. Tell us if the entrance is a porch that has not been cleared. That is not a cosmetic detail. It is the path the sideboard has to take.
What changes the price
There is no single rate on this site, because a studio and a suburban house do not need the same crew or the same time. The price follows the volume, the distance, the stairs, the elevator, the packing, and, if needed, holding the goods. A long carry from the street, a third floor with no elevator, or two buildings that each require a booking, make the day longer. One heavy item is still a real job: the price then follows the weight, the steps, and the distance, not the size of a whole house.
What does not change the price is a question asked beforehand. Call to ask if a date is open, or whether a piece will fit through a door. What changes it is a new fact on the morning. We would rather have a ten-minute call the week before than a discussion on the sidewalk. The accepted quote is the one that governs. If a page on the site and that text differ, the accepted text is the one that counts.
