Do movers charge extra for stairs?

For those living in major cities and older apartment buildings, you may be no stranger to a few flights of stairs. While huffing and puffing up and down those on the daily may be second nature to some, the logistics of moving your belongings while navigating stairs is a bit more complex.

With that complexity comes additional costs added to the bottom line of your moving bill.

However, if you’re working with a professional moving company, such as Piece of Cake Moving & Storage, they’ll ensure you have clarity around these charges before the first box of your belongings ever makes it down to the first floor landing.

There are a number of factors that influence the effort necessary and the complexity of your move when stairs are involved. Knowing more about them can help you understand the “why” behind any extra cost to your moving bill.

Those factors can include:

• Location: Where you are located will make a difference. If movers must take stairs (here’s looking at you NYC!) to get to your physical location, it may incur a higher cost than a location that does not have as many stairs to climb. Further, if you’re moving to or from a single-family home that has a second floor and/or stairs to the basement, you may incur an additional charge only for the items that require going up or down stairs to move. However, if you live in a 5th floor walk up apartment, that would likely be a cause for additional fees.
• Type of relocation: There may be different guidance or regulations when it comes to moving your personal belongings from one location to another versus moving a business. These differences, when stairs are involved, can impact the bottom line of your moving bill depending on the type of move you’re planning.
• Type of belongings: Large items, such as furniture, or particularly fragile items, like antiques, may require more movers to safely get them up or down stairs to move them, which will often incur an extra fee.
• Necessary equipment: If any items you need moved require special equipment to get it to your next location, then you might be looking at extra dollars added to your bill. For instance, moving a piano the movers you hire may need to use a special piano board to lift the piano items or lower items down flights of stairs.
• The distance traversed: If there’s a significant distance between where your items are and where the moving truck is — with stairs in-between — there may be an extra charge on your bill. This is what is commonly referred to as a moving shuttle fee. If movers have to mean park the moving truck far away from your location, you may see this type of fee on your bill.
• Elevator access: Maybe you have stairs and access to an elevator in your current location. However, if the elevator is out of operation at the time that the movers are scheduled to arrive or access is not granted for movers to use a freight elevator, then you may have an extra cost for them using the stairs during your move.

Planning a move can be taken one step at a time. When it comes to calculating the cost involved with the flights of stairs involved in your relocation, reputable and professional movers will work with you to understand how those stair steps will impact your moving budget’s bottom line.

With extensive experience going up and down the stairs for thousands of happy customers, Piece of Cake Moving & Storage can help you at every step of the way. We’ve got a formula to minimize surprises on your move’s total bill with our flat price. To make the cost of our services as transparent as possible, we calculate the volume of your items, the miles involved in your move, and any special requests and moving complexities (such as stairs) into account.

Work with us and we’ll take the guesswork out of the cost of your next move, no matter what your needs are.