Removalists in St Kilda who’ve done the stairs before

Ask anyone who’s moved in St Kilda and they’ll tell you the same thing: it always takes longer than you think.

Not because there’s more furniture. Because of everything between your front door and the truck.

The bit that catches people out

St Kilda is a suburb of walk-ups, terraces and 1930s blocks that were built long before anyone was moving a modular lounge suite. Add to that:

Stairs, and usually no lift. Two or three flights is normal. Landings that turn ninety degrees are normal. A bed base that came apart easily in a Bentleigh bedroom is a very different proposition on the second-floor landing of a block on Barkly Street.

Parking that isn’t there. Permit zones, clearways, two-hour limits, and streets where a twelve-tonne truck simply cannot stop without blocking a lane. Sometimes the closest legal spot is sixty metres away, and every box travels that sixty metres.

No rear access. Most of these buildings have one way in and one way out — the front door, off a footpath, on a busy street.

Buildings with rules. The bigger blocks along the Esplanade and Marine Parade want the lift booked, the loading bay reserved and the common areas protected. Building managers are generally helpful about this, but only if you ask them in advance.

None of it is difficult. All of it takes time. And time is exactly what you’re paying a removalist for, which brings us to money.

Why a St Kilda move costs more than the same house elsewhere

This is the honest answer to a question people are often too polite to ask.

A two-bedroom flat in St Kilda takes longer to move than a two-bedroom house in Springvale, because of the carry and the stairs. Any removalist who tells you otherwise is either not thinking about it, or is planning to explain it to you on the day.

That’s the real problem with cheap quotes in this suburb. The low hourly rate isn’t the trap — the trap is the “stairs surcharge” or “long carry fee” that appears once your furniture’s already on the truck. We’ve had plenty of St Kilda customers come to us the second time round after exactly that.

So here’s how we do it. We come out, look at your place for free, count the stairs and see where the truck can actually park. Then we give you a number with all of it already in it. No call-out fee, no travel time before we arrive, no surcharge invented afterwards. If it’s going to be a long day, we say so at the quote.

Five things worth asking anyone you’re comparing us against: Is GST in that figure? Do you charge for stairs or long carries? Is travel time billed before you arrive? Are you insured, and for what? What happens if it runs over?

What we can help with in St Kilda

Flats, apartments and share houses. One-bedroom flats through to whole houses. Small loads are genuinely welcome — if it’s a bed, a fridge and fifteen boxes, you shouldn’t pay for a truck you’re not filling.

End of lease moves. St Kilda has a lot of renters and a lot of short-notice moves. We can do the move and the end of lease clean, which is one less thing to chase while you’re trying to get your bond back.

Larger apartments and buildings with lifts. Tell us the building when you book and we’ll sort the lift booking, the loading bay time and the common area protection with management beforehand.

Furniture worth protecting. Artwork, antiques, pianos and anything with a story attached. Everything is blanket-wrapped and strapped before it moves, not after something goes wrong.

Storage. When a lease ends before the next one starts — which in this suburb is most of the time — storing for a week or two beats moving everything twice.

Interstate. Same crew loading and unloading, rather than your things being handed to a depot along the way.

We’re around here regularly

St Kilda is part of our regular bayside run. That matters for two reasons: our crews already know which streets a truck can stop on and which buildings need notice, and you’re not paying for a truck to drive across Melbourne before it starts work.

Suburbs we cover

St Kilda, St Kilda East, St Kilda West, Balaclava, Elwood, Windsor, Prahran, South Yarra, Albert Park, Middle Park, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, Ripponlea, Elsternwick, Caulfield North, Caulfield South, Gardenvale, Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham.

Just outside that? Ring anyway. We’re usually closer than you’d think.

Things that genuinely save you money here

• Book the loading zone or a permit through Port Phillip Council if your street allows it. A truck parked out the front instead of sixty metres away can save an hour.
• Move midweek and mid-month. End of month is the busiest in the industry, everywhere.
• Get things down to ground level yourself if you’re able and it’s safe. Boxes, not furniture — we’d rather do the heavy things properly.
• Cull before, not after. You pay to move every box, including the ones you’ll throw out in six months.
• Mention if you’re a pensioner — we offer a discount and people always forget to ask.

Get a real number

We’ll come out, look at the job and give you a price. Free, no obligation, no pressure to book on the spot.

Call Giordan on 0439 989 480 or email mastermovers66@gmail.com. Open every day, 6:00am to 9:00pm.