The granny flat move: how it works
Fairfield builds more granny flats than almost anywhere in Sydney, and every finished flat means the same moving day: heavy, loved furniture going fifty metres, out one door and in another, down the side of a block that was never designed for it. This is that day, start to finish.
What actually gets moved
Not a houseful. A granny flat move is a shortlist of the most permanent things a family owns, which is exactly why it deserves a crew:
| Almost always goes | Often goes | Almost never goes |
|---|---|---|
| The bedroom suite: bed, wardrobe, dresser with mirror | A two-seater lounge or the favourite armchairs | The full dining setting (it stays in the big house, where the family eats) |
| The good dresser or glass cabinet, and what lives inside it | A small table and two chairs | The piano (when it does go, it is its own plan, and we quote it honestly) |
| The fridge, sometimes the washing machine | The TV and its cabinet | Whitegoods the flat already has built in |
| Boxes: linen, kitchen basics, photos, documents | The sewing machine, the tools, the things that make it home | The garden (though we have moved a lemon tree in a pot, carefully) |
The pattern matters: nearly everything on that list is heavy, old, and irreplaceable to its owner. A wardrobe from 1975 is solid timber all the way through. That is why "it is only going out the back" is exactly the job to not do with two sons-in-law and a trailer.
The side of the block is the whole job
On a post-war Fairfield block the flat sits behind the house, and everything reaches it down one side. Here is the geometry we walk before we lift anything:
- Checkpoint 1: the kerb. The truck stays on the street. Fifty-year-old strip driveways were not poured for eight tonnes, and cracking the concrete on day one of the new arrangement is a bad housewarming gift.
- Checkpoint 2: the side gate. Most are around 900 millimetres. A wardrobe fits through on its side with centimetres to spare; a fridge fits with the door handles off. We measure the widest piece against the gate before the day, so nothing is discovered mid-carry.
- Checkpoint 3: the carport corner. Where the path turns and the roof drops. Tall pieces come through here at an angle, which is a two-person conversation, not a shove.
- Checkpoint 4: the flat door. New flats have good wide doors. The step and the fresh doorframe still get padded, because new paint scratches easiest of all.
How the day itself runs
- We walk the path together first. Ten minutes, everyone agrees what moves and in what order. This is also when the family decides the two or three things that are staying after all. Someone always does, and it is fine.
- Protection goes down. Runners on the carpet, pads on the frames at checkpoints 2, 3 and 4.
- Heavy pieces first. Wardrobe, dresser, bed, fridge, while everyone is fresh. Each one wrapped where it stands.
- Boxes and small things in runs. Straight to the room of the flat they belong in.
- Set-up before we leave. Bed together, wardrobe standing level, fridge running, dresser mirror bolted back on. The flat should be liveable that night, not a storage room.
What it costs, honestly
Most granny flat moves fit 2 movers and 1 truck at $250 per hour, and most are done in a morning. Serious solid timber plus a tight side path, and we may suggest 3 movers and 1 truck at $350 per hour, because a third pair of hands on a long awkward carry is safer and usually faster. We will say which on the phone, and put it in writing.
Want your own version of this page? The Move Plan turns five answers into a one-page plan for your exact move, with the crew, the rate and the questions we will ask. Send it to the family group chat and settle it in one go.
Answer these three before the day and everything gets easier
- How wide is the side gate? A tape measure and thirty seconds. If it is under 900 millimetres, tell us and nothing will surprise anyone.
- What is the single heaviest piece going? Name it on the form. It sets the crew, the gear and the order of the day.
- Is anything staying in the big house after all? Decide the maybes before the morning. Carrying a wardrobe back up the path is the only part of this job we do grudgingly.