Full-service moving means the movers handle most of the work for you: packing, furniture prep, loading, transport, unloading, and setup at the new home. But there is no standard package. What’s included depends on the scope you agree to, and that scope is also what sets the price.
At President Movers, our residential moving services can be as hands-off as you want. Some customers want every room packed and unpacked. Others pack their everyday items and ask us to handle the fragile pieces, the heavy furniture, and the move itself. Both are full-service moves. They just cost different amounts.
What Is Full-Service Moving?
A full-service move is one where the moving company takes on the physical work from start to finish. The crew packs, protects, loads, drives, unloads, and places your things. You decide how far that goes.
What matters is the scope. Two quotes can both say “full-service” and cover very different amounts of work. That’s why the written quote matters more than the label.
What Full-Service Movers Include
Packing and packing materials
Our packing and unpacking service includes custom packing plans, quality materials, fragile-item packing, labelling, and inventory. Our Vancouver packing service offers full-home, partial, and fragile-only packing, and we can deliver supplies ahead of time.
Packing is where the price moves the most. Packing a kitchen and some framed art is a small job. Packing every closet, cupboard, and storage room is a much bigger one. If you’ll pack some things yourself, tell us before the estimate is final.
Furniture protection, disassembly, and reassembly
We wrap furniture to protect it, and our furniture disassembly and assembly service covers pieces that have to come apart to move. We wrap the parts and put them back together at your new home.
Not every piece needs it. A dresser that clears a house door may move in one piece. In a condo with a narrow hall or a small elevator, the same dresser may need a different plan. List the pieces you want rebuilt so both sides know what “assembly” covers.
Loading, transportation, and unloading
Our loading and unloading service covers loading, transport, unloading, and placing your things in the rooms you choose.
Access changes the labour even when the inventory is the same. A truck beside a front door means a short carry. A high-rise condo move with a booked elevator, a long hallway, and a separate loading bay takes longer. Mention stairs, elevators, and parking when you ask for a quote.
Room placement and unpacking
Unloading can end with furniture and sealed boxes in the right rooms. Unpacking goes further. Our Vancouver team can organize cupboards, hang clothes, and take away empty boxes and packing debris. Choose how much unpacking you want when we quote the move.
Add-On Services to Ask About
Storage between possession dates
If your move-out and move-in dates don’t line up, we can load your things, keep them overnight at our facility, and deliver them when you’re ready. The cost is built into your upfront quote. For longer gaps, ask us what’s available. Storage adds handling, so it should be in the quote from the start.
Specialty and high-value items
Pianos, safes, pool tables, artwork, large glass, gym equipment, and very heavy furniture can change the crew, the equipment, and the loading plan. Our Terms of Service ask you to tell us about fragile, specialty, and high-value items before moving day so we can plan extra protection. If you’re moving valuable pieces, see how our insurance and claims process works.
What Full-Service Movers Usually Don’t Include
Full-service doesn’t mean every task in the house. Under our Terms of Service:
- We don’t move illegal or hazardous items.
- When we do the packing, we pack and handle your things with proper care.
- You confirm building and elevator bookings and make sure there’s parking for the truck.
Mounting, installing, or connecting things is also separate from furniture reassembly. If you need that, ask before you book so we can tell you whether we do it.
How to Tell if a Mover Is Truly Full-Service
Some companies call themselves full-service but only load and drive. Before you book, check that the mover:
- Packs as well as moves, using its own crew for both.
- Supplies packing materials and says how they’re priced.
- Takes apart and rebuilds furniture, and names the pieces in the quote.
- Offers unpacking and removes empty boxes if you want it.
- Puts the scope and price in writing before you book.
- Is licensed and insured, and explains how claims work.
If a company can’t put these in writing, you’re likely looking at a move-only service with a full-service label.
The Cost Breakdown: What Adds Work to a Full-Service Move?
We don’t publish one flat full-service price, because every move is a different job. The quote is built from the details you give us. These are the things that change it:
| Cost driver | How it changes the move | What we need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory and volume | More items mean more packing, carrying, and truck space | Furniture, estimated boxes, storage areas, and oversized pieces |
| Packing scope | Full-home packing takes more labour and materials than partial or fragile-only | What’s already packed and what you want us to pack |
| Materials | Box types, wrapping, and specialty packing depend on what’s being protected | Fragile items, wardrobes, artwork, and electronics |
| Furniture work | Each piece taken apart and rebuilt adds time | Which pieces need to come apart |
| Truck needs | Shipment size and access decide the vehicle and loading plan | Rough volume, plus parking and loading conditions |
| Access | Stairs, elevator waits, long carries, and parking limits add steps | Floor, elevator window, loading area, and carrying distance |
| Distance and stops | Longer routes and extra pickups or drop-offs add travel time | Every address and stop |
| Specialty items | Heavy, fragile, or high-value pieces need their own plan | Pianos, safes, artwork, and oversized furniture |
| Storage | A date gap adds storage and a second round of handling | Your move-out and move-in dates |
| Late changes | Items added on moving day or a changed scope can change the final price | Your final inventory and scope, as early as possible |
Our terms list extra items, extra stops or travel time, last-minute changes, and specialty handling as the things that can change a final price. The more complete your details, the fewer surprises on the bill.
Local vs. Long-Distance Moves: How the Cost Changes
The services are the same on a local and a long-distance move. What changes is the transport side.
Within the Lower Mainland, our Vancouver moving services and Burnaby moving services are planned around your inventory, access, and chosen services. Carrying time and elevator waits matter most here.
For longer routes, our long-distance moving service offers flat-rate options based on distance and volume, with packing and unpacking available. Either way, your quote should state the pricing method. Don’t assume it from someone else’s move.
How a Full-Service Move Works
- Request a quote. Share your addresses, move date, and a realistic inventory, including large, fragile, or specialty pieces.
- Set the scope. Decide what we pack, which furniture comes apart, and how much unpacking you want.
- Prepare the access. Book elevators, sort out parking, and set aside anything you’ll carry yourself.
- Moving day. We protect, load, move, and unload your things, then place them in the rooms you choose.
- Finish at the new home. We rebuild agreed furniture and unpack as much as you asked for. Payment is due when the move is complete, unless agreed otherwise in writing.
How Long Does a Full-Service Move Take?
It depends on your inventory, how much packing you want, the access at both homes, and the distance. Packing is usually the longest part. For full-home packing, our Vancouver team packs your home 1 to 2 days before moving day, so the move itself isn’t slowed down by packing.
Within the Lower Mainland, most moves are planned around a single moving day. Elevator windows, long carries, and reassembly can stretch that day. Long-distance moves add driving time and a delivery window, and your quote should state the expected timing.
Is Full-Service Moving Worth the Cost?
It depends on how much of the move you want to hand over. The same move can be done three ways: you do it all yourself with a rental truck, you pack and hire movers for the heavy work, or you hand over almost everything.
When full-service makes sense
It’s worth it when the time and physical work you hand over matter to you. That’s often true for a large household, heavy or fragile furniture, a long-distance move, a gap between possession dates, or a high-rise with strict elevator windows.
When partial service or DIY makes more sense
If you have time to pack and mainly need a crew and a truck, partial service is often the best middle ground. You pack the easy things, and we handle the work that needs more skill, equipment, or planning. A DIY move with a rental truck avoids moving fees, but the lifting, driving, and risk of damage are all on you.
The Same Home Can Produce Three Very Different Moving Scopes
Take one two-bedroom home under three different service choices. The inventory stays the same. What changes is how much of the work you hand to the mover, and that’s what the price follows.
| Service level | You handle | We handle |
|---|---|---|
| Move-only | All packing, labelling, and most prep | Furniture protection, loading, transport, unloading, and agreed assembly |
| Partial full-service | Everyday clothing, books, and simple household packing | Fragile or awkward packing, the move itself, and agreed furniture work |
| Full-service | Personal items you’ll carry yourself, and deciding what’s moving | Materials, most of the packing, furniture prep, loading, transport, unloading, reassembly, and agreed unpacking |
That’s why comparing only the totals on two quotes can mislead you. A lower number may simply mean a smaller job.
What to Confirm in a Written Full-Service Moving Quote
The Government of Canada Office of Consumer Affairs recommends getting costs, terms, and conditions in writing, showing the mover every item, and asking about extra costs if you add items.
Consumer Protection BC warns against quotes that look too good to be true and against quotes or contracts made over the phone.
Before you accept a full-service quote, check that it answers these questions:
- Which rooms and items will be packed, and who supplies the materials?
- Which furniture will be taken apart and rebuilt?
- What crew and truck size is the price based on?
- How are travel, distance, and route costs handled?
- Which stairs, elevators, and parking conditions have been allowed for?
- Are all stops listed?
- Which specialty items need their own plan?
- Is storage included, and for how long?
- What does unpacking include, and will empty boxes be removed?
- What are the payment, cancellation, and rescheduling terms?
- Which changes could raise the final price?
Full-Service Moving With President Movers
A few things set our full-service moves apart:
- One team handles the whole move. You don’t need to coordinate a packing company and a moving company, because the same team packs, moves, and unpacks.
- Our crews are familiar with high-rise buildings, elevators, tight hallways, and strata bylaws. We coordinate with building staff, and under our terms you confirm the elevator booking and parking.
- We’re fully licensed and insured. If something is damaged in our care, our claims process covers how we make it right.
- Rated 4.9 out of 5 on Google Reviews by customers across the Lower Mainland.
- We work from offices in Burnaby (5535 Hastings St #105) and Vancouver (833 Seymour St), serve the Lower Mainland, and regularly move customers to Victoria, Kelowna, and Kamloops.
Tell us your inventory, access, and how much help you want, and we’ll quote the move on that basis. For everything we handle across the city, see our guide to moving services in Vancouver. Start with the President Movers quote form, or call us at 604-900-5433. We answer seven days a week.
Planning Your Full-Service Moving Day
Book as early as you can once your date is set. Full-home packing, elevator bookings, and long-distance moves need more planning, and all bookings depend on availability.
It also helps to be there, or to have someone there, at the start and end of the move, so the crew can confirm what’s moving and where it goes in the new home.
Ready to plan your full-service move? Call President Movers at 604-900-5433 or Get a Quote online, and we’ll build your quote around the exact scope you need.