The toughest apartment jobs in DC are not the large ones; they are the elevator-free buildings that resist you at every landing. A Columbia Heights walk-up stacks four units up a steep, pinched run. A Shaw English basement throws a stoop and a half-flight at you before the sidewalk even arrives. The newer towers in Navy Yard, NoMa, and the Wharf flip the problem: a freight elevator you must reserve, a dock with a window, and a manager who wants a certificate of insurance on file before the truck rolls past the gate. Working a household through either kind of access is our daily bread, and the people who turn up have moved through these very buildings more times than they could tally.
For a walk-up, the planning opens with the staircase, not the rooms. The lead measures the rise, the landings, and the turn against your bulkiest pieces before the date, decides what comes apart to win the inches a pinched landing wants, and fixes the hand count the climb demands, four or more for a third-floor unit holding a sofa and a fridge. Pieces travel padded and shrink-wrapped, coaxed up a step at a time instead of forced, and the banister and the casings get covered so the building keeps its paint. A tower move follows the opposite script: we secure your COI for the office in advance, book the freight elevator and the dock slot, and route the load through the service entrance rather than the lobby.
The price tracks the home size, not the building’s temper. A studio comes to $450 to $720, a one-bedroom to $720 to $1,200, and a two-bedroom to $1,200 to $2,050, access spelled out upfront. Hourly is the alternative, $145/hr for two movers and $185/hr for three, crew sized to the climb. On a DC walk-up block the truck still wants a posted No-Parking sign so it sits at the entrance, which we handle, and the small permit fee rides in the quote with everything else, never sprung after the fact.
On apartment and condo moves, we handle
- Steep, elevator-free walk-ups in Columbia Heights, Shaw, Adams Morgan, and Mount Pleasant
- English-basement units fronted by a stoop and a half-flight before the sidewalk
- High-rise condos in Navy Yard, NoMa, the Wharf, and Mount Vernon Triangle under COI and freight rules
- The certificate of insurance, dock window, and elevator hold squared away with management beforehand
Moving a whole house instead of a unit? See residential and house moving. Want it boxed before anyone carries it down four flights? Our full packing service handles the kitchen and closets. Get a free quote and we will respond within one business hour.
What’s Included
- The stair rise, landings, and turn measured against your bulkiest pieces before the date
- Furniture taken apart to win the inches a pinched walk-up landing wants, then rebuilt
- Pieces padded and shrink-wrapped, coaxed up or down a step at a time, not forced
- Hand count fixed to the climb, four or more for a third-floor unit with a sofa and fridge
- Banister, casings, and walls covered so the building keeps its paint
- The certificate of insurance, freight-elevator hold, and dock window squared away with management
- On towers, loads routed through the service entrance and dock rather than the lobby
- A flat figure by home size, from a $450-$720 studio up, with the No-Parking permit handled
What Does It Cost?
Flat-rate or hourly — a 2-mover crew from $145/hr, flat bands from $450
2-mover crew, truck, blankets & dollies included — with hourly at $145 / $185 / $245 or a locked flat rate by home size.
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