On paper a cross-town move looks like a half-day errand. By noon it has become the longest stretch of your year, because the trouble is never the drive across the District; it is the first hundred feet and the last. That is where a narrow brick stoop, an English-basement door, and a rowhouse stair built generations before your sofa existed turn an easy job hard. Marcus Payne came up in Northeast DC and spent years running dispatch for a large area mover before he hung his own name on a truck in 2012, so the people who arrive have already sized your doorways, your front steps, and the turn at the top landing before the first pad leaves the truck. One day it is a household leaving a Capitol Hill rowhouse for a Shaw walk-up; the next it is a Columbia Heights couple closing on their first place in Petworth, or a Bethesda family swapping the suburbs for a Navy Yard tower.
You can take this work by the hour, crew sized to the home, or as a flat rate when you would rather know the figure cold and skip the clock. By the hour, two movers and a truck come to $145/hr, three to $185/hr, and four to $245/hr, and we tell you which size your job wants before the date. Flat instead? A studio settles at $450 to $720, a one-bedroom at $720 to $1,200, a two-bedroom at $1,200 to $2,050, and a three-bedroom at $2,050 to $3,400. Because most blocks in the District require a Temporary No-Parking sign up ahead of move day, we pull that permit ourselves; expect a small sign fee, listed with the rest so nothing surprises you later.
How a DC local move runs from curb to door
Our planning starts from one question: where can the truck legally sit? The lead checks both addresses ahead of time, then posts the No-Parking sign so a 26-foot truck is not crawling a one-way rowhouse street at dawn looking for a gap. From there it is pads on the furniture, runners across the floors at each end, and padding on the casings and that newel post before anyone bends to lift. The big pieces get shrink-wrapped, the load is tied off so it holds steady on Rock Creek Parkway or New York Avenue, and the crew is only ever as deep as the home warrants, heavier for a three-story rowhouse with no driveway, lighter for a ground-floor one-bedroom.
DC and DMV neighborhoods our crews cover
- Capitol Hill, Shaw, Logan Circle, and Columbia Heights rowhouses, narrow stoops and no rear alley
- Navy Yard, NoMa, the Wharf, and Mount Vernon Triangle towers with freight-elevator and COI rules
- Georgetown townhouses on cobblestone, tight parking, and no Metro stop at the door
- Across the river and out to Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Rockville
Leaving the metro altogether, or crossing a state line? That haul runs under our own authority over on the long-distance moving page. Want it boxed before we arrive? Our full packing service wraps the kitchen and the closets so the day itself is only the carry. Get a free quote and we will respond within one business hour.
What’s Included
- Hourly rates sized to the home: two movers at $145/hr, three at $185/hr, four at $245/hr
- Or a flat rate instead, ranging from a $450-$720 studio to a $2,050-$3,400 three-bedroom
- The Temporary No-Parking permit pulled and the sign posted so the truck parks at your door
- Pads, shrink wrap, and floor runners laid at both the pickup and the drop-off
- Casings, stoops, and the newel post wrapped before any furniture is touched
- Loads tied off to hold steady on Rock Creek Parkway, I-395, or New York Avenue
- Crew depth matched to access, deeper for a three-story rowhouse without a driveway
- Up to $1M in cargo coverage, with your price written down ahead of the date
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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