Storage When Moving House in Kilkenny: Handling the Gap
The awkward truth of Irish house moves: closing dates are promises, not facts. When your sale completes before your purchase does, everything you own needs somewhere to live for the gap — and the gap has a habit of growing.
The gap is normal — plan for it early
If you're in a chain, assume a gap is possible even when the solicitors sound confident. The households that handle it calmly are the ones who priced storage before they needed it. Getting a storage quote costs nothing and doesn't commit you; scrambling for storage in the same week you're handing over keys costs you money and sleep.
Your three options for the gap
- Self-storage unit. You hire a van, load everything into a unit, then do the entire move a second time when you get keys. Two full moving days plus the unit rent.
- Friends' garages and attics. Free, spread across three houses, and you'll be reassembling your household from memory. Fine for a fortnight; grim for a quarter.
- Collect-and-store. One provider collects your contents at the old house, stores them for the gap, and delivers to the new address. You pack; everything else — van, lifting, storage, return — is the service. This is what our house move storage does.
What to store and what to keep out
Store the house; keep a "gap kit". Whatever you'll live out of during the gap — clothes for the season, documents, chargers, kids' essentials, the kettle — stays with you. Everything else can go into storage, and honestly the tighter you draw the line, the easier the gap gets: living out of four boxes is simpler than living around forty.
Two practical notes: defrost and dry appliances at least a day before collection, and keep passports, deeds and valuables on your person, not in the load.
When the dates move (they will)
The right storage arrangement for a house move is monthly, with no fixed end date. A two-week gap that becomes six weeks should be a phone call, not a renegotiation. When you compare providers, ask one question: "What happens if my completion date slips a month?" — the answer tells you everything about how the gap will feel.
Delivery day at the new house
Because everything was photographed and logged at collection, delivery is a checklist, not an archaeology dig. Tell the crew which rooms things belong to and the unload puts your house roughly where it should be — which, after weeks of limbo, matters more than you'd think.
Between houses in Kilkenny, Carlow or Waterford? Request a quote with your likely dates — even rough ones — and you'll have the storage side of your move handled before the solicitors are done arguing.