Quick Answer: Moving into a laneway house means the only door faces the lane, the bedroom is usually up a steep stair, and the footprint is small. So we stage the truck on the lane, time the move so the main house and the neighbours can still get out, measure the stair before we buy or carry anything, and size the crew for a lot of short trips rather than a few long ones.
Moving into a laneway house is a Vancouver invention, because the laneway house itself is one. The city launched the modern laneway program in 2009, and thousands of small homes have gone up behind main houses across the east side, Kitsilano, and Dunbar since. Burnaby and North Vancouver followed with garden suites and coach houses of their own. These homes are bright, efficient, and beautifully built. They are also the trickiest small move in the city, because the truck cannot reach the front door. There is no front door. This guide covers how we handle the lane, the stair, and the furniture that will and will not fit.
What a Laneway House Actually Is
A laneway house sits at the back of a standard lot, where the garage used to be, and faces the lane instead of the street. The main house stays out front. Most laneway homes run one and a half to two storeys, with a living space and kitchen on the ground floor and a bedroom or two upstairs. The footprint is small by design, often under a thousand square feet. Garden suites in Burnaby and coach houses in North Vancouver follow the same idea with different names. So everything about the move flows from two facts: the door is on the lane, and the stair is steep.
The Access Problem
A laneway house has no street frontage. The only way in is down the lane, past the main house’s garage and the neighbours’ garages, to a door that may be the width of a single car bay. That means the truck cannot park out front, because there is no front. It has to sit in the lane. Lanes in Vancouver are narrow, sometimes one-way in practice, and shared by every garage on the block. So a truck sitting in one for three hours blocks people in. The access plan is the whole move, and it gets made at booking, not when the crew arrives.
Staging the Truck on the Lane
We scout the lane before move day. The crew checks the width, the overhead wires, the turning room at each end, and where the neighbours’ garage doors sit. Then we pick a spot that keeps the lane passable, which often means parking a few doors down and carrying. We also pick a time. Early morning and mid-afternoon are the quiet windows, before and after the school run and the commute. If the lane is too tight for the big truck, we bring a smaller one and shuttle. And we let the main house and the immediate neighbours know the date, because their garage is about to have a moving crew walking past it for a few hours.
The Stair
Most laneway homes put the bedroom upstairs, and the stair that gets there is steep, narrow, and often turns once. There is no elevator and no second route. So before the crew lifts anything, we measure the stair width, the headroom at the turn, and the door at the top. Anything that will not make it gets taken apart on the ground floor: bed frames, dresser mirrors, and the base of anything tall. A queen mattress usually makes it. A queen box spring often does not, so a split box spring or a platform bed is worth knowing about before you shop. If the bedroom is a loft with a ladder or an open rail, the plan changes again, and we talk it through on the walkthrough.
Sizing Furniture for a Small Footprint
A laneway house rewards people who measure twice. The door, the stair, and the rooms are all smaller than a typical house, and furniture that fit the old place may not fit this one. Three measurements decide most of it: the width of the lane door, the width of the stair at its narrowest, and the longest wall in the main room. Sofas under 200 centimetres, dining tables that seat four, and storage that goes up instead of out tend to work. Sectionals, king beds, and wardrobes usually do not. If you are trimming down before the move, our post on how to downsize your home room by room is built for exactly this. Bring your measurements to the estimate and we will tell you honestly which pieces are worth the carry.
The House Out Front
In most cases, the people who own the main house own the laneway house too, and they live twenty metres from your front door. That relationship starts on move day. Give them the date and the time, ask whether they need the lane at any point, and find out where they want the crew to stay off the garden. A laneway house move that goes well is one the landlord barely notices.
Garden Suites and Coach Houses Beyond Vancouver
Burnaby garden suites and North Vancouver coach houses follow the same playbook, with two differences. Lots on the North Shore slope, so the lane may sit well above or below the suite, and the carry runs up or down a hill. And some suburban garden suites have a side-yard path from the street instead of a lane, which can be easier or harder depending on the gate width. Either way, we scout it first.
Protecting a New Build
Laneway houses are new, and new means fresh drywall, unmarked hardwood, and corners that have never been bumped. So the crew runs door jamb guards on the lane door and every interior frame, lays runners on the floors, and pads the stair rail. Tight corners get corner guards. The goal is that the house looks the same the day after the move as it did the day before.
Laneway House or Vancouver Special?
If your new place is the classic two-storey box on a full lot with a front door on the street, that is a different move with its own quirks. Our post on moving into a Vancouver Special covers it. This one is for the small house behind it.
Packing for a Lot of Short Trips
A laneway move is dozens of trips down a lane and up a stair rather than a few long carries. So boxes need to be full, taped, and light enough for a turning stair. Our packing services can pack the whole home or just the breakables, and wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes come free with every move. Our local movers in Vancouver handle laneway moves across the east side, the west side, and the North Shore every week. Every mover is a full-time employee on our payroll, trained and certified in house.
Tell Us About the Lane
When you request your estimate, tell us the lane, describe the stair, and send a photo of the door. We will plan the truck, the timing, and the carry, then explain how our hourly rate and flat one-time travel fee work with no hidden charges. Request a free estimate, or call You Move Me Vancouver at (604) 262-2075. Canada’s Favourite Local Movers will bring the coffee and park where the neighbours can still get out.