Piedmont Movers for Historic Homes and Hillside Lots

Piedmont is a separate city of about 1.7 square miles, completely surrounded by Oakland. It is almost entirely single-family houses, many built in the early 1900s, on tree-lined streets that rise from Grand Avenue toward the hills. Lower Piedmont, west of Highland Avenue, has smaller lots and a closer grid; Upper Piedmont spreads out into larger parcels, curving roads and the grand homes Piedmont is known for, especially along Sea View Avenue, Sotelo Avenue and Glen Alpine Road. Commercial and apartment buildings are a tiny share of the city, so a Piedmont move is nearly always a house move.

Because so many Piedmont homes are three bedrooms over 1,800 square feet or larger, our usual crew here is four movers at $235 per hour. A smaller Lower Piedmont cottage or a downsizing move may need only three at $175. The rate is identical on weekdays and weekends, with a 3-hour minimum and 15-minute billing after that. You pay nothing for our drive from San Jose, about 38 miles southeast. Floor protection, moving blankets, disassembly and reassembly are part of every full-service job.

Piedmont: typical hours and totals by home size

To show what the rate adds up to, we compared homes of the same size across our recent local jobs, then multiplied those hours by the matching crew rate. Local moves are billed by the hour, never as a flat price.

Figures use the middle half of billed hours from local moves we completed for direct customers July through October 2026, drive time between homes included, account and full-pack jobs left out. Boxes and other supplies are extra, and no job bills under 3 hours.

Front steps, terraced paths and sloped driveways all add carrying time, so a Piedmont house with a long approach can land toward the top of its row.

Original woodwork, plaster walls, leaded glass and polished stairs do not forgive a rushed crew. In a historic Piedmont home we spend the opening part of the job laying runners along every path and wrapping furniture in blankets before a single piece moves. Built-ins stay; freestanding antiques, armoires and mirrors get extra wrapping. We prefer to see a house like this in person before quoting, so we offer on-site estimates rather than video calls.

Piedmont sits on the lower slopes of the Oakland hills, cut by canyons, so many homes are reached by front steps, terraced paths or sloped driveways. Some upper streets are narrow and winding, with little room for a big truck to stand. We plan the carry route and truck position ahead of time and let you know early if the access calls for a shuttle. If the truck needs space on a public street, the city may have a permit process; we check the current rules for your address with you and plan around them.

Piedmont is about 38 miles northwest of downtown San Jose. Montclair is about 1.2 miles away and Lake Merritt about 1.7, so a move to either is a short local hop. If you are checking us out, we hold a 4.8 rating from 77 Google reviews.

1. Walk the house with us: every room, the basement, the garage and the garden.
2. Flag antiques, art, chandeliers you are taking, and any piano. A grand piano is always a four-mover piece.
3. Decide who packs the china, crystal and books. Crew packing is billed by time, materials as used.
4. Tell neighbors if the truck will sit on a shared, narrow street.
5. Clear the driveway and the front path the evening before.
6. Expect the crew in the 9 to 11 AM window, with a call 30 minutes before.

• Montclair: farther up the hill, steeper roads and wooded lots.
• Lake Merritt: just below, apartments and elevator buildings.
• Temescal: duplexes and new apartments along Telegraph.
• Rockridge: bungalows and shingle houses near College Avenue.
• Oakland: the larger city all around Piedmont.
• Fragile collections: packing services and piano moving.