Temescal Movers for Duplexes, Bungalows and Telegraph Apartments

A Temescal move tends to be one of two very different jobs.

The numbered streets

Between Telegraph and Shattuck and over toward Broadway, blocks of 40th to 55th Street are lined with Victorians, Craftsman bungalows and older houses split into two or more units. Expect a front stoop, a shared entry, interior stairs that turn, and an upstairs unit where the bed frame has to come apart to get around the landing.

The new buildings

Along Telegraph and near MacArthur BART, newer mid-rise apartment buildings have a leasing office, a loading zone or garage entrance, an elevator schedule and a COI requirement. These are efficient moves once the paperwork is in.

Telegraph has bike lanes and buses, so we do not plan to stop on it. Instead we hold space on the nearest cross street, which in Temescal is usually lined bumper to bumper. To reserve it, Oakland's OakDOT issues an Obstruction (OB) permit, and the signs have to be posted 72 hours ahead. A shared driveway in a duplex lot can sometimes work for a smaller load if the other unit agrees.

• From mid-July to late October 2026, ZIP 94609 sent us 4 quote requests, not counting account work, every one a local move, and 3 of them booked or completed.
• Oakland as a whole sent 10 in that stretch, with 8 booked or completed; two-bedroom homes were the most common size listed.

Temescal is North Oakland's stretch of Telegraph Avenue from roughly MacArthur Boulevard up toward the Berkeley line, named for the creek that still runs under much of it. The avenue carries the restaurants, bars and small shops, plus the little side lane of shops known as Temescal Alley. Rockridge is to the east, the Piedmont Avenue area to the southeast and South Berkeley to the north. MacArthur BART and the knot where Highway 24 meets I-580 sit at the southern edge, which makes Temescal one of the easier Oakland neighborhoods to reach by truck.

Temescal is roughly 40 miles from downtown San Jose. The drive is up I-880 to I-980 and Highway 24, with exits near 51st Street and MacArthur. You are not billed for that drive. Between your two addresses the drive counts as job time, doubled only if they are more than 10 minutes apart, which a move to Rockridge, Emeryville or Lake Merritt normally is not. Morning crews arrive 9 to 11 AM.

For most Temescal flats and one- or two-bedroom units, plan on three movers at $175 per hour. A single room or a small studio load can go with two at $145. A whole house of three bedrooms over 1,800 square feet, or four or more bedrooms, calls for four movers at $235. The price is the same on a Sunday as on a Tuesday, with a 3-hour minimum and then 15-minute steps. Wardrobe boxes, tape and blankets come with the crew.

Hours and cost by home size in Temescal

Since every home is billed by the clock, we grouped the billed hours from local jobs we closed between July and October 2026 by home size. Nothing here is a fixed price. The hourly rate times your actual time is what you pay.

Based on billed hours from local moves for direct customers that we closed July to October 2026 (middle 50%), drive between addresses included; account or partner-billed jobs and full-packing jobs excluded. Add packing materials used. The 3-hour minimum applies to every move.

Duplexes with a front stoop, a shared entry and turning interior stairs take steady work, while the newer buildings on Telegraph depend on the elevator schedule.

• Pick the cross street you want the truck on and order the OB permit for it.
• In a multi-unit house, tell the other tenants the date and keep the shared stairs clear.
• In a new building, book the elevator and request the COI wording from the leasing office.
• Note any bikes, scooters or strollers parked in the entry.
• Keep your phone on; the crew calls about 30 minutes before arriving.

• Rockridge: a mile east, bungalows and the College Avenue shops.
• Emeryville: across the freeway, lofts and condo buildings.
• Piedmont: its own city, almost all houses.
• Lake Merritt: elevator buildings and walk-ups by the water.
• Oakland: the whole city in one guide.
• Want the crew to pack? See packing services.