How To Move Heavy Furniture

Prepare To Move

Preparation is the key to planning the best way to move heavy furnishings. Here are the most important things you should prepare before moving heavy furniture.

• Plan your route. Map out your path to the new room or home. You can plan around obstacles like narrow doors, long hallways or stairs. This is also the time to decide where you will place the furniture when it arrives at the new location. You can then create clear paths and ensure that all items are placed in the correct rooms. This will make it easier for you to move and for anyone who is helping.
• Measure your furniture and any other spaces you will need to pass through. This will help you determine if any furniture pieces need to be disassembled or if a larger, padded window is needed to move your furniture instead of a doorway.
• Avoid damage to doors and walls. If you are moving furniture that will fit around corners, remove doors or protect any mouldings.
• You will need to ask for help. Whether you decide to hire professional movers or recruit family and friends, you’ll need assistance moving heavy furniture. You can move heavy furniture by yourself if you have at least two friends to help. It is possible to move heavy furniture by yourself with the help of tools. However, it is not recommended.
• Gather Moving Supplies. There are some important items to make your move easier. Moving blankets, stretch wrapping, dollies and lifting straps are all recommended. Also, we recommend furniture sliders, packing tape, furniture sliders, tie down straps and hand trucks. You will need a truck if you are moving the furniture yourself. You can rent a moving trucks in different sizes to help with your move.

Disassemble Furniture

Some larger items such as desks, dressers, bookshelves, and media consoles can be moved more easily if you disassemble them. This is especially true if the item has an awkward shape or is extremely heavy, fragile, or valuable. Professional movers can often take care of disassembling and reassembling items for you. However, if you are moving yourself, consider how much time it will take.

• Always remove items like dresser or table mirrors that can move and cause damage during a moving.
• Detachable legs are available on dining tables, couches, and large desks or dresses. This will allow you to navigate through doorways more easily.
• To lighten your load, remove any drawers that are in dressers. Remove any books from bookshelves before moving.

Tip: Remember that you can move loveseats or larger chairs more easily if they are turned on their sides, “hooked”, through small doors. Then back through the doorway with the opposite end and rotate it.

Wrap And Lift The Furniture

Wrapping furniture is the next step after you’ve created a plan and disassembled any important pieces. This step is not required if you are moving large furniture from one room to another. Wrapping large furniture that is being lifted and loaded into a truck or house will be necessary.

Wrapping furniture with a moving cloth or stretch wrapping, secured by tape, will help you to keep it in place.

• As you lift the furniture and make your way to the truck, you should communicate with your moving partner. Avoid injury by lifting with your knees, and carrying the furniture as close to you as possible.
• Use a Dolly if the furniture is heavy. This will make it easier for you to move and on your back. Use a hand dolly, 4-wheel dolly, or appliance dolly. Hand trucks are the best option for moving heavy furniture up or down stairs. You can use either a hand truck or a dolly, but you should make sure that the item you are moving is properly balanced and secured using lifting ropes.

Move Furniture With Sliders

Furniture slides can make it easy to move heavy furniture across a wooden floor. Sliders are a great way to ease the burden of moving heavy furniture, especially when you’re doing it on your own. Sliders are made of felt on one end and rubber or plastic on another. They protect wood floors, and other surfaces that can be damaged by furniture moving.

• Place a slider underneath the leg of the dresser or large piece of furniture. Make sure the padded side faces the legs and that the smooth surface is on the floor.
• You can now push the furniture. Push from the bottom section, not the top. The furniture will not tip over if you do this.
• Furniture sliders can be used to move heavy pieces of furniture over carpet. However, they may have to be specialized.

Move Heavy Furniture Up and Down Stairs

You will need a couple of helpers if you are moving up or down stairs. One person should be at each end of your furniture while you lift it and move up the stairs.

Protect furniture and stairs by covering corners and banisters with padding or blankets.

Set the furniture on the stairs to take breaks whenever you need them. Be sure to always communicate with your workers when doing this.

• Lift the item on to the hand truck and center it. Tie it down using your tie-down straps. Stand behind the hand cart with the handles facing inwards. A helper should be a few feet ahead, tilting it toward you. Take each step one by one.
• When moving up the stairs, roll the loaded Hand Truck in the opposite direction. Standing on the first step with the dolly facing you, start pulling the item upwards. You should always have your helper following you in front, just in case it rolls forward.

Many professional furniture movers in Auckland are willing to help you move a single piece if it is too heavy to lift or you don’t have the time.