When you're moving house, trying to figure out whether everything is going to fit in your boxes and your moving van is a struggle. It's even more of a struggle if you've got large furniture pieces to move too. Not only do you have to wonder whether they'll fit in the moving van, but whether they'll fit through the doorway to get out of the house (and back in at the other end!).
If you've got oversized furniture and you're moving house soon, here are some top tips for moving furniture.
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It seems obvious, but before you actually start to move any large furniture, measure it using a measuring tape. For larger plush items like a large sofa or bed, remove anything plush where possible, or just measure the hard frame.
You should take the width, height, and length of the furniture. This will enable you to assess the spaces the oversized furniture has to fit through and will also help you to describe exactly what needs to be moved if you decide to hire professional movers.
For oversized furniture like a big couch, it isn't just the front door that you have to get your big furniture through. More often than not, there are a couple of doorways in between your big furniture and the moving van. These should all be measured so that you can assess whether it looks likely that your furniture pieces will fit through.
Measure the height and width of the door frame, and if the door itself is going to be in the way then make sure you take that into consideration when you're making your measurements.
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Large furniture is often also heavy furniture. This means that not only is moving oversized furniture difficult, but it can often be dangerous, too. Lifting heavy furniture wrong could lead to pain and discomfort. That's where the right equipment comes in. You want to make sure you have the proper equipment like a professional team would. This includes:
A furniture dolly is a platform on wheels that allows you to move any piece of furniture through your old apartment and new house effortlessly. You simply lift your oversized pieces onto their furniture dollies and wheel them through the new apartment or old apartment. Taking the oversized pieces downstairs is also made easier with furniture dollies, so long as you're careful!
Make sure that for heavy furniture, you enlist the help of others to get the big couch or whatever else up onto the dolly. If need be, you might need furniture straps.
These straps go beneath heavy furniture and appliances, taking the bulk of the weight. They are then held one at each end of the item by two people or more and used to lift and manoeuvre the piece of furniture as needed.
Usually in the form of small disks, these protect the floor from the heavy appliance or piece of furniture as you move it. Too often, moving a piece of furniture can result in the carpet being ripped, tiles being pulled up or linoleum being damaged. But with furniture sliders, this isn't the case. They simply go on the bottom of the piece of furniture, and allow it to slide effortlessly to the moving truck on moving day!
Plenty of big furniture pieces have sharp corners and these can cause serious damage to the stairs, walls, and floor when the furniture is being moved, especially if it's being moved haphazardly. To protect your old home and new home from this kind of damage, wrap your large furniture in furniture blankets. This will soften the sharp corners and make moving oversized furniture much less daunting!
A Bungee cord is incredibly helpful when moving, but especially with oversized furniture. Once in the moving truck, you want to make sure your furniture pieces remain still and upright. Using a bungee cord you can make sure that your items remain in place without crushing the rest of your belongings.
You will likely need a toolkit when you're moving large furniture from one home to another. For particularly large pieces of furniture, you might find that you need to take it apart, or that certain parts need removing.
When you lift, you need to be really careful. Avoid lifting with your back, and do not twist! Lift with your legs and core, bending your legs and squatting down to lift the item up. Remember, legs not back!
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In addition to the above tips, tricks, and tools, there are a few different methods that might just help you to get your large furniture out of a small door or room.
If your item just needs an extra inch or two to get through the door, then you might find that taking the door away from the doorway will make a huge difference. Usually, you can remove doors by simply unscrewing the hinges with your tools.
Take the door away and place it somewhere out of the way. Then try to remove your heavy furniture again. Hopefully, now the whole thing will fit through!
Tall and long furniture is always easiest to move through doorways if tilted. Make sure you clear space in front of and behind the doorway, and tilt it through. This will allow you to get something significantly taller than the doorway into the room without having to take anything apart.
If you're in an apartment with a balcony or a big enough window, you might find that for some furniture like couches or large tables, pianos, etc., hoisting them out of the house via the balcony or window is the only way. This is a dangerous job, though, and should only be done by experts or with professionals at hand.
You should safely and very carefully wrap whatever item is being moved in both protective blankets and rope or bungee cords. Lower it down from the window slowly, and with plenty of people at hand to help drop and receive the item.
Wherever possible, one of the easiest ways to move big furniture into your new home is simply to take it apart. That way it should fit through the door, and you'll simply have to rebuild it once you've moved house. Just be sure to label or attach all the pieces to each other somehow to make the building process easier at the other end!
Plenty of movers use the 'hook' method, which involves poking the item through the doorway and turning it continuously. This minimises the width going through the door at any given point, but it does take quite a few pairs of hands to get done.
Ultimately, the easiest option is to just call in the experts. We're trained to know exactly how to get that pesky couch from your floor, through the door, and into your new home. Let us help you make your new property yours by getting your beloved furniture from A to B.
If you're concerned about moving oversized furniture, contact Bear Courier & Removals today for a free quote.
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