Moving Heavy Furniture

Moving house is an exciting and fun time - except, perhaps, when it comes to moving heavy furniture. Unlike your average Hollywood film might imply, most people when moving house don’t simply carry their bed frames and heavy sofas on their shoulders from street-to-street. Not only is it dangerous for your back and spine, you can also end up damaging your belongings if you move heavy furniture without the tools and skills required to do so.

In this article, we’re going to give you the low-down on how to safely move your heavy furniture from your old home to your new home - with no back sprains included. Let’s take a look!

What counts as "heavy furniture?"

First of all, what counts as heavy furniture? For a typical home, your heavy furniture most likely consists of the following:

Tables and chairs
Sofas and armchairs
Bed frames and headboards
Dressing tables
Fridges and other large kitchen appliances
Wardrobes and chests of drawers
Bookcases

Heavy furniture can also include:

Pianos
Heavy art sculptures
Large plant pots and vases (depending on the size)
Large TVs (depending on the size)

When it comes to moving this type of furniture to your new home, it can be difficult to do so safely, without damaging either your back or the item being moved. Some of these items can also be fragile in transit, and are prone to breakages when not transported correctly.

Moving heavy furniture? Hire a removal company

If you don’t have the space in your car to transport your heavy furniture - as most people don’t - the best way to move it is by hiring a removal company to move it for you (such as Goodfellows removal company if you’re based in Tonbridge, West Malling and Sevenoaks). Here’s why:

You’ll protect your heavy furniture

Just like any of your delicate belongings, your heavy furniture can also become damaged during the transit from your old home to your new home. Scrapes, breakages, and other damage can occur when the furniture isn’t stored away correctly for moving - with a removals company, you can be sure that your belongings will arrive at your new home intact and in one piece.

Your belongings will be packed and packaged correctly

When you hire a removal company, they’ll also be willing to pack up your belongings for an extra fee. This isn’t just a time-saving trick; it’s also a great way to ensure that your belongings are packed and packaged correctly. A removal company will come equipped with professional wrapping materials and secure tape to ensure that your belongings won’t become damaged in the transit from your old home to your new one.

You’ll protect your back and spine

Lifting heavy furniture - especially if you’re not used to moving or lifting heavy objects - can seriously damage your back and spine, and even lead to problems such as slipped discs or hernias. You don’t want to move into your new home and spend the first few months with a bad back - avoid this by hiring trained movers, who will be used to lifting heavy objects (and are fully equipped with the tools required to do so!)

You’ll save time

Dismantling and moving heavy furniture yourself can add days onto your moving time. If you’re taking time off work, you’re going to want to spend most of that time enjoying your new home, not dismantling another desk or bookcase. By hiring a removals company to move your heavy furniture, you’ll massively speed up the time spent on the packing process: a removals team will get the job done in under a day, leaving you with more time to sort out any remaining paperwork or logistics for the move.

Moving heavy furniture: dos and dont's

If you can’t afford a moving company, or it’s too late to get a quote, you’ll need to be very careful as you pack and move your heavy furniture; it can be dangerous for your spine if you’re not taking the right precautions. Here are some tips and hacks for moving heavy furniture:

Dismantle everything. Most heavy furniture can be dismantled, and it’s a good idea to do so before transporting the items to your new home. Furniture such as desks, bookcases, tables, chairs, and wardrobes can be taken apart for transportation. Just make sure to keep the instruction manuals on-hand.
Slide, don’t lift. Where possible, slide your heavy furniture rather than lifting it. This puts less pressure on your back and minimises the possibility of you damaging the item by dropping it. Depending on your type of flooring, you can simply push your items from one location to another, or buy furniture sliders online to simplify the process.
Make use of lifting straps. Lifting straps make it easier for groups to move heavy items together, as they offer better grip and stability for the person lifting. You can use lifting straps when moving items that cannot be dismantled.
Empty everything before moving. Naturally, a fridge full of food is going to be much more difficult to transport than an empty one. This rule applies to all of your furniture: make sure that the items inside have been removed and packed before attempting to move the furniture. This applies to bookcases, wardrobes, chests of drawers, desks, etc.
Plan in advance. Your packing and unpacking process is more likely to go seamlessly if you plan in advance what you’re going to be doing. If you want to minimise the amount of times you’ll need to lift a certain object or piece of furniture, plan exactly where it’s going to be placed in your new home. That way, you’ll only need to lift and move it twice - once when packing, twice when unpacking.
Overestimate the time it’ll take. Dismantling heavy furniture can take much longer than you might imagine; for this reason, it’s a good idea to overestimate the time you’ll need for packing when planning your moving schedule. You don’t want to be left without time as you approach your move-in date; by overestimating how long the process will take, you’re covered by any unwanted surprises.