How to Disassemble Furniture When Moving: Step-By-Step Guide

It’s not a secret that the home moving process is rather expensive, so while you’re getting ready to move house, you should definitely use each and every opportunity to save money.

By now, you should know the top 3 ways to reduce moving expenses: 1) hire a low-cost moving company, 2) move only the items you plan to use in the future, and 3) pack whatever you can by yourself so that you don’t have to hire (understand pay) professional packers to do it for you.

Another good tactic you can use to lower your moving costs is to disassemble bulky furniture pieces before moving. This way, you won’t have to pay your movers any extra money for the furniture disassembly service. In reality, it’s neither too easy nor too hard to disassemble furniture for moving, therefore you may be able to do it on your own – plus a friend to assist you, of course.

If you’re really serious about taking some of your bulkier furniture pieces and saving money at the same time, then this step-by-step furniture disassembly guide will help you finish the job efficiently and safely, with no damage to your valuable furniture and surely no personal injuries of any sort for you or your helpers.

Read on to learn how to disassemble furniture for moving.

What to do before disassembling furniture for a move

Before we give you specific information about how to disassemble the big and bulky furniture pieces inside your home, there are a few important things you should do beforehand to prepare for the furniture disassembly task at hand.

Step 1. Decide whether moving your bulky furniture will be worth it

Ok, so you’re moving out soon and you still haven’t made up your mind about what to do with your large furniture. There isn’t an easy answer to this so you’ll need to assess your unique situation and do what’s best for you in terms of money, time, and effort.

You may wish to move some, most, or all furniture pieces you own to the new home. However, the decision to do so will cost you good money due to the enormous weight of your big furniture items. Remember that professional movers will charge you based on the total weight of your shipment (weight is just one of the cost-forming factors).

Besides money, moving heavy furniture between two homes will also cost you time and energy. Calculations show that it’s often cheaper to purchase new furniture items upon arrival than to haul old ones across the country. It’s easier and more practical too.

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Step 2. Measure doorways and furniture items

The good news is that not all furniture pieces you’ve decided to move will need to be disassembled – the ones that can pass safely through all doorways, hallways, corners and stairs along the exit route should remain as they are – properly assembled and adequately protected with the right types of packing and padding materials.

To determine whether a piece needs to be disassembled or not, measure the doorways and hallways, then measure the dimensions (height, width, and length) of all the furniture items that have to be moved. Finally, compare the values to figure out if you’re bound to have any fitting problems or not.

If the measurements show that some of the larger items will NOT fit safely through any of the openings along the path, then you’ll have to disassemble those pieces, either partially or completely.

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Step 3. Ask a friend for assistance

You shouldn’t take apart large and heavy furniture all by yourself. The reason you shouldn’t try to pull it off entirely on your own is that there are certain dangers involved in the process – some furniture disassembly steps require at least two pairs of hands to be completed successfully (understand, damage- and injury-free).

Also, you’ll need much more time to do it all by yourself – precious time you may not afford to lose.

So, make sure you ask a person you can trust for assistance – they can be a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or a co-worker. You’ll need at least one other person to help you out but if you can get more helpers to help you disassemble your furniture before moving out, that’ll be even better.

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Step 4. Find the instruction manuals

Before you start dismantling your big furniture pieces for easier and safer transportation, you’ll find it very useful to have their respective instruction manuals on hand. That’s especially true for larger items such as a china cabinet, an armoire, or a shelving unit.

You may be positive that you’ll manage the task without having to consult the assembly instructions but some furniture items do need to be taken apart in a very specific order, so it’s always better to be able to refresh your memory during the furniture disassembly process.

If you don’t keep a hard copy of the manuals, then a quick web search should help you find them online. If you still can’t find them, try contacting the largest furniture stores in your town or city for assistance.

Be mindful that in most cases, furniture disassembly instructions simply mean furniture assembly instructions followed backward.

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Step 5. Prepare the correct tools

To save precious time, you’re advised to acquire beforehand the correct tools for dismantling safely your bulky furniture items.

Most furniture pieces you’ll have in your home will have been put together with the help of screws, bolts, and nuts. Depending on the type of furniture, those screws, bolts, and nuts will be different in size, so you’re going to need to have one complete set of screwdrivers for removing the screws and one set of wrenches for removing the bolts and nuts.

Also, a small hammer may come in handy when you’re disassembling your furniture for a move. Only, be very careful how and when you use this essential tool because you can easily damage your furniture pieces with it.

In some cases, you may need special tools for disassembling some pieces of your furniture. Check those details in advance (hint: consult the instruction manuals) so that you don’t lose extra time later.

Important note: If some of your furniture items happen to be glued or nailed together, then disassembling those pieces on your own is a bad idea. Note that some furniture movers will refuse to help you disassemble nailed or glued furniture due to the very high risk of damage.

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Step 6. Prepare Ziploc bags

Here’s another important thing you should do before disassembling your bulky furniture for a move – prepare a number of sealable plastic bags (Ziploc bags) for keeping safe all small parts and fastening elements removed from the furniture pieces.

During the furniture disassembly process, remember to place all screws, bolts, nuts, washers, dowels, and other small fasteners into Ziploc bags so that they don’t get lost or misplaced during the actual move. Then, label those sealed plastic bags and tape them carefully to their corresponding furniture piece.

What you don’t want to happen is to arrive in your new home and find out that major screws, bolts, or nuts have been lost or mixed up with other small fastening elements. If that scenario did happen, then you’d probably lose a staggering amount of time purchasing replacement fasteners to be able to put back together the disassembled furniture items you’ve taken with you.

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How to disassemble furniture when moving: step-by-step

Before you begin to disassemble your furniture for moving, you have to know why you need to do it in the first place. Hopefully, once you understand the reasons behind the furniture disassembly job, you will be able to come up with all the right decisions.

Large furniture pieces are not made to fit through small doors, narrow hallways, and up and down staircases. Those big furniture items must be moved as separate components and then assembled inside their corresponding rooms, just the way they were assembled in your current home.

Without a doubt, the best way to move big furniture to a new home is to disassemble it first. This way, you’ll eliminate the risk of damaging the floors, walls, and door frames of the place you’re leaving. Also, disassembled furniture items are lighter and easier to carry around so you won’t run the risk of getting injured in the process.

So, how to disassemble furniture for a move?

BED

• REMOVE the bedding items from the bed and pack them separately.
• REMOVE the mattress and place it inside a specialized mattress bag for the best possible protection.
• TAKE OUT any drawers from the main frame, then pack their contents separately.
• UNSCREW the headboard from the main frame.
• UNSCREW the sideboards from the bed frame.
• DISASSEMBLE the main bed frame to as many separate elements as you can. Consult the bed assembly directions in reverse order.
• WRAP into (furniture) blankets all the large bed elements that you’ve taken apart, including the drawers, if any.
• WRAP in bubble wrap all extra-fragile items, for example – decorative elements.
• PLACE all small hardware pieces (bolts, screws, nuts, washers, etc.) into Ziploc bags, then label those plastic bags appropriately.

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ARMOIRE / WARDROBE / DRESSER

• EMPTY all drawers and cabinets and pack your clothes. Also, remove all clothes hangers from the hanging rails and pack them up inside a cardboard box.

REMOVE the drawers from the standalone furniture piece to make it lighter and easier to transport. Pack those drawers separately.

REMOVE all shelves, if possible, from the inside of the large furniture piece.

DETACH all glass elements (glass doors, glass shelves, etc.) from the main frame using the proper screwdriver. Wrap all glass elements in packing paper first, then in a thick protective layer of bubble wrap.

REMOVE all doors of the bulky furniture by unscrewing the hinges that hold them.

PACK all detached furniture pieces in moving blankets to keep them safe.

PLACE all small hardware elements (bolts, nuts, screws, etc.) into a sealable plastic bag.

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SOFA / COUCH

• REMOVE anything that is on your couch – cushions, covers, stuffed animals, etc.
• TAKE OUT the legs of the couch. To do this, unscrew the screws that hold them in place OR turn them anti-clockwise to remove them safely.
• REMOVE the armrests of the sofa, if possible, to create more space for the furniture to pass through all door openings.
• DETACH any elements that can be removed safely. Consult the instruction manual for details.
• KEEP all fastening parts, metal and non-metal alike, in sealable plastic bags to prevent their loss.
• WRAP the dismantled legs and armrests in furniture blankets to keep them safe.

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CHINA CABINET

• EMPTY completely your china cabinet. Don’t leave any delicate items inside it – china, glassware, heirlooms, etc.) because they won’t survive the move.
• REMOVE any drawers from the china cabinet, then pack them up separately.
• REMOVE the glass doors of your standalone furniture unit. To do it, use a screwdriver and unscrew the screws that hold the door hinges.
• TAKE OUT the glass shelves, one by one, really carefully and without any abrupt movements. You may need to use various angles to get those glass shelves out of the china cabinet.
• SEPARATE the upper section and the lower one in case of a 2-piece china cabinet. This will make the bulky furniture much easier to carry and transport safely.
• PACK the removed glass elements in packing paper first, then in bubble wrap. Finally, wrap them up in thick furniture blankets.
• KEEP small fastening elements into Ziploc bags so that they don’t get lost during the relocation process.

How to Move a China Cabinet: Step-by-Step Guide

DESK

• TAKE OUT all desk drawers to make the desk as lightweight as possible. You can stretch-wrap those drawers with their contents inside to save time.

DISENGAGE any detachable trays – for example, a keyboard tray.

UNSCREW and remove any legs from the desk. Depending on the specific model, your desk may have long detachable legs or no legs at all.

REMOVE any glass elements that your desk may have, including a glass top. Pack those glass items separately, first in packing paper, then in bubble wrap.

SEPARATE the two sections in case you’re moving an L-shaped desk. Use an appropriate screwdriver to remove the metal fastening elements that hold the two desk segments together.

PLACE all small parts in plastic bags that seal well to avoid getting them lost or misplaced.

How to Move a Desk: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

DINING ROOM TABLE

• REMOVE the glass top or marble top from your dining room table. Pack those table tops carefully in thick moving blankets.
• TAKE OFF the legs of the table – this is a crucial moment. To do it properly, turn the table upside down, then unbolt or unscrew the legs to remove them safely. Pack the detached legs in bubble wrap.
• PUT the table sides down, then secure them with masking tape when you’re moving a drop-side table.
• REMOVE the extra center piece (extension leaf) when you’re moving an extendable dining table. Pack that dining room table extension separately.
• PLACE all removed hardware elements in a plastic bag and tape it to the underside of the table.

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GRANDFATHER CLOCK

If you own a grandfather clock, then there’s a good chance that you will decide to move it to the new home. Ideally, you’ll leave that delicate task to experienced movers simply because you don’t want your precious item to get any type of damage during the home moving process.

On the other hand, if you do feel confident that you’ll manage to move your grandfather clock by yourself, then you must definitely get familiar with the detailed steps of preparing, disassembling, packing, and moving your prized possession.

To disassemble a grandfather clock properly, follow Steps 4-12 from our Guide to moving a grandfather clock.

Will movers disassemble furniture?

The short answer is YES: the best furniture movers in the country offer furniture disassembly services before the move, as well as furniture reassembly services after the move is completed.

Professional furniture disassembly and reassembly is an additional service and as such, it will cost you extra. During the in-home survey, you should inform your movers which furniture pieces you intend to move to the new home so that they can determine whether those pieces will need to be taken apart for transportation.

The professional furniture disassembly cost will depend on several factors. When you’re moving locally, local movers will charge you an hourly rate – that is, the charge will be dependent on the number of hours the pros work to dismantle your bulky furniture items.

When you’re moving across the country (long distance), your interstate movers should charge you a pre-defined fee for that extra service.

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