Moving large furniture from one home to another is a serious challenge.
The best way to move big and heavy pieces of furniture between two homes is to hire the services of professional furniture movers.
If you make up your mind to move your bulky furniture without movers, then these 20 tips are exactly what you need to keep everyone and everything safe.
Moving large furniture is one of the toughest challenges during a house move. In addition to the great bulkiness, big furniture pieces are almost always quite heavy too, thus making the entire relocation process feel like an uphill battle.
Without a doubt, the best way to move heavy furniture is to hire furniture movers who have the required professional experience, moving equipment, and operational know-how to pack safely and transport quickly your large furniture items to the new home.
However, sometimes you may not have a choice but to try to move large furniture by yourself simply because you don’t have the money to pay professional furniture movers. In such cases, you’re going to have to rely on a few good friends to give you a hand with the big and heavy load.
Follow these 20 practical tips for moving large furniture to be able to move your big and heavy furniture items without professional assistance.
Ready to test your furniture moving skills? Just keep on reading.
1. Make sure the furniture is worth moving
The very first thing you should do is figure out whether moving large and heavy furniture is the correct decision.
Bear in mind that hauling heavy items over long distances will cost plenty of money so you must make sure the furniture items you do choose to take with you are worth the transportation costs.
If you happen to own valuable antique furniture, then yes, paying good money to move those pieces should be worth it in the end.
But in the case of ordinary furniture items that have no sentimental value whatsoever, you’re likely to pay more money to move those types of furniture units than to purchase them brand new after the move.
So, is your large and heavy furniture worth moving across the country?
If you happen to own IKEA furniture or IKEA-like furniture, then you should really think twice before deciding to take those pieces with you.
As a rule, pressboard furniture is designed to be assembled once and never be moved to another house again. Why? IKEA furniture and IKEA-like furniture are made from particleboard – a wood product that is not known for its strength and sturdiness.
Also, flatpack furniture items are rather flimsy, so they won’t likely survive a house move – especially when you disassemble them for safer and easier transportation.
Moving large pressboard furniture will cost you time and money, so you’d be better off giving away or selling your IKEA furniture than finding it’s become unusable after the move.
Moving large furniture alone is never a good idea.
You shouldn’t try to move large furniture alone – that is, entirely on your own without any type of assistance.
The idea of playing it solo can be tempting because that way you won’t have to bother your friends to come and give you a hand with the heavy load.
However, the risks of getting badly injured or inflicting serious property damage while moving large furniture alone are too great to be justified in any way.
Reach out to your friends and see whether someone will be willing to help you move your large and heavy furniture. If none of your pals answers your call for help, then you must hire professional furniture movers to avoid trouble.
You must have a good reason to want to take with you any big and heavy beds, couches, dressers, bookcases, desks, tables, chairs, and so on. What this means is that once you’ve made up your mind that you’re moving some furniture pieces no matter what, then it’s time to prepare adequately for the heavy task.
Most furniture items are just too heavy to be lifted and carried comfortably by two people. So, do yourself a favor by renting or purchasing a furniture dolly to make the job easier and safer for everyone.
A furniture dolly is a low, flat platform with 4 wheels on the bottom that can withstand loads up to 1,000 pounds (heavy-duty models).
Since you’ll be moving large furniture out of the current place and then moving that same furniture into a new home, the enormous furniture pieces will not fit through some of the doors along the way and will not go round tight corners… unless they are safely disassembled.
In order to figure out whether you will have to disassemble your large furniture or not, all you need to do is measure the dimensions of each big furniture item and compare it with the dimensions of the doorways along the exit path.
Will the math work in your favor or not? If not, you’re going to have to disassemble those big furniture pieces to make the job safer and easier too.
6. Remove loose items from inside the furniture
Moving large furniture pieces around while there are various things inside them is not a good option for a couple of reasons: 1) the furniture will be even heavier this way, and 2) the items inside may get damaged during the haul.
Therefore, before you disassemble your large and heavy furniture units, remove all items from inside and pack them separately. Seriously, you don’t want to start moving your china cabinet with all those fragile and delicate items inside it, do you?
The only exception is when a furniture piece contains lightweight and non-breakable soft goods such as bedding that won’t add too much weight and cannot get damaged during transport.
Disassemble safely all large furniture pieces to make your move easier and safer.
Remember that the best way to move large furniture without professional assistance is to disassemble safely such furniture pieces to their basic components.
It’s just the opposite way of how those enormous furniture units have been assembled inside the home in the first place, and now you need to do it in reverse order.
When broken down safely, large furniture can be protected and taken out of the home without any risks of personal injuries or property damage. The weight of each separate component will be much less and its size should be much more maneuverable.
Follow the link below to learn how to safely disassemble your bed, dresser (wardrobe), couch, china cabinet, desk, and dining room table.
To stay on the safe side of things, consider protecting the doors and corridors against accidental damage when moving large furniture out of the old home and into the new one.
One easy way to protect the doors and doorframes through which you will take out the big furniture pieces is to tape (always use painter’s tape) sheets of thick cardboard over them. Do the same with the walls along the exit path since chipped wall corners is one of the most common types of property damage when moving big and heavy furniture.
Moving large pieces of furniture is never a joke so you should realize the gravity of the house moving situation and act accordingly. The thing is that even seemingly trivial things such as what you wear on Moving day could potentially jeopardize the entire relocation operation.
Make sure you’re wearing your most comfortable pair of closed shoes, preferably ones with anti-slip rubber soles. Then, choose non-baggy clothes that will not restrict your movement in any way.
And most importantly, avoid wearing any jewelry pieces that could get caught onto a furniture piece and lead to a bad accident.
Make sure all paths leading out of your home are clear of clutter, debris, or dangerous spots.
Now you should be ready to start moving the furniture items you have already disassembled and protected with enough padding materials (furniture blankets).
The next step is to take a walk along the intended path leading outside your home and figure out a safe exit plan. Make sure the exit pathways are clear of any clutter such as randomly scattered cardboard boxes.
Also, the way to the awaiting moving vehicle outside should not have any slippery sections (wet spots) that could cause you or your helpers to slip while moving large furniture items.
12. Use furniture sliders
In general, most large furniture pieces are conveniently placed against the walls to open up sufficient living space in the center of a room. And this is exactly why you may have some difficulties when trying to handle those big and heavy objects.
Use the correct type of furniture sliders to slide a big piece of furniture away from a wall so that you can then easily load the item onto a moving dolly.
Furniture sliders are small pieces of moving equipment – made of either plastic or rubber – that, when placed under each leg of a large and heavy furniture item, will let you slide the entire unit effortlessly across the room with minimum effort and a zero chance of floor damage.
Moving large furniture involves plenty of instances when you and your helpers will have to lift and move those heavy pieces. And this is exactly why it’s imperative that you know how to lift and carry heavy items without any risks of serious injuries.
There are several super-important safety rules you need to keep in mind before you even decide to move large furniture by yourself:
KEEP a stable base with your feet – your feet should be shoulder-width apart.
HAVE a proper back posture – your back should be straight and your shoulders back.
BEND your knees, not your back – use the power of your leg muscles (the strongest muscles in the human body) to lift heavy items.
One relatively easy way to lift heavy furniture is to use furniture lifting straps. Those specialized straps are also known as a shoulder dolly and contribute to an effective way to move large furniture with a minimum risk of injuries or damage along the way.
What furniture moving straps do is take the weight of a furniture piece off your body and lower the center of gravity of the load. This way, you’ll be able to handle and maneuver big and heavy furniture items without bending or twisting your back.
Keep in mind that back injuries are the most common type of move-related traumas when moving heavy furniture to another home.
Even when disassembled properly, some furniture items continue to be too heavy to be handled without appropriate moving equipment. So, make sure you use a furniture dolly to eliminate the danger of possible accidents on Moving day.
Using the proper lifting techniques described above, lift a furniture piece slightly off the ground and place it in the center of the low, flat platform. Remember to keep the furniture dolly steady during the loading process.
Once you position the large furniture item onto the dolly, use straps or rope to secure the heavy load. Bear in mind that furniture dollies are not meant to be used on stairs, so you should use the 4-wheel platform to move large furniture out of the first floor in a house or inside an elevator in an apartment building.
16. Look for creative solutions if you get stuck
Due to the oversized dimensions of large furniture, you might get into trouble while trying to get those pieces out of your current home (Phase 1) or inside the new place (Phase 2).
So, if you do happen to get stuck while moving large furniture, there are a few tactics you can try to solve the problem.
Try different exit angles if a big furniture piece won’t fit through a door. In most cases, you’ll need to hook L-shaped furniture through tight openings.
Attempt to squeeze through a tight opening the upholstered areas of soft furniture such as a couch.
Remove the door temporarily – sometimes you just need a few more inches of space to get a large furniture piece through the door.
17. Use extreme caution when going up and down stairs
Moving large furniture down stairs or moving large furniture up stairs will introduce an extra level of complexity to your already difficult house move. And as mentioned above, using a furniture dolly up or down stairs just won’t work.
Make sure you have at least one moving buddy with you (preferably two) when you’re about to move heavy furniture on stairs. The idea is to carry the large and heavy load using the high-to-low technique.
Basically, the high-to-low method of moving large furniture means that one person (the one that’s lower on the staircase) should be holding and carrying the heavy item from its bottom surface while the other mover (the one that’s higher on the stairs) should be holding and carrying the furniture piece from its top surface.
Walk very slowly and let the person who’s lower on the stairs set the moving pace.
One of the final steps when moving big and heavy furniture to another home is to load the bulky pieces into the moving truck.
When you reach the awaiting vehicle outside the house or apartment building, use the loading ramp to wheel the big furniture piece inside the truck. Don’t rush this task – instead, go very slowly to avoid trouble at the last moment.
Have your helper push the furniture dolly from behind while you’re pulling it up from the front. Check whether your shoes have non-slip rubber soles so that you have maximum traction while walking up the ramp.
Once inside the vehicle, tie the bulky furniture item to the side of the truck using straps or rope. For safety reasons, the heavy load should not shift during transport.
Don’t underestimate the tasks of unloading your large furniture items and getting them inside the new place.
To bring the furniture moving operation to a successful conclusion, you’re going to have to think about unloading those furniture pieces and moving them into their correct spots in the new home.
Create an unloading plan for your large furniture that will work well for you. As a rule of thumb, furniture pieces are the first ones to load into a moving truck, which basically means that they should be the last ones to unload when the destination is reached.
Know in advance where each furniture item will go inside the new place to avoid having to move those pieces again from room to room, thus wasting precious post-move time and effort as a result.
Ultimately, the best way to move large and heavy furniture is to trust experienced furniture movers who know what they are doing.
This is especially relevant when you’re moving antique furniture pieces that have strong sentimental value for you. While you wouldn’t be too upset to see an IKEA piece damaged during the house move, you’d definitely feel devastated to see an antique piece of furniture ruined in the process.
Get free cost estimates from the best furniture moving companies in your area to start your relocation on the right foot.
Great tip on leaving the heavy furniture for the movers. But I also want to add that with the right equipment, almost anyone can move large furniture items with little to no effort. Check out the video I did for movers-moving.net.
It shows how you can safely protect a large item by using furniture pads (or blankets if you have none available) and a large rubber band (or tape) and an appliance dolly.
Thanks for pointing out that we can measure the dimensions of the furniture and consider the path that’s clear to move it through. I need to move soon but have a really large couch that I think might be too big to get out of the door. I’ll take your advice and do some measuring, and then call a couch dismantling service if it is too big.
I want to move later this winter. I have some heavy furniture items that I will need to be moved. So, I liked your suggestion about using furniture pads while moving. Also, I might want to hire an expert to help me move my stuff.
This is some really good informant about how to move large furniture. I liked that you pointed out that it would be smart to use furniture sliders and lifting aids. That is great to know that because my parents want to move their baby grand piano this fall when they move. It might be smart for them to hire an expert to help them move that.
Thank you for pointing out how important proper lifting techniques are. We’re hoping to start moving in a few months, and I want to be prepared. I’ll be sure to keep this in mind and maybe practice.
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Thanks Vasilka,
Great tip on leaving the heavy furniture for the movers. But I also want to add that with the right equipment, almost anyone can move large furniture items with little to no effort. Check out the video I did for movers-moving.net.
http://www.movers-moving.net/moving-tips-for-movers
It shows how you can safely protect a large item by using furniture pads (or blankets if you have none available) and a large rubber band (or tape) and an appliance dolly.
Thanks for pointing out that we can measure the dimensions of the furniture and consider the path that’s clear to move it through. I need to move soon but have a really large couch that I think might be too big to get out of the door. I’ll take your advice and do some measuring, and then call a couch dismantling service if it is too big.
I want to move later this winter. I have some heavy furniture items that I will need to be moved. So, I liked your suggestion about using furniture pads while moving. Also, I might want to hire an expert to help me move my stuff.
This is some really good informant about how to move large furniture. I liked that you pointed out that it would be smart to use furniture sliders and lifting aids. That is great to know that because my parents want to move their baby grand piano this fall when they move. It might be smart for them to hire an expert to help them move that.
Thank you for pointing out how important proper lifting techniques are. We’re hoping to start moving in a few months, and I want to be prepared. I’ll be sure to keep this in mind and maybe practice.