Some household items will always be more difficult to move to another home than others.
A piano, a hot tub, a pool table, a heavy safe, and a grandfather clock require expert packing and moving skills to survive a house move.
These 5 specialty items are possible to be moved without hiring specialty movers but the risk of property damage and personal injuries increases drastically.
During a house move, some household items will always be more difficult to move to the new home than others. Trust me, I wish I weren’t saying this from personal experience.
Usually, it’s a combination of key factors that determines the level of difficulty when moving a specific item between two homes – dimensions, weight, fragility, and value.
Also, some things in the home require special packing so that they can survive the relocation trip unscathed.
If you happen to have any specialty items in your home – things that are too heavy, too big, too fragile, or too valuable (or maybe too much of everything!), then the best option is to hire specialty movers with the required experience and skills to handle them for you.
The thing is that you could still manage to pack and transport such special items by yourself, but the risks of damage or injury, or both, increase dramatically.
A piano, a hot tub, a pool table, a metal safe, and a grandfather clock.
As a moving expert with more than 10 years of professional experience, I can assure you that these are the 5 specialty items that are almost impossible to move without professional movers.
Well, almost.
1. Pianos
Some pianos never sound the same after a move.
For obvious reasons, a piano is one of the things that are difficult to move – really difficult to move to another home.
Everyone knows that pianos are both big and heavy, but have you ever wondered just how big and how heavy they are in reality?
If you happen to own a piano and you’re moving house soon, then you must be aware of the serious challenge you’re facing should you choose not to hire piano movers to get the job done safely.
Pianos are HEAVY
Pianos are really heavy musical instruments – their significant weight is a result of the major component inside them that holds the strings – a harp made of cast iron.
The soundboard and the external piano casing add to the overall weight of the instrument.
How much do pianos weigh?
Spinet pianos – the smallest upright pianos – weigh around 300-400 pounds;
Large upright pianos can weigh anywhere between 500 pounds and 800 pounds;
Baby grand pianos weigh about 1,000 pounds, or more.
Pianos are BIG
In addition to their serious weight, pianos are also big which makes them extra hard to move out of a home, load them safely onto a moving vehicle, unload them, and finally get them inside another home.
Spinet pianos are approximately 36’’ tall and 58’’ wide.
Full upright pianos are between 48’’ and 58’’ tall and 58’’ wide.
Grand pianos start from 4’6’’ in length (baby pianos) and can reach up to 7’4’’ in length (large grand pianos).
Pianos are DELICATE
Despite their sturdy look, pianos happen to be rather delicate and fragile musical instruments.
Some piano models contain around 7,000 finely tuned moving parts inside them, so it’s relatively easy to damage a piano during a move if it’s moved by non-professionals.
Damage to a piano during a house move can range from minor (scratches on the surface, cracks on the casing), medium (broken legs or broken keys), or serious (damaged sound mechanism, damaged playing mechanism).
What makes pianos even more difficult to move is their high cost. On average, an upright piano costs between $3,000 and $7,000, while high-end upright pianos average somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000.
Keeping in mind that some pianos have great sentimental value, you should really think twice before deciding to move your piano without hiring piano movers.
If you own a hot tub, then you must know how hard it is to move that home Jacuzzi, even a little distance away.
So, when the time comes for you to move house again, you may find yourself in two minds about what to do: should you just leave the hot tub behind, or should you pay movers to transport it for you?
Just one look at the monstrously big thing is enough to conclude that a hot tub is one of the most difficult things to move to a new home, period.
Hot tubs are ENORMOUS
The very first challenge when moving a hot tub is the huge size of the home spa.
All in all, there are 3 size categories that spa manufacturers offer for their products:
Small hot tubs. Ideal for 2-4 people, with approximate dimensions as follows: 5’4’’ – 7’ in length, 5’4” – 6’8” in width, and 29” – 35” in height.
Medium hot tubs. Ideal for 5-6 people, with approximate dimensions as follows: 6’6” – 7’9” in length, 6’4” – 7’9” in width, and 33” – 38.5” in height.
Large hot tubs. Ideal for 7+ people, with approximate dimensions as follows: 7’ – 9” in length, 7’ – 9’2” in width, and 36” – 38” in height.
As you can see, the size of your hot tub alone is enough to discourage you from trying to pull off any risky DIY hot tub moves.
Hot tubs are SUPER HEAVY
Moving a hot tub is a challenging task not only because of the large dimensions of the spa itself – add its significant weight and things can become too serious too quickly.
It’s safe to assume that larger home spas will weigh more.
For example, a small 2-3 person hot tub weighs around 500 pounds without water inside it. When filled with water, the weight can go up to 3,000 pounds.
A large home spa meant for 7+ people can weigh close to 1,000 pounds without water in it. When filled, those huge spas can go up to 6,000 pounds!
But don’t panic, hot tubs are always drained of the water before they are transported.
Hot tubs are DANGEROUS to move
It’s clear to see that the best way to move a hot tub to a new home is to hire experienced hot tub movers – professionals who have the necessary skills and the right equipment to get the job done in the safest way possible.
Due to the extraordinary dimensions and weight of the item, moving a hot tub by yourself is doable but the entire spa relocation process hides too many dangers for a non-professional like yourself.
Think about it: one wrong step can lead to irreparable damage to the expensive Jacuzzi hot tub or worse – a bad injury to whoever is involved in the move.
Pool tables can be a real challenge to disassemble safely.
If you have a pool table in your home, then you already know how much fun that table can be for everyone in the family, including friends who come over for an entertaining game of pool.
And that’s exactly why you wouldn’t want to part with your valuable pool table when the time comes for you to move to another home.
Still, it’s important to bear in mind that a pool table happens to be one of the hardest things to move due to a few obvious and not-so-obvious reasons.
Pool tables require EXPERT DISMANTLING
Pool tables are so big that they cannot be moved as they are – instead, they need to be disassembled properly in the old home, their separate elements have to be protected and loaded into the moving truck, and then the whole table will have to be reassembled in the new place.
As a result, the biggest challenge of moving a pool table to a new home is the disassembly process where many things can go wrong if the person performing the task has neither the required skillset nor the experience to finish the job safely.
The major steps to dismantling a pool table include:
Unfastening the pockets;
Disengaging the rails;
Removing the felt;
Removing the slates;
Removing the frame and legs of the pool table.
Pool table slates are extremely HEAVY
What makes a pool table very difficult to move is the weight of the slates.
In general, there are 3 types of pool tables depending on their size: 7-, 8-, and 9-foot slate pool tables. This basically means that the weight of a billiards table is determined by its overall size and by the number of slates it has.
How much does a pool table weigh?
In general, a regular slate pool table weighs anywhere between 650 and 1,000 pounds.
A mid-range slate pool table weighs around 700-800 pounds, and the exact weight will depend on a number of factors including the type of the slate table, size of the table (7, 8, or 9 feet), thickness of the slates, and structure of the table.
Each slate can weigh between 150 pounds and 250 pounds, and most pool tables have 3 top slates in their construction. The weight of the body of a slate pool table can be as much as 200 pounds.
Each leg weighs between 10 and 20 pounds, while the rails weigh 10 to 15 pounds each.
Pool tables can be easily DAMAGED
If you damage the felt while removing it from the pool table, then that’s not good but it’s not so bad either – you just buy a replacement piece of felt and you’re good to go. The major problem may come when handling the slates.
Even though the slates of a pool table are made of rock, they happen to be very brittle and can easily be ruined during transport if they get dropped onto the ground or get hit into a wall.
The tricky part when moving a pool table is that even if one of the slates in a 3-slate table gets broken, you will need to replace all three slates because they are made to match perfectly.
Needless to say, replacing all 3 slates of a pool table will be a big expense for you, usually way costlier than simply hiring specialized pool table movers.
Moving a big metal safe may be the hardest thing you’ll ever have to move.
Of all things that are difficult to move, big metal safes are probably the trickiest and most dangerous to handle due to their extreme weight.
Think about this: the whole idea behind a large metal safe is for it to be super hard to be moved out of the home by unauthorized persons. Right?
The thing is that when it’s time for you to move out, you’ll be facing the same issue – tackling a big, heavy, and strong item that is designed to stay in its place.
Metal safes are VERY HEAVY
Metal safes vary greatly in size and weight – from lightweight boxes, to medium-size fireproof safes, and all the way to medium and big professional safes.
When moving house, your attention should be focused on the big professional safes, not the small portable ones. Those big safes can be anywhere between 200 pounds and 400 pounds.
The average weight of a gun safe, for example, is around 600 pounds.
The extra weight of a safe can come from add-on accessories such as fire rating (especially an upgraded fire rating), inner steel (the thicker the steel, the heavier the safe becomes), and drawers (a drawer compartment can be added to the safe).
As a rule of thumb, the heavier a metal safe is, the harder it will be for a person to just pull it out of a home.
Metal safes can be HUGE
As mentioned above, sizes of metal home safes vary greatly but we’ll concentrate on extra-large safes – the ones that will give you the biggest trouble when moving them out of your home.
When purchasing a home safe, you’ll be interested in both its exterior dimensions (so that you know where to position it) and interior dimensions (so that you know its capacity).
However, when you’re thinking about moving a big professional (gun) safe, then you’ll only need the exterior dimensions so that you know how to best handle it.
Sample dimensions of a large home safe are 59 inches (exterior height) x 29.25 inches (exterior width) x 25.50 inches (exterior depth).
Metal safes are RISKY to handle
A big high-security metal safe is almost as large and tall as a refrigerator but much heavier at the same time. It’s critical to assess the risks involved in moving a home vault of that magnitude without professional assistance.
First of all, you’re going to need the right moving equipment – a heavy-duty appliance dolly to wheel it out of your home.
Secondly, you’re going to need a bunch of friends to help you with the heavy task.
And thirdly, you’re going to have to map out the exact exit route and safe moving strategy to prevent bad accidents.
Protecting the safe itself is a must, as is protecting the walls and floors along the intended path. And if you have to move the heavy safe up or down stairs, then the risks and dangers of executing a safe DIY move become just too many to handle.
Grandfather clocks are much more fragile than they look.
Without a doubt, a grandfather clock can easily be one of the most beautiful and elegant possessions in your home.
It can also be one of the most valuable items you’ll own considering how most grandfather clocks are heirlooms that get passed down from generation to generation.
When getting ready to move house, one serious concern can be how to move your grandfather clock without damaging it forever.
Because of their fragility, long-case freestanding pendulum clocks are one of the most difficult things to move between two homes.
Grandfather clocks are exceptionally DELICATE
When moving to a new home, one thing is sure: you will not leave behind your precious grandfather clock.
The long-case clock in your home may look majestic, imposing, and even sturdy, but the truth is that those types of time-keeping devices are very fragile and may be seriously damaged if not handled properly.
First of all, you have a number of glass elements that can easily break during the house move.
Secondly, the delicate mechanism can be damaged unless you know how to best protect the chains of a chain-driven pendulum clock or the cables of a cable-driven long-case clock.
And thirdly, both the weights and the pendulum should be removed safely prior to moving the clock – otherwise, the finely-tuned clockwork mechanism may be seriously damaged.
Grandfather clocks require EXPERT packing skills
The main challenges of moving a grandfather clock to a new home do not lie in its enormous weight or huge size, but rather in the fact that packing a pendulum clock safely is all about following the packing steps in a very specific order to ensure the safety of the delicate item.
The tricky part is that you may actually damage your valuable grandfather clock just by mixing up the packing order.
The very first step is about inspecting your freestanding pendulum clock and assessing the risks of moving it without professional help.
Then, you’re going to have to protect the cables or chains of the clock. The next step is about removing and labeling the weights – keep in mind that the three weights are not interchangeable.
Then, make sure you secure the hanging chains and remove the pendulum. Don’t forget to secure the pendulum guide in the next packing step.
Unfortunately, you’re not ready yet – next, you’ll need to protect the chime rods, remove any glass shelves and wooden ornaments, and pack the pendulum and weights separately.
Finally, you’re supposed to protect the frontal glass sections of the case clock and wrap the entire body of the timepiece in thick furniture blankets.
Think you can manage it all by yourself? Follow the link below to get access to the detailed instructions on how to pack and move a grandfather clock safely.
Should you feel nervous about moving any of the specialty items mentioned above, do yourself a favor and contact specialty movers – experienced professionals who have the right skills and proper equipment to transport your big, heavy, and valuable possessions to your new home.
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