Furniture Moving Techniques
- Planning ahead and enlisting friends will make moving furniture easier.woman packing/unpacking boxes during a relocation. image by T.Tulic from Fotolia.com
Moving furniture can be a stressful and potentially dangerous task. If you are moving out of your home, it is best to consider hiring a moving service that can properly handle all of the heavy lifting. However, if you don't want to pay for a moving service or you are just moving furniture around in your home, a little pre-planning will help you accomplish the task safely and with ease. - If you you have furniture that can easily be broken down, it will be a lot easier to move it in parts. Typically, a bed can be broken down: remove the mattress, unscrew the headboard from the frame and if necessary or possible, break down the frame. Remove all clothing or items from drawers and desks. Also, be sure to remove the individual drawers from the dresser and desks to prevent injury from overturning.
- Clear the hallways and stairs you may need to move your furniture through. Be mindful of light switches, pictures and paintings on the wall. You may want to remove those items entirely, if the piece of furniture you are moving is very big.
- Cover glass tables and easily scratched furniture in blankets or moving pads. This will protect the furniture from getting damaged if it hits a wall or the door frame. It will also protects your walls and door frames from being damaged by the furniture.
- Gather of bunch of your friends to help you move the big items. Offer to feed them, turn on some music and turn it into a little party. Do not attempt to push, drag or lift something really heavy without the proper amount of people needed. You can hurt your back or risk the furniture falling on top of you. A group will be able to carefully lift and move the furniture together. Remind your friends to lift with their knees, not their backs.
- Rent a dolly, use large carts, and forearm forklift straps to help you move heavy items. You can rent these items from your local hardware store and local moving companies. Also you can use furniture sliders (disks of various sizes made of foam and plastic on the bottom to remove friction), which can be put under the leg or corner of the piece of furniture you wish to move. These sliders make moving furniture around immensely easier. Make sure that when you are using aids to move your furniture that your path on the floor is clear so that the wheels, or sliders don't abruptly hit something and possibly send your furniture flying.
