Moving your entire home involves all the little things, which are relatively easy to transport, but also all the big things that pose greater challenges. In Dallas, it’s fairly common to have large homes and therefore large pieces of furniture to outfit those homes. Consequently, those furniture pieces are heavy, awkward, cumbersome and sometime dangerous to move. You’re best off hiring professional residential movers to handle this, but if you decide to move your own furniture, here are some tips.
1. Decide if you should move the furniture at all
Every piece of heavy furniture you decide to take with you, whether a bed, sectional, dresser or desk, will cost you extra money, time, and stress. Decide if you even want to hassle with transporting your own furniture, taking into consideration:
- Practical value
- Monetary value
- Sentimental value
- Aesthetic value
- Dimensions of furniture
- Space constraints (narrow hallways, no elevators in the apartment building, etc.)
2. Take an inventory
Create a list of your furniture items, which you will use to consider which pieces you will take with you and what equipment you will need. Before transporting your own queen sized bed, for example, consider:
- The average weight of a queen-size mattress; 100-150 pounds, up to 300 pounds.
- The average weight of a headboard: 70-170 pounds.
- The average weight of a frame: 50-200 pounds (wood) or 50-80 pounds (metal).
- The average weight of a box spring: 50-100 pounds.
This is where you may consider hiring movers. They come equipped with the supplies necessary to get large items moved.
3. Measure your furniture
Make sure all pieces you plan to take with you can actually fit through doorways and hallways – of both homes! If not, you may have to disassemble them, at least partially. That’s why you should measure the height, width, and length of each furniture item, comparing those measurements against the dimensions of your doors and hallways.
4. Get rid of furniture you won’t be taking
If you decide not to take certain pieces with you, you can:
- Sell them online or at a garage sale.
- Give them away to friends or family members
- Donate them to charities that take second-hand furniture in your area.
- Throw out: Anything that’s broken or in bad shape, toss.
5. Disassemble the big furniture
Disassembling the big furniture will help you immensely in moving and transporting it. Keep these things in mind:
- Remove all protruding elements, such as legs, arms, and decorations.
- Take out fragile glass elements such as shelves, doors and panels.
- Remove delicate elements such as fragile furniture decorations and ornaments.
- Unscrew or unbolt all fastening pieces, placing them in resealable plastic bags so they don’t get lost.
6. Protect your furniture
- Wrap removed glass elements in packing paper, followed by bubble wrap, then a moving blanket.
- Secure cardboard cut-outs over glass sections, which will absorb shocks or forces during the move. Use thick blankets to protect them.
- Secure all drawers, doors or other moveable furniture parts using stretch wrap.
- Protect furniture corners using specialized protectors or thick cardboard.
- Wrap furniture legs with moving blankets first, followed by bubble wrap.
- Cover exposed areas in thick blankets.
7. Move furniture out of the house
Enlist the help of a couple people. If you disassembled the furniture, the job should be made easier. Here are some more tips:
- Slide heavy furniture across the room using furniture sliders to minimize damage to floors.
- Use a furniture dolly.
- Use proper lifting techniques so you don’t suffer an injury.
8. Load furniture into the truck
- Load all furniture and appliances first.
- Wheel the furniture items into the back of the truck using the loading ramp. Pull the furniture up the ramp on the dolly, asking a friend to push from behind.
- Secure furniture items to the truck using a rope or ratchet straps to avoid shifting.
9. Hire movers
You may have realized by now that this is a tough job to do on your own. Here are some tips for hiring professional movers to do it for you:
- Get free quotes from a few different companies, then compare them.
- Don’t always choose the cheapest. Compare experience and reviews too.
- Get in-person quotes, or, during social distancing for COVID-19, request virtual quotes to limit contact.
- Do your homework on each company, making sure you ask around for recommendations.
Contact Around the Block Moving Company
To get a free quote or learn what steps we take to move your furniture, contact us at 214-433-6734. We would be happy to go over our process with you.
