How to Move Heavy Furniture Without Wrecking the Floor, the Walls or Yourself

The most useful thing to know about moving furniture is not a lifting technique. It is that almost everything heavy is much lighter than it looks, provided you take the parts out first.

A six drawer chest in this range weighs 54kg to 65kg as it stands. Pull the six drawers out and the carcass is roughly half that, and it now has an open front you can get your hands into. Skipping that step is tempting, on the reasoning that taking drawers out and putting them back again is extra work. It is extra work in the way that putting a seatbelt on is extra work.

What Things Actually Weigh

It is worth knowing the numbers, because the difference between pieces is larger than people assume and it changes how many of you need to be there.

A sideboard runs 43kg to 75kg, which makes it the heaviest cabinet in the range. Chests are 54kg to 65kg, TV units 52kg to 60kg, tallboys 49kg to 58kg. Dining tables are lighter than they look at 36kg to 54kg, because a table is mostly air. Bed frames span the widest, from 40kg on a Bristol double to 99kg on a Manchester king with drawers.

Two people for anything over about 30kg is the sensible line, and it is not really about strength. It is that the second person controls the end you cannot see, and the end you cannot see is what hits the door frame.

Empty Everything, Then Take the Drawers Out

Drawers first, always, and stack them somewhere they cannot be trodden on. Take the doors of a cabinet off if the hinges allow it, or tape them shut if they do not, because a door that swings open mid lift takes the weight in a direction nobody is braced for.

Number the drawers on the underside with a pencil if the piece has more than four. On most furniture the drawers are interchangeable and on some they are not, and finding out which after you have reassembled the room is a bad time.

Shelves come out too, including the ones that look fixed. An adjustable shelf on four small pins will lift out and fall the moment the piece tilts.

Manchester Pine Queen Bed Frame with 2 Drawers

The Floor Is Cheaper to Protect Than to Repair

Never drag anything across a timber floor, and never trust that the feet are smooth. Furniture feet collect grit exactly the way a chair leg does, and a piece pushed two metres across a floorboard leaves a mark you will look at for years.

Felt sliders under each foot on timber, and hard plastic sliders on carpet, which sounds backwards until you try it. Lift the piece to place them rather than tipping it onto a corner, because the corner is carrying the whole weight on one point at that moment.

On stairs and through hallways, lay a moving blanket or a run of cardboard down first. It takes two minutes and it also stops the piece itself getting scraped, which matters more on a painted finish than on a timber one because paint chips rather than scratches.

Doorways Get Hit at the Same Height Every Time

Look at the architraves in any house that has been moved into more than once and you will find the damage at about a metre from the floor, on the corner nearest the turn. That is where the leading corner of a carcass swings through.

Tape a folded towel or a piece of thick cardboard to the architrave on both sides before you start, on the side of the doorway you are turning towards. It looks excessive and it is the single highest return two minutes in the whole exercise.

Skirting boards take the second most damage, from the bottom corner as a piece is set down. Set things down slowly and from a squat rather than dropping the last 5cm, which is also better for your back.

Richmond Pine 2 Door 3 Drawer Sideboard - Black

Lift From the Base, Not the Top

The top of a chest of drawers is often a separate panel fixed to the carcass, and it is not designed to carry the weight of the whole piece hanging off it. Neither is a table top, which on many designs sits on the frame under its own weight with a handful of fixings.

Get your hands under the base or on the lowest solid rail. On a piece with a plinth, the plinth is usually the strongest place to hold. And never lift by a drawer front, a handle, or the lip of a table top, all of which are attached to the piece rather than part of it.

On stairs, the person at the bottom carries most of the weight and the person at the top steers. That means the stronger person goes below, which is the opposite of what most people assume.

The Step That Gets Skipped Most

Walking the route first. Skip it and you find out about the thing in the hallway once somebody is already holding 60kg, and at that point the only options are put it down badly or push through and hit something.

Clear the whole path before anything is lifted: rugs rolled, doors hooked open or removed, the shoe rack moved, and the light on. It takes five minutes and it is the difference between one smooth carry and three stops.

If the piece is going out of the house rather than around it, the route measurement matters as much as the clearing does, and that is a separate discipline. There is more on it in the measurement everyone skips.

Liverpool Pine King Bed Frame - Natural

And Put It Back Together Properly

When the piece lands, check it sits level before you load it. A carcass standing on an uneven floor twists, and a twisted carcass binds every drawer in it. Shim the low foot with a packer and check with a spirit level on the top.

Then anchor it to the wall if it is over about 70cm tall, which is most case furniture, and put the heaviest things in the bottom drawers. Both of those are five minute jobs at the end of a long day and both of them matter more than anything else in this article.

Frequently Asked Questions

How heavy is a chest of drawers?

Between 54kg and 65kg in this range with the drawers in, and roughly half that with them out. A sideboard runs 43kg to 75kg, a tallboy 49kg to 58kg, and a bed frame anywhere from 40kg to 99kg depending on size and whether it has base drawers.

Should you take the drawers out before moving furniture?

Always. It halves the weight, gives you somewhere to grip, and stops a drawer sliding out mid lift. Take shelves out too, including adjustable ones that sit on pins, because they will fall the moment the piece tilts.

What is the best way to protect floors when moving furniture?

Felt sliders under each foot on timber and hard plastic sliders on carpet, placed by lifting the piece rather than tipping it onto a corner. Lay a moving blanket or cardboard through hallways and on stairs. Never drag anything, because furniture feet collect grit exactly the way chair legs do.

Where should you hold heavy furniture when lifting?

Under the base or on the lowest solid rail, and on a plinth if there is one. Never lift by the top panel, a drawer front, a handle or the lip of a table top, because all of those are attached to the piece rather than structural parts of it.

Who should go at the bottom when carrying furniture upstairs?

The stronger person, which surprises people. The person below carries most of the weight while the person above steers. Clear the whole route first, including rugs and doors, before anything is lifted.