Furniture Removal in Manchester
One item or a houseful. Including the parts that have to come apart to get out.
- Tell us what the furniture is and where it is going
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The question that decides everything
Almost every furniture problem comes down to one thing: will it go through, or does it have to come apart?
Get that answered before the day and the job is straightforward. Discover it halfway up a staircase with two people underneath a wardrobe and it is a different afternoon entirely.
The good news is that it is usually answerable in advance, with a tape measure and five minutes. This page is mostly about how.
Three measurements, and one people forget
For any large item, you need three numbers: height, width and depth. Measure at the widest point, including handles, feet and anything that sticks out.
Then measure the route. Not just the doorway. The route.
- The doorway itself, and remember the frame narrows the gap by an inch or so each side
- The hallway width, because a long item needs room to turn
- The staircase, and specifically the turn, if there is one
- The height of the ceiling above the stairs, which is the one people forget
That last measurement is what decides whether something long can be tipped and angled round a half-landing. Plenty of items that will not fit flat will go through at an angle, and plenty that would go at an angle cannot because there is no headroom to tip them.
If your numbers are close, tell us both the item and the route when you get in touch. It is far better to have that conversation in advance than on the stairs.
What usually comes apart, and what does not
Beds, tables, flat-pack wardrobes
Nearly every bed frame is designed to be dismantled and nearly every one has to be. Divans split into two halves and usually go through as they are. Ottoman and storage beds come apart but take longer because of the mechanism. Legs come off most dining tables in about ten minutes. Flat-pack wardrobes almost always come apart, because they were built in the room.
Solid wardrobes, corner sofas, bunk beds
Older solid wardrobes are often built to be knocked down, with pegs or bolts hidden behind the back panel. Modern solid ones frequently are not. Corner sofas usually separate into sections, and the sections are what made them fit the room. Most sofa legs unscrew, which is often the two inches that make the difference at a doorway. Bunk beds always come apart, and take longer than a normal bed.
Drawers, bookcases, chairs
Take the drawers out of a chest and carry them separately; the carcass usually goes through fine. Bookcases and shelving units, once empty, are lighter and slimmer than they look. Most dining chairs go through unless the doorway is unusually tight.
The flat-pack problem nobody mentions
This is the most useful thing on this page if you own furniture from a flat-pack retailer.
Flat-pack furniture loses strength every time it is taken apart and rebuilt. The fixings bite into chipboard, and chipboard does not re-form. The second build is weaker than the first. The third is weaker again. A wardrobe that has moved house twice is often noticeably less rigid than a new one.
That matters for two decisions:
Whether to move it at all. For a cheap flat-pack unit that has already been rebuilt once, the honest arithmetic sometimes favours not moving it. Not always, but it is worth thinking about rather than assuming everything comes.
Whether it can go whole. If it will fit through without dismantling, that is better for the furniture than taking it apart, even if it looks more awkward on the day.
Tell us if something is flat-pack and has moved before. It changes the sensible approach.
Screws, fittings and the reassembly problem
More furniture is ruined by lost fittings than by damage in transit.
- Bag the fittings for each item separately and label the bag with what it belongs to. Not one bag for the whole house.
- Tape the bag to the item itself, ideally underneath or behind, where it cannot fall off and cannot be seen.
- Photograph before you take anything apart. The assembled item, and then each stage as it comes apart. Reassembly stops being a memory test and becomes a copy job.
- Keep the instructions if you have them. For flat-pack, the manufacturer usually has a PDF online, and finding it before the day is easier than finding it at nine at night surrounded by parts.
- Allen keys. The one that came with the item fits the item. A generic set often nearly fits, which is how fixings get rounded off.
Get a price
Tell us what the furniture is, roughly what it measures if you know, which floor at each end, and where a van can stop.
When something genuinely will not go
It happens, and it is better established before you pay to move something.
The usual culprits are corner sofas, large solid wardrobes, and anything that went into a room before a doorway was changed or a staircase was fitted.
There are normally three answers:
Take more off it. Doors, legs, backs, and sometimes the door of the room itself off its hinges, which sounds dramatic and takes a couple of minutes.
A different route. A rear door, a wider window, a different staircase. The owner of the property usually knows something the crew cannot see from the front.
Accept it does not go. Occasionally that is the answer, and knowing it in advance means you can sell it, give it away or make other arrangements rather than paying to move it to a house it cannot enter.
If you suspect an item might be a problem, say so early. It is a five-minute conversation and it saves the whole question arising on the day.
Sofas, specifically
Sofas cause more furniture problems than everything else put together, so they are worth their own section.
Usually the answer
Most sofa legs unscrew, and two inches is very often the difference between going through a doorway and not. It is the first thing to check and the easiest to do.
They separate
Almost always, into two or three sections, usually with clips or bolts underneath at the join. The section that made it fit the room is the section that lets it leave.
Heavier than they look
The mechanism can add thirty or forty kilos over an equivalent fixed sofa, and it shifts the weight to the middle, which makes them awkward rather than merely heavy. Tell us if yours is a sofa bed.
Motors and cables
Electric recliners often separate into back and base and should be unplugged rather than pulled apart. Worth checking whether yours has a manual release.
The awkward measurement is diagonal
A sofa rarely goes through a door square. It goes through at an angle, which means the number that matters is the diagonal across the arm and back, not the width.
If it came in before the doorway changed
It may not come out the same way. Older properties where a door has been narrowed, a porch added or a staircase fitted are where this happens.
Before the day: five minutes that saves an hour
Small preparations, all of which people skip and then regret.
- Empty the drawers, then check them again
Things get left in drawers more often than in any other place in a house. Documents, jewellery, keys, spare cash. Check the back of each one.
- Look inside and underneath
Sideboards, ottomans and storage beds hold things nobody remembers putting there. So does the space under a wardrobe.
- Take off anything loose
Glass shelves, mirror doors, marble tops, removable cushions. Loose parts inside a moving item are what cause damage to the item itself.
- Clean underneath while you can
Not a removals issue, but you will never have a better chance, and if you are leaving a rented property it matters.
- Note anything already damaged
A photograph of an existing chip or scratch takes five seconds and removes any question afterwards about when it happened.
Buying secondhand: what to check before you commit
A lot of furniture jobs start with a purchase, so it is worth knowing what to ask before you agree to buy something you then have to get home.
- Ask for the dimensions, not a description. Sellers routinely describe a “large wardrobe” that turns out to be considerably larger than the buyer’s doorway.
- Ask whether it comes apart, and whether they still have the fittings and instructions. For flat-pack, ask how many times it has been rebuilt.
- Ask where it is in the property, and whether there are stairs. A wardrobe on a second floor with no lift is a different collection from one in a garage.
- Ask whether anyone will be there to help. Frequently nobody is, and that changes the job.
- Ask about parking. It is the seller’s street, and they know it.
Five questions, two minutes, and they turn a collection from a gamble into a job that can be priced properly.
Moving one item rather than a house
A large share of furniture jobs are not house moves at all.
Something bought secondhand that needs collecting. A wardrobe from a relative. A sofa going to a family member across town. A single item that has to get from a shop or a warehouse to a house, because delivery was either unavailable or scheduled for a Tuesday when nobody is in.
All of that is ordinary work. The useful things to tell us are the same as for any furniture job: what it is, roughly what it measures, which floor at each end, and where a van can stop.
If the item is being collected from a seller or a shop, pass on whatever they have told you about collection times or reference numbers when you get in touch.
What we cannot move
Some things cannot travel, by law or under our terms. For furniture jobs, the ones that come up are:
- Anything flammable stored inside furniture: paint tins, aerosols, gas canisters, fuel
- Garden equipment with fuel in it, unless drained beforehand
- Anything hazardous, unhygienic or likely to attract pests
Empty drawers and cupboards of anything in those categories before the day rather than on it. It is a common hold-up and an easily avoided one.
Valuables and documents should travel with you rather than inside furniture, and it is worth checking drawers before anything is loaded. Things get left in them more often than you would think.
Standard jobs, and the ones that are not
We have standard services and for most furniture jobs one of them is the simplest way to book: a single item, a few pieces, or a full house.
Some do not fit. Two items going to two different addresses. Something collected from a seller and delivered the same day. Furniture out of one property and into storage while a decision is made. An item that needs collecting in the evening because that is when the seller is home.
Say so and we will tell you what can be arranged around it.
If your job is smaller and you are weighing up what you need, there is more detail on man and van in Manchester.
The quickest route is the form. Give us the outline and we will come back to you.
Questions people ask
Will my wardrobe fit down the stairs?
Measure it at the widest point, then measure the doorway, the hallway, and the ceiling height above the stairs. If the numbers are close, tell us both sets and we can talk it through before the day.
Does everything have to be dismantled?
No. Beds and dining tables almost always. Chests of drawers and bookcases usually do not. Wardrobes and corner sofas depend on the route.
Can flat-pack be moved without taking it apart?
If it fits through as it is, that is better for the furniture than dismantling it. Flat-pack loses rigidity each time it is rebuilt.
What happens to the screws and fittings?
Bag them per item, label the bag, and tape it to the item. Photograph things before they come apart. It makes reassembly straightforward.
Can you move a single item?
Yes, and a good share of furniture jobs are exactly that. Tell us what it is, the floors at each end, and where a van can stop.
Can you collect something I have bought?
Yes. Give us both addresses and anything the seller has said about collection times.
What if something will not go?
Better to establish that before the day. Usually taking more off it or using a different route solves it. Occasionally it does not, and knowing early means you have options.
Do I need to empty the drawers?
Tell us what is in them. Solid furniture with light contents is sometimes fine as it is. It changes the weight considerably, which is why it is worth mentioning.
Get a price
Tell us what the furniture is, roughly what it measures if you know, which floor at each end, and where a van can stop. If you already suspect something might not fit, say so.
RCM Removals
20 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JW
Telephone: 0161 768 2056
Email: info@removalscompanymanchester.co.uk