We’ve all moved before. Whether you were a student or a young professional, at some point in your life, you’ve probably gathered your mates, rented a trailer, stuffed your second-hand belongings (badly) into the back, and hit the road.
When you’re younger moving is relatively easy. You have fewer possessions and less time to accumulate expensive, bulky or fragile items. As we grow up we accumulate more stuff. Family heirlooms, sentimental furniture, art you want to protect and furniture you paid top dollar for are just some things you might now be moving as an adult.
For the protection of your items, there are some things you shouldn’t move by yourself. Here are ten items that are difficult to move and best left to the professionals.
Surprisingly, workout equipment is cited as the number one most difficult thing to move by professionals. So, if they think it’s tricky, just imagine how difficult it might be for the average person. While you might be used to cycling hundreds of kilometres on your spin bike or lifting heavy in your garage, moving this equipment requires extra skills.
Workout equipment, by nature, is heavy and bulky. It’s hard to easily grasp and move around corners, down steps or into a moving van. Plus, there’s the added stress of where to store the equipment. Given how heavy these pieces of equipment are, you can’t stack them on top of your other belongings. Some treadmills can fold down but you should still be careful about flipping them on their side. This can take up precious sake in that small-sized van you hired.
For the sake of your walls and your equipment, it’s best to get in a professional.
Could there be a more difficult piece of furniture to move than a piano? Heavy, bulky and prone to making noise if you get the piano moving process wrong, pianos require a strong but delicate touch. Upright pianos are far easier to move than grand or baby grand pianos. Even then, you’ll need the arm power plus plenty of blankets and straps to ensure your upright is safe in the back of your van.
If you have a grand piano, here’s where things get difficult. Before moving, you must take the legs off and store them separately. This means you’ll need someone to hold the body of the piano up while the legs are removed.
While it’s not impossible to move a piano independently, professional movers make light work of these bulky items. Moving dollys or piano boards allow movers to easily maneuver your piano to its final destination without damaging the instrument or your home.
Artwork can be difficult to move because of how fragile or oddly shaped some pieces can be. If you are moving small pieces of art or a simple canvas, bubble wrap and a sturdy box will protect your favourite pieces. For bigger pieces, like sculptures or large artworks that are framed, you’ll need it to be well wrapped and in a protective crate to transport it.
If you’ve spent a lot of money on your artwork, there’s no doubt that you should pay the professionals to move it safely and securely.
If you’ve ever cleaned a large fish tank you’ll know the scariest moment is transporting it from your shelf to the sink for cleaning. Fish tanks are bulky and fragile, making them one of the most difficult things to safely transport. Since they’re not usually made from reinforced glass you have to be extra careful about where to put your fish tank during the move.
Fish tanks should be wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in a crate for extra protection. The problem with moving a tank yourself, even if you’ve taken those steps, is where to store it in your van. Ideally, the tank should be stored on the ground of the van rather than on another item.
Professional moving vans simply have more space to transport your glass fish tank safely.
One of the major problems with transporting a new television is that most models are large and require a delicate touch. Old televisions were big and bulky, but the extra space between the screen and tv frame made them relatively easy to pick up. Televisions today have very large screens and very small frames.
The best way to transport a television is to place it back into the box it came from, along with the styrofoam padding. Unfortunately, most of us threw these bulky boxes away after unpacking our new TVs for the first time. On the plus side, professional movers often have boxes perfect for safely moving your television.
We know you love your pets. But moving with a cat or dog only adds to the stress of moving home. Your pet requires all the usual maintenance of being fed, watered and walked during your moving day. On top of this, your pet may be scared or anxious during the move, making them even more difficult to deal with.
Barking, howling or car sickness can add to the things you need to deal with when all you want to do is hit the road and get to your destination on time. Then once you get to your destination, you need to consider containing your dog or cat while you move furniture and possessions into your new house.
Professional movers can help in two ways; by moving your possessions leaving you to take far less stressful road trips with your cat or dog, or moving your pets to their new home.
You can enjoy the drive to your new house with only your pet to worry about, or you can focus on moving your possessions knowing that your animal is in good hands.
Although plants are easy to carry, moving with plants is difficult because they are sensitive to changes. Some plants are sensitive to changes in temperature, light, wind and other variables which can make them damage or drop their leaves. There’s the added stress of whether to move plants early or late in your move and where to store them.
The best way to move plants is in cardboard boxes to protect them from damage during the move.
Fridges freezers may look sturdy but have many internal mechanisms that can be damaged if not moved correctly. Fridges freezers should never be moved by tipping them on their sides or stored lying down. This can damage the coils inside and impact the functionality of the fridge.
Additionally, you’ll need to transport your fridge freezer by securing it upright. This means you’ll need access to rope or ratchet ties and need something to secure them in the moving truck or van you’ve hired. This isn’t always possible. Professional movers can easily transport your appliance and secure it with ropes and rigging to ensure it won’t move.
Standing wardrobes are one of the hardest things to move due to their size and integrated shelving, mirrors and moving doors. There’s an added difficulty to moving an armoire that’s oversized. Moving these items through your house without scratching your walls or wardrobe is challenging.
If your wardrobe is large, moving it downstairs can pose a safety risk if you don’t know what you are doing.
Free-standing old-fashioned wardrobes usually just require an extra set of hands to move. But, if you have a larger wardrobe with shelving and built-in drawers, hiring professional movers to do the grunt work is the best option.
Antiques are difficult to move for several reasons. They can often be old, and fragile, require more protection than regular household furniture and must be stored carefully during the move. Storing your antiques alongside your household furniture may not be the best option for your move. Instead, hiring professional movers will ensure that your antiques are properly wrapped, protected and have enough space that other objects won’t fall or bump into them during transportation.
Need help with your difficult items during your move? At Wise Move, we have access to all of New Zealand’s moving companies in one easy-to-use platform. Get the best fixed prices for your move now.
Wise Move is a platform, where people find moving companies and independent movers. Our platform is the first of its kind in New Zealand, giving customers access to reliable, cost-effective and user-reviewed service providers with just a few short steps. Founded back in 2017, our focus has always been on making moving as simple and as effortless as possible for both customers and the professionals they rely on.
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