Top 5 Difficult Things to Move to Another Home

Who doesn’t love a list of the Top 5 or Top 10 of things? Unless of course, that list is the Top 5 Most Difficult Things to Relocate During a Home Move.

But it is essential that you know the most difficult things to move so that you can plan your home move accordingly and it will also help you decide if you should leave the moving to a good removal company.

So, here are the top 5 things that are the most difficult and troublesome to move.

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving Home Yourself vs Hiring a Removal Company. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of the different ways you can move home so that you can make an informed decision as to which would be the best moving option in your circumstances.

1. Large Furniture Pieces

Your large furniture pieces have probably been in the same spot for years, and if you have ever wondered why that is, try to lift and move a huge piece just for the “fun” of it.

The real problem when moving large and heavy furniture is that there isn’t one universal method of doing it on your own unless you “read” the moving situation correctly and reach the conclusion that the best way to move your HUGE furniture pieces is to let relocation professionals handle it for you.

Not surprisingly, the reason behind the lack of a unified furniture moving approach lies in the great diversity of large and heavy furniture pieces.

Beds

Moving a large bed by yourself is never a joke.

You need a fair amount of time to get a bed ready to be transported to the waiting moving van, including disassembling your bed as far as it will go and protecting the disassembled parts through skillful packing.

However, the hardest part comes afterward when you are forced to lift and carry the bulky headboard and mattress, and the heavyweight bed frame as well.

You may also like to read: How to Move a Bed by Yourself. In this guide, we take you step-by-step through the process of packing, moving, and transporting your bed to your new home.

Wardrobes

If you’ve watched The Chronicles of Narnia, then you know how ENORMOUS wardrobes can be.

When moving a wardrobe or a closet to another house or flat, you need to spend some time planning your steps carefully as partial furniture disassembly, safe packing (including packing up your clothes), strenuous lifting, and perilous carrying will surely be in the moving day agenda.

You may also like to read: How to Pack a Bedroom for Moving. In this guide, we share packing and moving tips for all the items commonly found in a bedroom.

Sofas

Couches and sofas are present in almost every home and their big sizes can present a certain number of difficulties when moving.

In fact, the toughest part is that they are usually oddly shaped and are very uncomfortable to lift and carry safely. Do consider removing all their detachable protruding parts before the preparation stage.

You may also like to read: What is the Best Way to Move a Sofa. In this comprehensive guide, we look at how to dismantle, pack, safely move, and transport your sofa to your new home.

Besides the three most commonly found furniture trouble-makers mentioned above, expect to have additional relocation troubles with kitchen cupboards, armoires, dining tables, and especially grandfather clocks.

2. Big Household Appliances

Big, heavy, and bulky household appliances are everywhere and if they are relatively new or in good working order, it’s only natural that home movers will choose to move them to their new homes.

Although these household appliances (especially kitchen appliances) have standardised shapes in most cases, their extreme weight does classify them as one of the most difficult things to move to a new house.

Refrigerators

You may not realise it, but your sturdy-looking fridge looks indestructible only while it is proudly standing in one spot in your kitchen.

The truth is that the moment you decide to move it, your robust refrigerator turns into a very delicate and fragile device that will probably not survive the relocation trip undamaged unless you follow a few safety rules.

The 3 most important safety guidelines when moving a refrigerator to a new home are:

1) Your fridge should be fastened securely to the moving dolly while on the move and its door should be taped shut to keep it from accidental opening;

2) Your refrigerator must be kept in an upright position as much as possible when in motion to avoid the oil from the compressor reaching the cooling lines – something which could damage the appliance altogether, and

3) Once your fridge reaches your new kitchen, leave it for at least 3 hours before you plug it in and turn it on so that any residual oil has had the chance to return to the compressor.

You may also like to read: How to Move a Fridge or Freezer by Yourself. In this guide, we look at how to properly pack and safely move your fridge or freezer to your new home in far more depth.

Washing machines

Besides their healthy weight, washing machines are considered less of a challenge to transport during a house move because they are not as susceptible to damage as refrigerators.

However, in addition to having to be well secured onto the utility dolly and inside the moving vehicle, washers have a weak spot as well – their drums.

Therefore, to guarantee the safety of this household appliance, you are required to re-install the transportation rods your washing machine came with so that its drum is perfectly immobilised during transport.

If you’re not sure how to do it, refer to the appliance’s manual or contact the shop you have purchased it from for assistance.

You may also like to read: How to Move a Washing Machine Without Getting in a Spin. Learn how to pack and move a washing machine in this comprehensive guide to moving a washing machine by yourself.

Refrigerators and washers aside, you’ll probably run into several similar problems when moving your other household appliances, such as dryers, electric or gas cookers, air conditioners, and so on.

3. Breakable or Sharp Kitchen Items

Our list of the hardest things to move stays in the kitchen and focuses on all highly breakable items found there, as well as all sharp objects that can easily hurt someone if packed improperly.

Glassware and flatware

You cannot just fill a random moving box with your fragile glasses, cups, plates, dishes, saucers, and bowls, and hope that nothing breaks until they reach their destination.

When moving your kitchen breakables, proper packing is everything! Try to get hold of special dish boxes which have thicker cardboard walls and provide much better overall protection for your delicate items.

Otherwise, make sure the bottom of your standard moving box is well padded with crumpled packing paper, newsprint, a few sheets of bubble wrap, or even a hand towel.

When packing your glasses or plates, be very generous with the soft packing paper you have supplied in advance, cover each piece entirely with paper, and place carefully inside the protected moving box.

Kitchen dishes should be arranged on their sides (not flat) while wrapped-up glassware pieces should be placed in an upright position (not on their sides), especially delicate stemware.

When the dish box is full, fill any remaining spaces with crumpled newspapers or packing paper to minimise any movement, tape the container shut and label it properly. Also, don’t forget to write down relevant handling instructions, such as FRAGILE, HANDLE WITH CARE, THIS SIDE UP, etc.

You may also like to read: How to Pack Glasses and Crockery for Moving. This comprehensive guide will show you how to pack your glasses and crockery to give them maximum protection during their relocation.

Sharp objects

The main problem with moving sharp kitchen objects is not their fragility but rather the danger they pose to other items, and even the people who are handling them.

To make things as safe as possible, put more effort into disarming the sharp points and open blades of forks, knives, corkscrews, and a score of other sharp-pointed kitchen utensils.

Wrap their dangerous parts with one or two initial layers of wrapping paper, then add an extra protective layer of bubble wrap just to be on the safe side, and finally, tape well the entire bundle before placing it into a moving box.

Be mindful that together with your storage areas (basements, garages, attics, sheds), your kitchen should have a high priority on your packing checklist as it usually takes much more time to get ready to move than originally planned.

You may also like to read: How to Pack a Kitchen for Moving: The Ultimate Guide. In this guide, we offer step-by-step instructions on how to pack all the items commonly found in the kitchen.

4. Pianos

A piano is probably the largest and heaviest musical instrument you can possibly have in your home and one of the toughest things to move to another home as well.

The weight of pianos is nothing short of mind-boggling and the closest rivals these beautiful instruments have in the heavyweight household category are pool tables.

Add their substantial sizes and it’s not difficult to see why the majority of home movers make up their minds to hire specialty piano movers to keep accidents, injuries, and complications away from their doorsteps.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that some things are more difficult to move than others, but pianos and pool/snooker tables do present an insurmountable logistical challenge for non-professional movers.

With weights of between 300 pounds (small spinet pianos) and 1200 pounds (grand pianos), you can’t even think about moving your piano by yourself without meeting at least 3 of the essential moving day requirements:

1. Securing the right moving equipment: one or two moving dollies depending on the weight and size of your musical instrument, furniture straps, furniture blankets, and a moving van of the right size.
2. Summoning up at least 4 good friends whose reliability and clear-headedness will actually count more than their sheer physical strength.
3. Having at least some experience of moving heavy things so that you know what it takes to achieve the required moving day safety.

All in all, pianos can be rather tricky to move to another home because similar to refrigerators, their robust look is only illusionary.

In reality, pianos are very fragile devices and their complex internal workings can easily get damaged forever if not enough precautionary measures are taken to ensure their safe relocation.

Apart from the risk of possible injuries to the people involved in the piano move, your sophisticated musical instrument can suffer damage ranging from slight scratches and cracks, through broken legs or keys, and up to the most serious harm of them all – damaged sound or playing mechanisms.

Therefore, don’t rush into moving your piano by yourself, but weigh in your options really carefully.

You may also like to read: How to Move a Piano. 120 Piano Moving Tips. If you think you have the ability to move a piano by yourself then you will find this comprehensive guide to moving different types of piano invaluable.

5. Plants

House plants make it into our list of the most difficult things to move because of their fabled fragility.

Of course, good pre-move preparation will increase their chances of survival but you need to be aware of the following 2 essential pointers before you decide to move your plants to your new home.

• Temperature. Most house plants are very sensitive to abrupt changes in temperature and other climatic conditions. If you’re moving in the summer, then your efforts should be concentrated on keeping your plants away from strong direct sunlight and letting them breathe freely. During a winter move, however, you need to insulate these extremely fragile possessions of yours against the extreme cold. Wrap them in a few layers of packing paper and then a final sheet of bubble wrap over them to keep them warm throughout the relocation journey.
• Be careful how you water your beautiful plants before Moving day. Water them in the morning of a summer move and wait for the extra moisture to evaporate before you pack them up. If you’re relocating during the wintertime, don’t water your leafy friends 2 or even 3 days before the date of your relocation so that their soil is fairly dry while on the road.

Regrettably, moving with plants is all about deciding what’s best for them.

Plants are so notorious for not surviving even short-distance moves that most removal companies will refuse to move them for you. Which effectively leaves you to be in charge of their safe relocation.

And unless you can’t imagine parting with some of the potted beauties you own, at times it’s best to leave some, most, or all your plants behind if you assess their survival chance as being minimal.

In such cases, consider giving your plants to close friends, gifting them to good neighbours, or donating them to local schools, hospitals, or retirement homes.

You may also like to read: How to Move Plants to a New Home. In this guide, we show you how to prepare, pack, and safely transport plants to their new home.

We hope that you found this list useful and that by now you know that taking extra special care in the packing and handling of these items means that they are at far less risk of damage during their relocation.