Most furniture damage happens during moves rather than during use, and most injuries associated with furniture happen while lifting it. Both are largely preventable.
Empty It First
The step people skip to save time and which causes most of the damage.
A loaded cabinet stresses joints designed for static weight, the contents shift during a lift, and the whole thing becomes considerably heavier than it needs to be. Remove drawers entirely rather than taping them shut, which reduces weight and prevents them sliding out.
Whether to Disassemble
If the piece will fit through the doors assembled, moving it whole is gentler than taking it apart, since each disassembly enlarges the fixing holes in engineered board.
Measure the route first: doorways, the turn on the stairs, and any landing. Assembled furniture fails on turns rather than straight widths.
Lightweight fabric units are the exception: they come apart in minutes and go back together the same way, which is one of the reasons they suit people who move frequently. Ranges built around that, of the kind at wlive.net, are considerably easier to relocate than a rigid carcass.
Lifting Safely
- Plan the route and clear it completely before lifting anything
- Keep the load close to your body
- Bend at the knees and hips rather than the back
- Avoid twisting while carrying weight; move your feet instead
- Ask for help rather than managing something marginal alone
- Use straps or a trolley for anything genuinely heavy
Back injuries from lifting are common and can be long-lasting. Anyone with an existing back problem should not be lifting furniture, and there is no piece of furniture worth an injury that persists for months.
Lift, Never Drag
Dragging is what racks a carcass out of square, and once a cabinet is racked the drawers never run properly again.
It also destroys floors. Furniture sliders under the feet allow a heavy piece to be moved across a floor with far less force and no damage to either.
Protect the Surfaces
Laminate chips at corners and edges, and a chip cannot be repaired invisibly. Blankets, cardboard taped over corners, and stretch wrap holding it in place is worth the ten minutes.
Panels transported loose should be stacked face to face rather than face to back, so the finished surfaces protect each other rather than rubbing against a rough one.
Keep the Fittings Together
Bag the hardware from each stage separately, label it, and tape it to the panel it belongs to. Photograph the piece before starting.
Keeping the original instructions makes reassembly a different experience from working it out from a pile of parts.
Reassembling
Everything loose, square the carcass by measuring the diagonals, then tighten. Where a hole has become loose, a cocktail stick with a little glue pushed in gives the screw something to bite.
Re-Anchor It
The anti-tip strap comes off during a move and frequently never goes back. Refitting it is part of reassembly rather than an optional extra.