Resources Blog

April 07, 2021

We've all experienced it. You've packed the U-Haul, loaded down the cars, and made the hours-long drive to your new home. You spend most of the day unloading items, marking places for your furniture to go.

Somewhere along the way, you discover damage. Maybe a leg broke on the kitchen table, or perhaps a lampshade is torn to shreds. It's maddening! How did this happen? You were so careful, after all. 

This is a common problem that too many people have experienced during a move. Moving furniture is a heavy liability. A lot can happen to damage your pieces, even if they seemed secure.

In this article, we're going to help you change that. We'll take you through the three most common ways furniture damage occurs in a move and how to avoid them. Let's get started

1. Shifting on the Truck

Furniture damage is highly likely to occur while driving. When you load furniture into a truck, it's immediately at a disadvantage. Think about it. Your furniture is large and often packed tightly with other objects.

As you're driving down the road, bumps and turns cause things to shift in the truck. Your furniture's corners may receive enough counter pressure to snap the corners or damage the legs when these things occur.

Another damage is when things fall on the furniture. If you have something heavy or sharp near your furniture, it could fall or shift in such a way as to break or cut the furniture. 

However, there are some helpful things you can do to secure against furniture damage.

First, if it's possible to disassemble your furniture, do it. Your furniture will be much safe if it's disassembled and placed in a clearly labeled box. If you take apart your furniture, make sure to keep your hardware together, wrapped up, and labeled so you can quickly reassemble it.

Another furniture packing tip is to invest in furniture protection and moving materials. Wrap your furniture in blankets or use furniture pads. These tools can protect wood finishes, paint jobs, and fragile woodwork. 

While you may think that these investments are an excessive use of money, this isn't the case in the long run. Whatever money you save by leaving furniture unprotected will be lost if you have to replace damaged furniture later.

2. Bumping Walls While Moving Furniture

If your furniture survives the trip to your new home, then the next most likely cause of damage comes while unloading. Navigating tight turns or staircases is difficult, especially for inexperienced movers.

If you don't negotiate turns correctly, you're likely to bang your furniture against walls, rails, doorframes, and other household structures. Alternatively, you may misjudge your grip on a piece of furniture, causing you to drop it. Any dropped item is likely to take damage. 

How can you avoid this kind of damage? Once again, an excellent tip is to take your furniture apart. It's a lot easier to carry a box or storage bin than it is to maintain an awkward grip on a bulky piece of furniture. 

There are other options for avoiding furniture damage while unloading, but these will cost money. Perhaps the most effective way to ensure you don't accidentally damage your furniture is by hiring professional movers.

Once again, you may think it's better to save money by moving things yourself. This may be true of some things, as some items are too precious to place in a risky environment like a truck. However, hiring professionals has several advantages. 

Professionals have seen it all. They've dealt with the tight corners, the door frames, the turning staircases. They have the experience and equipment to jump these hurdles with ease. 

Another advantage of professionals is reliability. Have you ever noticed that some of your friends come down with bad backs right around your moving day?

Sometimes your friends and family can't help you out on your moving day. This can be frustrating, and it may leave you to moving everything yourself. 

Why take that risk? Hire a professional team and watch the work fly by. 

Weather Damage

The final common cause of damage furniture damage is moving in the rain. Water damage is a critical threat to your furniture pieces, so it's imperative to protect them.

There are a few common ways to protect your furniture from weather damage. First, you can use industrial plastic to wrap your furniture pieces and protect them from water leaks. 

An alternative option is to use mattress pads to cover your furniture. If you have smaller furniture and decorative items, such as paintings, picture frames, or others, you can wrap them in standard plastic wrap. This will prevent precipitation from getting into the frames.

If you don't want to buy whole new materials to protect your furniture, it's okay to use items you already own, such as blankets, as protection. This is less desirable than using specialized equipment, however, as it risks damage to those items.

Another thing to keep in mind is to keep any electric items in your vehicle rather than trusting a moving truck. These items include CD or record players, lamps, television sets, etc.

Lastly, if there is inclement weather, you probably want to protect the floors of your new home as well. Slipping on a wet floor is just as likely to damage your furniture as anything else.

Laying down some towels or covering the floor with sheets is usually enough to protect your floor.

Furniture Storage

Furniture damage can occur in all sorts of ways when moving furniture. It's often overwhelming to move everything at once, and mistakes are most likely to occur if you're unprepared.

If there are things you want to ensure they stay safe and secure, then consider calling professional movers or storing furniture until you're more prepared to move it.

Trust us to store, pack, and move your furniture without a hitch. If you're interested in our work, discover more today!