Preparing for furniture delivery
What to confirm before ordering, what to prepare the day before, and what to check when large furniture arrives, in the order you need it.
Most delivery problems are known in advance by someone: the retailer knows the box size, you know your stairs. This guide lines up the questions in the order they need answering.
Before you order
- Get the packaged dimensions and weight. Ask the retailer if they are not on the product page. A flat-packed wardrobe may arrive as several long, heavy boxes; an assembled sofa arrives at full size plus wrapping.
- Measure your route using the doorway and delivery-route guide, and compare the narrowest opening with the package in the Doorway Checker.
- Ask what the delivery service includes. Doorstep or kerbside only, delivery to a room of your choice, carrying upstairs, assembly, and removal of packaging are often separate services with separate prices.
- Read the terms for refusal, return and failed delivery, especially for made-to-order pieces. Ask what happens if the item cannot be brought in.
- Tell the retailer about anything unusual: no lift, a narrow staircase, restricted parking, a long carry from the road.
The week before
- Confirm the delivery date and time window, and that an adult will be home.
- Arrange help if the delivery is to the door only. Do not plan to carry heavy furniture alone.
- Decide where the item will be unpacked and assembled. Flat-pack wardrobes are usually built lying down and then raised, which needs floor space and ceiling clearance; see measuring furniture.
- Check you have the tools listed in the assembly instructions.
The day before
- Clear the route: shoes, rugs, hallway tables, pictures on narrow walls.
- Protect floors and door frames where the route is tight.
- Move the furniture that currently stands where the new piece is going.
- Keep pets and small children out of the route.
- Have your measurements to hand in case the delivery team asks.
On the day
- Check the labels against your order before anything is carried in.
- Look at the packaging for damage and note it on the delivery paperwork before signing.
- Let the delivery team decide how to carry and whether an item can safely go through. They are responsible for their own safety and may decline.
- Unpack and inspect as soon as you can, and photograph any damage with the packaging.
- Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for assembly and for fixing tall furniture to the wall.
Worked example
You order a 200 cm wardrobe that arrives flat-packed. The retailer confirms three boxes, the longest 205 × 62 × 12 cm and weighing 38 kg. Your stairs turn through 180° at a half-landing 90 cm deep with a 230 cm ceiling. A 205 cm box cannot lie flat on a 90 cm landing, so it must be stood nearly upright to turn; at 230 cm ceiling height there is 25 cm of headroom for that. You tell the retailer about the half-landing and they book a two-person delivery. On the day the box goes up on end at the turn, as planned.
Limits
This is general preparation advice, not professional moving or installation guidance. Only the people carrying the item can judge what is safe on the day.
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