Specialty Moving near you

A specialty mover is worth calling when an item is too heavy for a standard crew and dolly, too fragile or valuable for blanket wrapping alone, or too large to clear doors and stairs without being taken apart.

Blankets and stretch wrap are fine for ordinary furniture, but valuable or fragile pieces often need packing built around them. A wooden crate made to the object's measurements and lined with foam keeps a bronze, a stone tabletop or a glass display case from shifting, and takes the load off the object when the crate is strapped or stacked. Delicate finishes are first wrapped in acid-free paper or soft cloth, since tape, plastic and rough padding can mark old varnish and gilding.

Name the items that need crating when you ask for a quote, because crates are measured and built before moving day. Ask whether the crate is yours to keep for storage or a future move, and for a work of known value, whether the crew has handled pieces like it before.

Specialty movers bring equipment a general crew may not own: heavy-duty safe and appliance dollies, powered stair-climbing dollies that take a heavy item up or down steps under control, skates and pallet jacks for rolling across floors, ramps, lifting straps and, for the heaviest jobs, rigging such as gantries, hoists or a crane truck to lift an item over a railing, a fence or the house.

The equipment only works with a plan behind it. Expect the crew to walk the route first, measure doors and turns, check the stairs and floors, and decide where the item can rest along the way. If a crane or hoist is involved, ask who arranges any street permit or building approval, and keep people and pets well clear while the item is in the air.

A safe puts its full weight on a small footprint, which is hard on floors, stairs and the people moving it. Give the mover the make and model or the outside dimensions, and say whether it's bolted down. If the safe is going to an upper floor or onto a floor you're unsure about, ask the building manager or a structural engineer whether the floor can carry it before the crew arrives.

Empty the safe before it moves, and ask the mover how it wants the door secured so it can't swing open in transit. This isn't a job for a rented dolly: a safe that gets away on a staircase can cause serious injuries and heavy damage to the stairs and walls.

A hot tub is drained before it moves, and its electrical supply should be disconnected, and later reconnected, by a licensed electrician. Spring to fall is the easiest time: snow and frozen ground make it harder to roll a heavy tub across a yard, and water left in the lines can freeze and crack the plumbing. Check the new site first for a level, solid base, room for the tub on its side through gates and around corners, and space for a crane truck if it has to be lifted.

A slate pool table is taken apart before it moves: rails, pockets and cloth come off, and the slate is lifted out in sections. At the new home it's reassembled, levelled and often re-clothed. Moving one fully assembled risks cracking the slate and twisting the frame, so hire a crew that does both the move and the set-up, or pair the mover with a pool table technician.

Basic mover liability suits valuable objects poorly because, as the Office of Consumer Affairs explains, it's calculated by weight rather than value, so a light painting or a small antique may be covered for a small part of its worth. The Office notes that your home insurance and the mover's coverage together may protect you, that a mover is generally not liable for goods you packed yourself, and that replacement value protection can be purchased for fuller coverage. In Quebec, the Office de la protection du consommateur suggests checking that the mover is insured for the goods it carries and holds civil liability insurance.

List each high-value item with the value you're declaring, and ask the mover in writing how that declared value changes its liability and what proof it needs. A recent appraisal helps for art and antiques, and home policies may limit coverage for fine art and collectibles unless they're listed separately, so ask your insurer before moving day.