How to move appliances safely — preparation, transport and damage checks
The most expensive damage in a house move isn’t to furniture. It’s to appliances, because furniture gets scratched while appliances stop working. And most of that damage isn’t done during the move. It’s done in the three-to-five-minute jobs that never happened: transit bolts not fitted, water not drained, ice not defrosted.
This guide is written for moving week: appliance-by-appliance prep, loading day, the fitting order at the new home, and what to do if something went wrong.
The week before: three decisions
Who moves them? If a moving firm is involved, settle one thing in the written quote, not on the phone: are removal and fitting included? “We’ll sort it out” becomes an extra charge on moving day. With gas appliances or air conditioning, agree up front that disconnection goes to a qualified person. Most movers won’t touch an air conditioner, and the ones who will may not know the cost of removing one without recovering the gas.
Is there insurance? Read the insurance clause in the moving contract: what does it cover, up to what value, on what condition? “We’re insured” and the policy’s actual scope are different things. If your appliance inventory holds values and purchase dates, a damage claim never turns into a valuation argument.
The photo lap. Before the move, photograph all four sides of every appliance plus proof it runs (display on, light on). That dated series is the foundation of any damage claim. It takes five minutes and they are the highest-value five minutes of the move.
Appliance by appliance
Washing machine: the transit bolts — the most important paragraph in this guide
A washing machine’s drum hangs on a spring suspension, and unless it is locked for transport it hammers against its own body all the way to the new house. What locks it are the transit bolts in the back panel (usually 3-4) — removed and stored at installation, refitted for every move. A machine moved without them arrives with bearing and shock-absorber damage that shows nothing on the outside and appears at the first spin cycle. Damage caused by missing transit bolts sits outside most warranty and insurance cover.
If the bolts are lost (very common): buy replacements through the brand’s spare-parts channel by model number, or as a stopgap pack the drum tight with blankets and foam — not ideal, better than nothing. Don’t forget the water: open the pump filter at the bottom corner and drain it, remove the hoses and bag them separately.
Refrigerator: the defrost timetable
Empty the fridge and unplug it 24 hours before the move; the freezer needs time to defrost and drain. A fridge defrosted on the day leaks in the van — onto its own electronics and the boxes beside it. Take out shelves and drawers and wrap them separately (a shelf taped inside breaks at the first corner). Transport upright; if it had to travel on its side, the standing rule applies at the new home: let it stand a few hours before plugging in, so the compressor oil settles back.
Dishwasher
After the last cycle, dry the filter and base tray, disconnect the hoses and drain them completely — residual water in a dishwasher hose is the most common leak in the van. Tape the door shut (tape on the door edge, not on paint).
Oven, hob and gas appliances
Take trays and racks out of an electric oven and wrap them separately. Disconnecting a gas appliance is not a user job. The regulator and hose come off by a qualified hand; the new connection is made the same way. And the appliance is not used before a leak check. This is not a line to save money on.
Air conditioning
The riskiest appliance in any move, because its value sits in its gas and its installation. Without a pump-down before removal the refrigerant is lost; without a vacuum at reinstallation the system’s life shortens. Removal and refit are two halves of one job, given to an authorised service — the mover’s offer to “take it down” gets politely declined.
Loading day
Appliances travel upright, strapped, with nothing stacked on top. Doors taped, cables coiled, and every machine’s bolts and hoses in a labelled bag next to it (the “throw them all in one box” system ends with the which-hose-is-whose question at the new house). Corners get hit at door thresholds more than anywhere — blankets on thresholds, corner guards on machines.
At the new home: order of installation
The order matters. Position first: the appliance goes to its final spot — sliding a connected machine later is hard and risky. Connections second: water, drain, power; gas and air conditioning to qualified hands. First run last. The fridge doesn’t get plugged in before its standing time is up. The washing machine’s transit bolts come out (run with bolts in, it jumps instead of spinning), the feet get levelled, and the first wash runs empty as a test. Each appliance’s first run is the post-move inspection: listen for noise, smell and leaks through the first hour.
If there is damage: detection and paperwork
Damage appears two ways: visible (dents, cracks — spotted at unloading) and hidden (appears when the machine runs). The rule is the same for both: document and report. Visible damage is photographed while the crew is still there and written as one line onto the delivery note — no separate “damage report” form is needed. An annotation on the delivery slip beats a verbal acknowledgement that is forgotten by morning. For hidden damage, time is the whole game: run and test every appliance within the first 24-48 hours, and report any problem to the mover in writing, together with your pre-move photos of the machine running. A claim raised weeks after the move weakens even the strongest case.
If an insurance process starts, three documents carry it: the pre-move photos · the damage photos · the annotated delivery note. The purchase dates and values in your appliance inventory shorten the valuation conversation.
The first week after
Once everything is in place, take a five-minute records lap. Update each appliance’s location in the inventory. Put warranty cards and receipts back into the document folder at its fixed spot in the new home. Add the fitting receipts — air-conditioner refit, gas connection — to the same folder. Those receipts aren’t just proof of spending. They are proof the air conditioner was vacuum-installed and the gas was connected by a qualified hand, and they are the first thing looked at in any future dispute.
Small appliances and the forgotten ones
The big machines get planned; the real mess of a move comes from the small ones. The rule is simple: a device whose box survived goes back in its box — nothing protects better. Wrap the boxless ones individually and pack them into labelled cartons (“kitchen-electric”) with no empty space between them. Empty the kettle and the coffee machine, clean the toaster’s crumb tray — water and crumbs spilled inside a carton travel straight into the device next door. For TVs and monitors, a blanket isn’t enough: back the screen with a stiff board (cardboard works), carry it upright, never lay it flat.
Keep a “last day devices” list too: the modem, the chargers, one cooler bag for whatever’s left in the fridge. That list prevents every “we packed it somewhere” crisis on moving morning — the modem comes down last and goes up first in the new home.
Turn the move into inventory day
A move is the best day of the year to build a device inventory, because you’re already touching every machine one by one. While wrapping, photograph each device’s label — make, model and serial number in a single frame. While placing them in the new home, note the purchase date and warranty status. That extra half hour gets the inventory’s setup pass done for free: when the move ends, you don’t just have a settled home, you have a recorded one. The same pass also produces the value list a moving-insurance claim would ask for — three outputs from one job.
Frequently Asked Questions
The washing machine’s transit bolts are lost — what now? Replacements are available through the brand’s spare-parts channel by model number. As an emergency measure, pack the drum tight with blankets and foam — not ideal, better than empty. Don’t skip this step: damage from a bolt-less move sits outside most cover.
The fridge travelled on its side — can I plug it in right away? No. Let it stand upright for a few hours first so the compressor oil settles back. Skipping the standing time is the most common and most preventable moving damage there is.
The mover says “we’re insured” — is that enough? Not by itself. Ask in writing what the policy covers, up to what value and on what conditions; your dated pre-move photos and the annotation on the delivery note are what actually carry a claim.
Can the mover take down the air conditioner? Not recommended. Pumping the gas down before removal and vacuum-fitting at the new home are approved-service work. Skip either, and the system loses gas and lifespan. Removal and refit belong to the same service as one job.