Furniture assembly and disassembly in Montreal, done once and done right
Almost every move has a moment when a piece of furniture meets a door, a staircase or an elevator that is a few centimetres too small. A king bed frame that will not turn on the landing. A wardrobe that was built in the room it stands in. A sectional that fits through the door only in pieces. A dining table that is wider than the stairwell. The answer is almost always the same — take it apart, move it in pieces, put it back together — and the difference between a good result and a wobbly, creaking, scratched one is in how it is done.
This page is about that work: taking furniture apart so it can move safely, keeping every part and every screw together, and putting it back together so it is as solid as before. It covers furniture in a move, in a renovation, between rooms of your home, and new furniture that needs to be assembled. It explains which pieces need to come apart, how flat-pack and solid-wood furniture differ, how we keep hardware from disappearing, what we do and what a carpenter or an electrician does, and how it is priced.
Who this service is for
- You are moving and your beds, tables, wardrobes and desks have to come apart to leave one home and enter another.
- You are renovating — new floors, painting, a new kitchen — and furniture has to come out of a room and go back in.
- You are rearranging your home — a nursery, a home office, a guest room — and furniture has to move between rooms and be reassembled.
- You are storing furniture and want it taken apart to take less space and travel safely.
- You bought new furniture and want it assembled rather than spend a weekend with an instruction booklet.
- You manage rental units and furniture has to come out, be stored or be set up between tenants.
If you are moving your whole home, furniture disassembly and reassembly are already part of our local moves and long-distance moves. If you only need furniture work — no truck, or your own truck — this page is for you. For offices, workstations and cubicles, see office furniture moving and installation.
Why some furniture has to come apart
There are three reasons to take a piece apart, and if none of them applies, it is usually better to move it assembled:
- It will not fit. The piece is larger than a door, a turn in the stairs, an elevator or the space between the truck and the entrance.
- It will be damaged if it moves assembled. Long, heavy pieces — a bed frame, a large table — rack and loosen at the joints when they are tilted and carried. Glass shelves and mirrors break when the frame flexes.
- It will damage the building or the people carrying it. A heavy wardrobe in one piece is hard to control on stairs and hard on walls and banisters.
Every disassembly is a small risk to the piece: screws wear their holes, cam locks loosen, dowels break. That is why we take furniture apart only as far as it needs to be, not by default.
What we take apart and put back together
Beds
Most beds come apart into a headboard, a footboard, two side rails and the slats or the platform. Queen and king frames almost always need to come apart; a double bed sometimes does not. Storage beds with drawers, beds with a lift-up base, upholstered beds, bunk beds and loft beds all have their own construction. Adjustable bases are heavy and have motors and cables; they are lowered to the flat position, unplugged, with the cables secured, and moved flat.
A good reassembly is a bed that does not creak. That comes from putting every bolt back in its own hole, tightening in the right order and checking that the frame is square before it is fully tightened.
Cribs and children’s furniture
Cribs, toddler beds, changing tables and children’s bunk beds have to be reassembled exactly as designed, with every safety part in place. We keep the hardware with each piece and follow the manufacturer’s assembly, and we tell you if anything is missing or damaged — on a crib, that matters.
Wardrobes, armoires and closet systems
Flat-pack wardrobe systems — the tall, modular kind with sliding or hinged doors — are among the most common pieces we take apart. The doors come off first, then the shelves, drawers and rails, then the frame if it has to. Solid-wood armoires often have removable cornices, doors and sometimes a separate base. Large modular systems with many units are taken apart unit by unit and labelled so they go back in the same order.
Tall furniture should be secured to the wall to prevent it from tipping over. When a wardrobe or a bookcase came with an anti-tip strap or bracket, we reattach it at the new address once the piece is in place.
Dining tables and chairs
Extendable tables have their leaves removed and wrapped. Legs come off when they are bolted, and the top is wrapped and carried on edge. Glass and stone tabletops are separated from the base and travel on edge, padded, never flat. Chairs usually stay assembled.
Sofas and sectionals
Sectionals come apart at their connectors into individual modules, which is often the only way they go through a Montreal door. Some sofas have removable legs and arms. Reclining sofas and recliners are heavy and have mechanisms; the backs often lift off. We wrap upholstery and cover the legs.
Desks, standing desks and shelving
Large desks, L-shaped desks and corner units are taken apart where they are designed to come apart. Standing desks with motors are moved with their cables secured and the base detached from the top when needed. Bookcases and shelving units are emptied, the shelves removed and the frames moved upright.
TV stands, entertainment units and media walls
Media units are emptied, the electronics packed separately and the cables bundled. Large wall units are taken apart into their modules. If a TV is mounted on the wall, its removal and reinstallation are work for an installer.
Outdoor and patio furniture
Patio tables, umbrellas and their bases, large planters and outdoor sectionals are taken apart and moved like indoor furniture, with extra cleaning and drying if they are going into storage.
Flat-pack furniture: what to know
Most homes today have at least some flat-pack furniture from IKEA, Structube, Wayfair, Amazon or similar brands. It is designed to be assembled once, and it can be taken apart and reassembled — but it is not as forgiving as solid wood.
- Particleboard does not like repeated screws. Every time a screw is taken out and put back, the hole wears. We use the original hardware, put it back in the original holes and do not overtighten.
- Cam locks and dowels. Many pieces are held together with round cam locks and wooden dowels. Dowels can break when a panel is pulled off at an angle; we separate panels straight.
- Back panels. The thin back panel nailed on many bookcases and dressers is what keeps the piece square. It comes off carefully and goes back on before the piece is loaded with anything.
- Sometimes it is better to move it assembled. A small dresser or a bookcase often moves better assembled, wrapped and strapped, than taken apart for the second or third time. We tell you which.
- Sometimes it is not worth moving. A piece that is already loose, swollen from water or missing parts may not survive another reassembly. We tell you honestly before the move rather than after.
If a part is missing or breaks, most flat-pack brands offer replacement hardware for each model. Keep the model name or the instruction booklet: it makes ordering the right part much easier.
Solid wood and antique furniture
Solid-wood furniture is usually stronger but heavier, and older pieces were often built with joints that are not meant to be taken apart. We take apart what is designed to come apart — bed rails, removable legs, cornices, mirror frames — and leave glued joints alone. Antique and high-value pieces have their own service: fine art and antique moving.
How we keep every screw with its piece
The most common problem with furniture reassembly is not skill — it is a missing bolt. Our method is simple and we follow it every time:
- One bag per piece. All the hardware from a piece goes into its own bag.
- The bag is labelled with the piece and the room.
- The bag travels with the piece — taped to the largest part, or in a labelled parts box that stays with that piece’s parts in the truck.
- Small parts are photographed when the assembly is not obvious, so reassembly follows the photo.
- Parts are wrapped together. The side rails of a bed are wrapped as one bundle; the doors of a wardrobe travel together.
At the new address, each piece is reassembled with its own hardware, in its own room.
Typical times
How long furniture work takes depends on the piece, its condition and how many there are. Rough guides for one piece, taken apart or reassembled:
| Piece | Typical time each way |
|---|---|
| Queen or king bed frame | 15–30 minutes |
| Bunk bed or loft bed | 30–60 minutes |
| Crib | 20–40 minutes |
| Flat-pack wardrobe, one unit | 30–90 minutes, depending on doors and drawers |
| Dining table with leaves | 10–20 minutes |
| Sectional sofa | 10–20 minutes |
| L-shaped or standing desk | 20–40 minutes |
| Bookcase with fixed back | 15–30 minutes |
Assembling new flat-pack furniture from the box takes longer than reassembling a piece that has been taken apart — usually about two to three times as long.
How furniture work is priced
| Situation | Price |
|---|---|
| Disassembly and reassembly during a move | Included in the move’s hourly time — no separate charge for standard furniture |
| Furniture work on its own, no truck | $120/hr for 2 movers, +$40/hr per extra mover, minimum time stated on your quote |
| Rearranging rooms, renovation moves within the home | Same labour rate |
| Assembly of new furniture | Same labour rate, by the hour |
| Large wardrobe systems, wall beds, many units | Quoted in advance after photos and the model |
The time runs from arrival to the last piece reassembled. Everything you do before we arrive saves time: drawers emptied, beds stripped, shelves cleared, the boxes from new furniture opened and their parts checked.
What we do, and what a tradesperson does
| Task | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Taking apart and reassembling beds, tables, wardrobes, desks and other furniture | Our crew |
| Assembling new flat-pack or delivered furniture | Our crew |
| Reattaching the anti-tip strap or bracket supplied with a piece | Our crew |
| Kitchen cabinets, built-in closets and custom carpentry | A carpenter or kitchen installer |
| Hard-wired lighting, electric fireplaces wired to the house, new outlets | A licensed electrician |
| Mounting TVs and heavy items on walls | An installer |
| Wall beds that must be anchored into the structure | Quoted after photos — some models need an installer |
Furniture in a renovation
Renovations are where furniture work is often most useful. New floors mean every piece of furniture leaves the room; painting means pieces have to move away from the walls; a kitchen renovation empties more than the kitchen. We can take furniture apart, move it to another room or a garage, protect it while the work is going on, and reassemble it when the room is ready. If the work will take weeks, the furniture can go to storage as a labelled set and come back when you are ready.
Furniture and storage
Furniture stored assembled takes up much more space than furniture stored in pieces, and it is more exposed to damage when other items are stacked around it. When furniture goes into storage, we take apart what is designed to come apart, wrap the parts, bag and label the hardware and keep each piece’s parts together, so that months later it comes back and goes together in the right order.
Why customers book us for furniture work
- Our own crews, never subcontractors — the same movers who take your furniture apart in a move.
- Tools on every truck — hand and power tools for standard furniture hardware, along with blankets, straps and dollies.
- One method for hardware, every time: bagged, labelled and kept with the piece.
- Clear hourly rates, published on our site, with the minimum stated on your quote.
- Seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
How to book
Send us the list of pieces — with the brand or model for large flat-pack items — and photos of anything large or built-in, through the form below, or call us. Tell us whether it is part of a move, a renovation or a job on its own. We reply with the crew, the time we expect and the price basis. For packing as well as furniture work, see packing services.
Preparing furniture before we arrive
A few things make furniture work faster and safer, and they save you time on the hourly rate:
- Empty every drawer, shelf and cabinet. Drawers full of clothes add weight, shift in the move and can break their runners.
- Strip the beds and bag the bedding; mattresses go into covers.
- Take down what hangs on or above the furniture — mirrors attached to dressers, lamps, frames on the wall above a headboard.
- Find the instructions for large flat-pack pieces if you still have them, or the model name. They are often available online by model.
- Keep new furniture boxes closed until we arrive if you want us to assemble them, so parts stay together; if you open them, keep every bag in the box.
- Measure the new room for large pieces — the wall where the wardrobe will stand, the clearance for doors to open, the height under a sloped ceiling.
Common furniture problems after a move, and how we avoid them
| Problem | Usual cause | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| A bed that creaks | Bolts tightened out of order or a frame that is not square | Square the frame before final tightening; every bolt in its own hole |
| Wardrobe doors that do not line up | The piece is not level, or the hinges were not adjusted | Level the base first, then adjust each hinge |
| Drawers that stick | The frame racked during the move | Move drawers out and the frame square; check each drawer after reassembly |
| A wobbly table | Leg bolts loose or a leg reattached in the wrong corner | Legs marked to their corner; bolts tightened evenly |
| Missing screws | Hardware not kept with the piece | One labelled bag per piece, kept with it |
| A loose flat-pack piece | Screws overtightened in particleboard | Original hardware, original holes, firm but not forced |
Furniture work across Greater Montreal
We take apart, move and reassemble furniture across the island of Montreal — from Plateau and Villeray walk-ups to condos downtown and houses in the West Island — and in Laval, the South Shore, the North Shore and Vaudreuil-Soulanges. Montreal’s staircases are the reason so much furniture comes apart here: a king bed or a large wardrobe that goes in one piece through a suburban door often has to come apart for a third-floor plex. The method is the same wherever you are.
