Furniture disassembly

Furniture disassembly comes in handy when moving, renovating or swapping a kitchen or wardrobe for a new one. A wardrobe taken apart fits through the door and into the lift, and furniture taken apart sensibly can be put back together without hunting for screws in your pockets.

What disassembly covers

• taking off doors, drawers, shelves and mirrors;
• unfixing units from the wall and from each other without tearing plugs out of the plaster;
• breaking carcasses down into panels and parts;
• labelling parts and bagging the fittings if the furniture is going to be reassembled.

Taking out a kitchen also means disconnecting the sink, hob or oven. If there are water, gas or electrical connections, say so in the job: gas must be disconnected by someone qualified to do it.

For reassembly or for the skip

This is worth saying up front. Furniture going to a new flat is taken apart carefully, keeping dowels and fittings and protecting the edges. Furniture being thrown away can come apart faster, into panels ready for removal. Chipboard does not go in an ordinary bin: it is collected as bulky waste or taken to a PSZOK recycling point.

How to prepare

• empty the wardrobes, drawers and shelves;
• make room for the panels, ideally in the next room;
• if you still have the assembly instructions, keep them with the furniture;
• add photos of the furniture to the job so tradespeople can estimate the time.

Common questions