Furniture Dismantling and Assembly in Manchester

Taking It Apart So It Fits

Most dismantling happens because something will not turn a corner. A king size bed frame, a double wardrobe or a corner desk that went up in a room will not always come back down a staircase or into a lift in one piece. We take it down to the parts that travel, keep every fixing with the piece it came from, and rebuild it in the room where it is going rather than in the hallway.

On a house removal it is part of the same booking and the same crew. It can also be a job on its own, when you are keeping the furniture but changing rooms, or clearing a room for a decorator.

IKEA Will Build It but Will Not Take It Apart

IKEA's assembly service is carried out by independent contractors on the TaskRabbit platform, and its terms list what is out of scope. The first item on that list is removal, dismantling or dismounting furniture or fixtures. The same terms exclude non-IKEA products and anything bought from IKEA's RE-shop or re-use range.

• ✓IKEA's service will assemble new IKEA furniture.
• ✓It will not take any furniture apart, IKEA or otherwise.
• ✓It will not rebuild second-hand IKEA furniture or anything from another shop.

So when a PAX or a MALM has to come out of a flat in Ancoats and go back up in a house in Levenshulme, that half of the job falls to whoever is moving it. If you are collecting new flat pack from the Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne or the Warrington store, our furniture delivery service brings it home and we can build it on the same visit. IKEA sets out the exclusions in its services terms and conditions.

Selling It Back to IKEA Means Building It First

If the furniture is not coming with you, IKEA's Buy Back scheme will make an offer on some used IKEA pieces, but only built. Its terms say that if a product is returned not fully and correctly assembled, it will not be able to provide an offer, and the scheme only handles complete, assembled and fully functional pieces. System wardrobes, including PAX and its interiors, are not accepted at all.

• ✓As new, with no scratches: 45% of the original price.
• ✓Very good, with minor scratches: 35%.
• ✓Well used, with several scratches: 25%.

A wardrobe that has already been taken down for a move has to go back up before it can go back to IKEA. If that is the plan, tell us when you book and we will rebuild it rather than leave it flat.

Charities Want It Whole

Giving furniture away is the other common ending, and the rules are about completeness. The British Heart Foundation will not accept items with missing parts that affect their use, and gives a wardrobe with missing doors and a chest of drawers with a drawer missing as examples. A missing handle is fine. Upholstered items need their fire safety label attached before it can sell them on.

Some charities will not take flat pack at all. Emmaus in Mossley lists flat-pack furniture and wall units among the things it does not accept. So if a piece is being dismantled to be donated, keep the doors, drawers and shelves with the carcass, keep the fixings, and do not cut the label off the sofa to make it look tidier.

When It Goes Out for the Council

Manchester City Council gives each household one free bulky collection a year of up to three items. After that it charges £32 for up to three items and £64 for up to six. It will not collect from inside the property, from front gardens, driveways or bin stores: items go on the pavement at the front, out by 7am on the day and not before 5pm the evening before. It will not take anything too big or heavy for two people to lift safely, anything with sharp edges, or glass tables and large mirrors.

That is where dismantling earns its keep. A double wardrobe two people cannot lift becomes six panels they can, and the screws and brackets come out rather than sticking from the edges. Trafford is explicit about it: its collection takes up to five items for £44.10, nothing over three metres long, and all exposed nails or screws removed, covered or made safe. In an apartment block the council is just as clear that shared bin stores are not the place for bulky items, which comes up on most flat moves.

Sofas Have to Be Burned, Not Buried

Old sofas and armchairs are a special case. Government guidance on upholstered domestic seating says it must be incinerated, that no other treatment such as landfill is allowed, and that it must not be mixed with other waste during collection and storage. It covers sofas, armchairs, recliners, kitchen and office chairs with upholstery, futons and bean bags.

So a sofa that will not go through the new front door, and is not being kept, cannot simply go in a skip with everything else. We take it as a separate item on a clearance so it goes where it has to. The rules are set out in the government's guidance on waste upholstered seating.

How Dismantling Is Priced

Dismantling and reassembly are priced on time, as part of the move or on their own. One mover with a small van starts from £35/hour, one mover with a large van from £45/hour and two movers with a large van from £50/hour. A bed takes minutes. A fitted PAX with sliding doors takes a good deal longer, so tell us what the pieces are and we will price the time properly.

Minimum bookings are typically two to three hours, and every rate is published rather than given over the phone.

Available Across Manchester

We provide furniture dismantling across Manchester and nearby areas, including:

Also see our contact page or get a quote.