Moving Appliances and White Goods: Your Questions Answered

Appliances hold up more moving days than almost anything else in the house. A washing machine that has not been drained, a freezer still dripping, a gas hob nobody arranged to disconnect: any one of them can stall a load that was otherwise ready to go. Nearly all of it is avoidable with a week's notice. We run house removals across Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire from our yard in Shaftesbury, and these are the questions about white goods we answer most often, with what actually needs doing before the van turns up. Getting the appliance list right early is also what keeps a quote accurate, so the ten minutes are worth spending now.

Do removal companies disconnect and reconnect appliances?

Plug-in appliances, yes. Gas and hard-wired ones, no. Our packing crews will disconnect anything that unplugs and unscrews: a freestanding washing machine, a plug-in cooker, a fridge freezer, a tumble dryer. What we will not touch is anything fed by gas or wired directly into the wall, so gas hobs, hard-wired ovens and integrated dishwashers stay put until a plumber, an electrician or a Gas Safe registered engineer has been. Anyone carrying out gas work as part of their job has to be Gas Safe registered by law, and that includes us. The practical version is simpler: book the trade for the week before you move, not for the morning of.

Which appliances stay with the house and which come with me?

Whatever the paperwork says, which in England and Wales usually means the Fittings and Contents Form your solicitor sent through. That form lists the appliances in the property and marks each one as included, excluded or available to buy, and it forms part of the contract. Integrated appliances cause most of the arguments, because a buyer looking at a dishwasher behind a matching cabinet door tends to assume it is staying. If you want to take it, say so on the form rather than on completion morning. Renting is more straightforward: anything the landlord supplied stays, and the inventory you signed at check-in should tell you which items those are. Separately, there is a short list of things we cannot load at all, which is worth reading before you clear the garage.

How do I get a washing machine ready to move?

Drain it, disconnect it, then put the transit bolts back in. Run a short empty cycle a couple of days beforehand, turn off the water at the valves behind the machine, unscrew the fill hoses and let the waste hose drain into a bowl. There is always more water in there than people expect, so keep a towel to hand. Then find the transit bolts: the long bolts fitted through the back panel when the machine was new, which lock the drum so it cannot swing around in transit. Plenty of them get thrown out on delivery day. If yours have gone, mention it when we survey the job, because a machine without them has to be handled and loaded differently.

What should I do with the fridge freezer before moving day?

Defrost it 48 hours ahead. That is the instruction most people leave too late, and a freezer still thawing on the morning of the move drips through the van and into whatever is stacked beneath it. Empty it out, switch it off, prop the door open over a towel and let it drain, then dry the inside properly so it does not travel damp. Run the contents down over the fortnight before rather than trying to keep a cool box going all day. If you truly cannot empty it, tell us early and we will plan the load around it, though the honest answer is that frozen food and moving day rarely go well together.

How long should a fridge freezer stand before you switch it on again?

Check the manual, and leave it longer if it travelled on its side. The reason is compressor oil. Tip a fridge over and some of that oil can work its way into the cooling pipes, and running the compressor before it has drained back can damage it. Standing the appliance upright for the period the manufacturer specifies gives it time to settle. Manufacturers differ, and a modern unit carried upright in the van usually needs far less standing time than an older one that went in flat, so the manual beats any rule of thumb you find online. We carry fridges and freezers upright wherever the access allows, which is one of several reasons we look at doorways and stair turns before the day.

Can you move a gas cooker or a hard-wired oven?

We can move it. We cannot disconnect it. A gas appliance needs disconnecting and capping off by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and reconnecting by one at the other end, and that applies to gas hobs and range cookers just as much as to a freestanding gas cooker. Hard-wired electric ovens are the same story with an electrician. Once the appliance is safely disconnected and standing clear of its housing, it is ours: we will wrap it, get it out and load it. The part that catches people out is the diary rather than the job. Engineers get booked up around bank holidays and through the summer, so arrange both visits as soon as your date is confirmed.

What about integrated and built-in appliances?

Treat each one as a separate job with its own trade and its own lead time. A built-in oven, an integrated dishwasher or a fridge hidden behind a cabinet door has to come out of its housing before anyone can carry it, which means an electrician or a plumber, and occasionally a joiner if the units were fitted around it. Check the contract first, since integrated appliances are often listed as staying. If they are coming with you, have them out and standing clear before we arrive, and keep the fixing screws and the cabinet door together in a labelled bag. Refitting at the other end is the same job in reverse, so book that visit as well.

Will a big American fridge freezer fit through the doors?

Sometimes, and it is worth measuring rather than hoping. American-style fridge freezers are often 90cm or more across, which is wider than a good few period doorways in the north Dorset cottages we work in around Shaftesbury and Gillingham, and wider than some stair turns in a Victorian terrace. Measure the appliance, then measure the narrowest point on the way out and the way in, including the turn at the top of the stairs and any porch. Doors can come off their hinges and appliance handles can come off too, which buys a few centimetres. Better to know now than with four people holding it on a landing. Heavy and awkward items are what our free survey and our specialist removals work exist for, and it is why we ask about them when we quote.

Can appliances go into storage between moves?

Yes, and the preparation matters more than it does for a normal move. Anything going into storage needs to be genuinely dry inside before it is wrapped, because a fridge or a washing machine sealed up damp will smell of it by the time you get it back. Leave doors slightly ajar where the packing allows, and tape transit bolts, hoses and fixings to the appliance itself rather than putting them in a box you will not be able to find in three months. We store plenty of kitchens while people wait on a chain, and it sits alongside the move rather than being a separate arrangement. Tell us what appliances are coming with you and what is staying, and we will send you a fixed written quote within the hour. Get your fixed quote.