How Would You Move THis Entertainment Unit?

[JGS]

We are delivering an entertainment unit to a client next week. The unit (designed by the client) is about 12' long, 22" deep & 91" high. The unit will weigh close to half a ton when fully assembled.

There is a centre section about 8' long and two side units that are about 2' each. We need to assemble the unit about 2 feet from the back wall and then move it back against the wall.

The client has just finishing laying a new laminate floor.

So my question is, how would you move each of the three units back into place without damaging the floor?

Thanks, JG

[RicodJour]

Lay down a few sheets of Masonite to protect the floor.

R

[Locutus]

How do you get the masonite out?

[Swingman]

Did you inherit this problem?

Are the floor and walls level and straight?

The correct way would have been to design the three units so they could be placed on an already "in place" and level, base; and then slide each section atop the base and fasten the units together after they are in place.

It appears that may you have a few inches of height to spare. If I could possibly do the above at this stage, particularly a _level_ base, I would give it serious consideration.

In any case, you will want to protect the new floor in the work area with

1/4 plywood, or something similar ... particularly if you are still planning to slide the assembled unit into place ... good luck if you have to go that route. May be time for some of the old Egyptian pyramid builders "roller" action, in that case.

[N Hurst]

claw hammers and cold chisels, duh!

[Bob C]

Any room under for an air sled?

How about slick tape on bottom? Should glide nicely on laminate!

Will it be anchored at the top to prevent tipping?

Bob

[JGS]

[dadiOH]

1. Put 3-4 12" long pieces of 1/2" wood dowel under each end, roll back to wall.
2. Lift or wedge one end up slightly, remove dowels.
3. Set a small piece of 1/2" wood under one end with the unit just barely touching it. Remove dowels, give unit a nudge so it falls off block. Keep fingers/toes out of the way :)

A better alternative to # 3 would be to use a longer, thicker piece of wood with an end tapered to the same or slighty less thickness as the dowels...put that on another piece of wood used as a fulcrum, slide tapered end under slightly, stand on outboard end of lever piece, remove dowels, lower unit. Like a drywall jack.

[Pat Barber]

Hope you don't need to turn a corner with a 8' unit.

I would do a dry run with a sheet of plywood just to check my clearances.

A furniture blanket(heavy quilt) will make the move a "little easier" but then you got to remove the quilt. Carry a few "jacks" of v-shaped wedges that you can use to jack up a side or a corner.

A rabbits foot would also come > We are delivering an entertainment unit to a client next week. The unit

[EXT]

Hope it fits into the door opening!!!!!!!!!

[seelyjv]

JGS Use some of the relatively thin "Teflon" furniture sliders along the bottom edges of each unit and just leave them in place. These things are relatively thin (about 1/4") and quite durable. They are also pretty slick and should do a good job of sliding the units on the laminate flooring without damage. Four of these sliders (each about 1-1/2" dia.) allow me to, by myself, easily move my 500 lb refrigerator across my laminate kitchen floor without damage. Jim Seelye

[J. Clarke]

Could use some stick-on felt for the same purpose. Just be careful not to get any grit or crud embedded in it in transit. IMO teflon's better for carpet or tile, felt for wood, but I'm no expert at this sort of thing so take that for what it's worth.

The felt pads are far, far harder than one would expect from looking at them--whack them with a hammer and they don't deform noticeably.

[J.]

First thought is to use furniture glides mounted to the underside of the unit. The steel ones may mar a freshly finished floor though. You might try looking around for UHMW plastic ones instead.

Failing that, a clean piece of indoor carpet, shag side down on the floor, placed under the units would permit you to slide them into place. With a little tilting you could remove the carpet once the pieces are within an inch or so of the wall.

J.

JGS wrote:

[Greg Kimnach]

just use those "magic sliders". peel and stick to the underside. packaging says for up to 1.6klbs, but i've only used it on much lighter furniture.

-- regards, greg (non-hyphenated american)

[Nova]

Let's see, with one section 8' L x 22" W x 91" H. 91" HIGH??? Remove the back wall, set the cabinets in place, rebuild the back wall.

[NuWaveDave]

Carpet squares turned upside down, assuming you can get them under the units, should slide on the laminate flooring fairly easy.

[JGS]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll follow up with what we tried (and hopefully worked).

Yes Jack. But then how do we reinstall the sheet rock between the unit and the studs. 8 ) This all would have been so easy if the client had not gotten ahead of us and laid the flooring after we were done.

For clarificati>> We are delivering an entertainment unit to a client next week. The unit

[Old guy]

Boy, that's one heavy Mutha!

I've read about putting ice under something like this to slide it, then letting it melt. I suspect that unless you had lots of it, you'd have enough crushed ice for a LOT of daiquiris.

Inquiring minds want to know. Let us know what you did and how it worked.

Old Guy

[George Max]

Dry ice would be better than ordinary water ice.