How to Use a Dolly on Stairs
Moving furniture pieces, boxes, and other household items up and down the stairs can be really frustrating – not only it’s time-consuming but can also be risky. Still, when the moving day comes, you’ll have to load your things and if your only exit path is stairs, then you’ll want to take advantage of professional moving equipment to make the job easier and safer. Of course, you can always reach out to your trusted NYC moving and storage company and let them handle your relocation. But, if you prefer to have a DIY move instead, then moving dolly will quickly become your best friend. While using a moving dolly for moving heavy items easily is pretty simple, things do seem a bit more challenging when you have a flight of stairs to deal with. That’s why we prepared this handy guide on how to use a dolly on stairs.
Safety tips for using a dolly on stairs
A big wheel dolly aka a hand truck is one of the most useful pieces of equipment you can find to help you take your items up and down the stairs. Its handle will let you hold and navigate the dolly while the vertical back will help you keep the load and the dolly so you can easily understand why this design is suitable for use on stairs. However, you must ensure you take all the measures of precaution and follow the right methods in order to have a smooth and safe moving process. Here are some of the most important safety tips for using a dolly on stairs.
Clear exit path
The first thing you need to do in order to have a smooth moving process is to make sure your exit path is clear. Since you’ll be pushing the dolly with cargo on, you may not be able to see small obstacles in front of you so the only safe method is to clear the path before you pass with the dolly. That means making sure that all the spaces you will pass, from your starting point all the way to the moving truck are free of obstacles – remove furniture, home décor, slippery leaves on your patio, etc. The purpose is to remove anything you could slip on or trip over and cause not only damage to your cargo but also potential injuries. Since you’ll be using the stairs, pay special attention to this area as well as your landings.
Protect the stairs
Your next preparation step is to protect the stairs because property damage is not something you want to add to your moving day experience. You can use similar methods you would use to protect floors when moving. Use floor runners or cover the stairs with old rugs, just remember to secure them in place by using moving tape. In case your stairs are carpeted, you’ll want to use plastic film – self-adhesive ones are the easiest option in this case. To protect the edges of the steps, you’ll want to use stair edge guards – these are pretty affordable and you can buy them in most home improvement stores or online.
Don’t do it alone
Perhaps the most important tip on safety is to ensure you have help. At least one person should be helping you, especially when you’re using a dolly to move heavy or bulky items, such as kitchen appliances. You’ll need help to load heavy items onto the dolly but you will also need another person to steer and navigate the dolly so make sure you hire moving labor services if none of your friends or family members are available at a given time.
How to use a dolly down the stairs?
As always, you should take one small step at a time in order to keep the process safe for everyone involved. To properly use a moving dolly in this case, you’ll want to lower it one stair at a time. To do so, you’ll first want to tilt the hand truck slightly backward so that some of its weight leans against your body. You will then want to push the dolly slowly to the edge of the stairs and let it drop down to the lower step while keeping the hand truck tilted towards you.
The reason why you must keep the dolly at this angle is that this is the only way to keep the load on it without falling. In case you keep the dolly in the upright position, the load will move forward and you will lose hold of the hand truck. On the other hand, if the angle is too far backward, you may find yourself losing your hold of the hand truck so take things slowly and find the right angle that will let you lower the dolly one step at a time safely.
How to use a dolly up the stairs?
The method of taking the dolly up the stairs is somewhat similar to your down-the-stairs method. First, you’ll want to make sure you have a tight hold of the hand truck so you could navigate, tilt, and lift the dolly. The difference is that in this case, you’ll have to walk backward. First, stand on the first step and hold the hand truck with both hands, then tilt the dolly slightly towards yourself. Again, this angle will help you keep the load on the dolly and it will help you keep your balance and your hold of the truck.
You will then use the leverage to lift the dolly up on the first step, and you’ll repeat this process one step and one stair at a time. You may need to split your feet with only one step between them so you’d get more leverage if you’re having a very heavy load on your dolly.
If you’d rather let a Brooklyn moving and storage company pack and transport all of your household items, go ahead and request a complimentary in-house moving quote from Rabbit Movers.