Need furniture moving for floor sanding or new carpet in Wollongong? If the flooring crew has told you the rooms must be empty before they arrive, you are in the right place. That is one of the most common calls we get as a removalist Wollongong homeowners ring when the job is not a full move at all. You are not going anywhere. You just need the heavy furniture out of the way for a week or two, and then put back exactly where it was once the floor is done. We do this all the time across Wollongong and the Illawarra, and this page explains how it works, what it costs and how to get the most out of the two visits.
What furniture moving for floor sanding or new carpet actually involves
Furniture moving for floor sanding is a job the flooring trades almost never take on. Floor sanders and carpet layers are good at floors. They are not movers in Wollongong, and most of them will tell you flat out that they do not shift furniture. Their insurance usually does not cover it, their schedule does not allow for it, and a two-man sanding crew is not going to carry a solid timber wardrobe down a hallway. So the homeowner is left with a house full of heavy items and a trade booked for Monday.
That is where we come in. We arrive before the flooring crew, move everything out of the rooms being worked on, and put it somewhere it can sit safely for the duration of the job. Depending on the house that is the garage, a spare room, the back deck under cover, upstairs if only the ground floor is being done, or into one of our trucks and off to short-term storage if there is nowhere in the house to put it. Then, when the floor is finished and cured, we come back and move it all back in, reassemble anything we took apart, and leave the house looking like it did before, only with a better floor under it.
How the two visits work
Visit one: clearing the rooms
For a typical three or four bedroom house in Wollongong, clearing the rooms takes our two-person crew about two hours. We take beds apart, because a queen or king base rarely fits through a door in one piece and a dismantled bed stacks flat in the garage. Wardrobes, on the other hand, are usually not a problem. Most modern wardrobes can be lifted and walked as they are, so we do not ask you to empty them.
Lounges, dining tables, sideboards, fridges, washing machines, bookcases and desks all come out, and we stack them in the holding area so nothing is leaning on anything it should not be.
The gap in between
Floor sanding and coating usually needs a few days to a week before you can put furniture back on it. New carpet is quicker, often the same day, but people usually book us for the next morning so the layers are not working around us. Whatever your flooring crew tells you the cure time is, add a day. Putting a heavy dining table back on a polyurethane finish that is not fully hard is how you get the only mark on a brand new floor.
Visit two: putting it all back
The return trip is roughly another two hours. We bring everything back in, reassemble the beds, put the wardrobes back where they lived, and set the rooms up the way they were. Felt pads under the legs of anything heavy are a very good idea on a freshly sanded floor, and if you have them ready we will fit them as we go.
What furniture moving for floor sanding costs in Wollongong
We charge the same way for this as for any local job: $165 per hour + GST for two removalists and a truck, plus travel time, with the clock running from when we arrive to when we finish. Because nothing is leaving the property on most of these jobs, there is no long drive in the middle, so the hours are honest ones.
| Rate | $165/hr + GST, 2 removalists, plus travel time |
| Visit one (clear the rooms) | About 2 hours for a typical 3–4 bedroom home, so roughly $330 + GST as a guide |
| Visit two (put it back) | About 2 hours again, including reassembling beds |
| Whole-house jobs or two-storey homes | Longer, and sometimes a third mover. We will tell you before we book it, not on the day. |
| Furniture that cannot stay on site | Truck to our Wollongong storage and back, quoted on volume |
| Booking | Call 1300 015 050 Mon–Sat 8am–5pm, or use the form below any time. Book both visits at once so the return date is locked in. |
Two hours each way is what we see most often, but it is a guide, not a promise. A one-bedroom unit getting the lounge and bedroom carpeted is well under that. A big two-storey place with a piano, a pool table and a fridge on every floor is well over it, and the honest thing is to say so up front. Tell us the rooms being done, the big items in them and where you want it all to go, and we will give you a firm number for both visits.
From our side of the truck: how to make these jobs go smoothly
After years on the trucks, this is the advice we would give our own family before a floor job, and it is the same advice we give as a removalist Wollongong locals call for full moves too. First, clear the small stuff yourself before we arrive. Lamps, books, toys, the contents of the TV unit, the things on top of the dresser. Every minute the crew spends carrying armfuls of loose items is a minute you are paying for that could have gone into moving the heavy furniture. Boxes are cheap; our time is not. Box the small things, and the two hours stays two hours.
Second, decide where everything is going before the day. The garage is the usual answer, and it is a good one, but check it will actually fit. A garage with a car in it and the Christmas decorations along one wall does not hold a four-bedroom house. If it will not fit, say so when you book and we will bring the truck sized for a short stint in storage instead of discovering it at 8am.
Third, think about the order things come out and go back in. We load the holding area so the last thing out is the first thing back in, which means the room you want set up first gets done first on the return visit. If you tell us which bedroom needs to be usable that night, we plan around it.
Fourth, ask your floor sander or carpet layer for the real cure time in writing, then book our return for after it. We would rather move your return visit by a day than be the reason there is a table leg mark in a new finish. The Australian Timber Flooring Association publishes consumer guidance on coatings and cure times if you want to read up before you talk to your tradie.
And the cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest job. A crew that does not dismantle beds, does not carry a wardrobe intact and does not turn up on the return date leaves you with a half-finished house and another phone call to make. Ask exactly what is included, ask whether the return visit is locked in, and ask how many people are coming.
Other times you need furniture moved within the same house
Floor sanding and carpet are the big two, but the same service covers any job where the furniture stays at the address and just needs to be somewhere else for a while:
- Painting. Rooms emptied so the painters can work, then put back.
- Renovations and extensions. Furniture moved out of the work zone and into the finished half of the house, or into storage for a longer build.
- Water damage, flood or insurance work. Contents lifted out of a wet room quickly so drying and repairs can start.
- Rearranging the house. Swapping bedrooms, moving a home office upstairs, getting a heavy item from one floor to another. Sometimes it is a single wardrobe that two people simply cannot manage.
- Staging a home for sale. Bulky items out to storage so the rooms photograph bigger, then back in after settlement or into the new place.
- Elderly parents downsizing within the home. Moving the bedroom to the ground floor so the stairs are no longer part of daily life.
If it is heavy, awkward or the tradie has said “not our job”, it is our job. We are a full-service house removalist in Wollongong, so the same crew that moves families across the Illawarra is the one that comes to shift your lounge to the garage.
Where we do this
We do furniture moving for floor sanding, carpet and renovations everywhere our trucks go for regular moves: Wollongong and the northern suburbs from Helensburgh to Fairy Meadow, the city and Keiraville, Figtree, Unanderra and Dapto, down through Shellharbour and Albion Park to Kiama and Gerringong, and up into the Southern Highlands. See the full list of areas we cover. Because we are based on Keira Street, most Wollongong jobs carry very little travel time.
Frequently asked questions
Can you move the furniture within the house rather than taking it away?
Yes, and on most floor sanding and carpet jobs that is exactly what we do. We move it to the garage, a spare room, upstairs, downstairs or a covered outdoor area, whatever fits and keeps it safe. Nothing needs to leave the property unless there is nowhere to put it.
Do you take beds apart and put them back together?
Yes. Beds are dismantled on the way out and reassembled on the return visit as part of the job. Bring the Allen key if it is a flat-pack frame and you know where it is; if not, we carry a set.
Do I need to empty the wardrobes and drawers?
Usually not for wardrobes. Most can be lifted and moved with the clothes still hanging in them. Drawers are a judgement call: a light chest of drawers can go as is, a heavy tallboy full of jumpers is safer emptied. We will tell you on the phone based on what you have.
How long between the two visits?
That is up to your flooring crew. Sanding and coating is commonly four to seven days before furniture goes back; carpet is often the next day. Book both visits with us at the same time so the return date is held, and ring us if the floor job runs over. Moving the return by a day or two is normally no trouble.
What if there is no room in the house or garage?
We load it onto the truck and hold it in our Wollongong storage until the floor is done, then bring it back. It costs more than a same-house shuffle because of the drive and the storage days, but it is a straightforward quote once we know the volume.
How much does furniture moving for floor sanding cost in Wollongong?
Furniture moving for floor sanding is charged at $165 per hour + GST for two removalists, plus travel time. Most three or four bedroom homes take about two hours to clear and about two hours to put back, so budget roughly $330 + GST for each visit as a starting guide, more for large or two-storey homes.
Can you do it on a weekend?
Yes, we move on Saturdays and can arrange Sundays and after-hours visits, but they need to be booked during office hours, Monday to Saturday 8am to 5pm. Outside those hours use the form on this page and we will come back to you the next business morning.
Book furniture moving for floor sanding or new carpet
Tell us the rooms being done, the big items in them, where you would like everything to go and the dates your flooring crew has given you. We will confirm both visits and a firm price. Call 1300 015 050 Monday to Saturday 8am to 5pm, email contact@premierremovalist.com.au, or send the form below any time.