Single item moves
Furniture movers
in Vancouver
One sofa, one fridge, one wardrobe that will not go down the stairs on its own. You do not need a whole moving day to shift a single heavy piece.
- 2 movers and a truck
- $140/hr2 movers and a truck
- Minimum, $280 on the 2-mover crew
- 2 hrsMinimum, $280 on the 2-mover crew
- Liability insurance
- $2MLiability insurance
A furniture-only move is a single large item — a sofa, a fridge, a mattress, a shelving unit — taken from one address to another by a 2-mover crew with a truck, blankets and straps. It is billed at the standard hourly rate of $140/hr with a 2-hour minimum, so most single-item jobs come to $280 plus 5% GST. There is no per-item price and no charge for stairs, elevator use, fuel or mileage. Operating out of Kitsilano since 2017 — 9 years, 500+ moves, 5.0 on Google across 90+ reviews, $2M liability insurance and WorkSafeBC compliant.
You Do Not Need a Full Move
Most moving company websites are built entirely around the whole-home job, which leaves the person with one heavy thing to shift assuming they are not the customer. They usually are. A sofa that has to come out of a walk-up, a fridge going to a family member across town, a mattress bought secondhand that will not fit in the car — these are ordinary bookings.
The reason to pay for it rather than borrow a truck is not really the lifting. It is that a large piece of furniture and a narrow Vancouver staircase is the exact situation where things get broken and backs get injured, and neither outcome is covered by a friend’s goodwill. The equipment matters more than the muscle: blankets, straps, a ramp, and having done the same awkward turn enough times to know which way the sofa goes.
Against a Friend With a Pickup
The real alternative for a single item is usually not another moving company. It is borrowing a truck and asking a favour, so that is the honest comparison to make.
| What differs | Borrowed truck | Boss Moving |
|---|---|---|
| The vehicle | Whatever fits in a borrowed pickup or a rented van, loaded loose | A moving truck with blankets, straps and a ramp already in it |
| If it gets damaged | Yours, and possibly your friend’s truck too | Covered by $2M liability insurance |
| If someone gets hurt | An unresolved question you find out the answer to afterwards | A WorkSafeBC-compliant crew doing it as their job |
| The stairwell | Improvised, usually at the tightest turn | The part of the job we do every day, with the equipment for it |
| Building access | Discovered on arrival | Loading bay and elevator booking sorted out at the time of booking |
What to Know Before You Book
Four things that decide how a single-item job actually goes.
What counts as a single item
A sofa or sectional, a fridge, washer or dryer, a mattress and base, a wardrobe or shelving unit, a desk, a dining table. If it is one large awkward thing rather than a household, this is the job — the canonical examples are a fridge, a sofa, shelves or a single appliance.
Measure the tight bit first
The doorway is rarely the problem. The problem is the turn at the top of the stairs, the landing, or the lift door. If a piece is close to the limit it is worth measuring the narrowest point before booking, because a sofa that does not make the corner still takes the time it took to try.
It is wrapped either way
One item does not mean an abbreviated job. It gets blanket-wrapped and secured for transit like anything else on the truck, because a single piece rattling around an empty box van is the easiest way to damage it.
The pickup does not have to be your home
It is the same job whether the piece starts in your old flat, at a shop, or in a seller’s driveway across town. What changes the time is the access at each end and the distance between them, not who owns the item at the start of the day.
What It Costs
Single items are billed by the hour like every other local move, not by the piece. The 2-mover crew with a truck is $140/hr, the minimum is 2 hours, and that comes to $280 plus 5% GST. Nothing is added for stairs, elevator use, fuel or mileage.
A single item is estimated at 2 hours, which means the minimum is normally the entire cost of the job. Being blunt about that is fairer than letting it arrive as a surprise: if the carry itself takes twenty minutes, you are still paying for 2 hours. The way to get value out of that is to have anything else you need shifted ready to go at the same time.
If it turns into several pieces or a whole room, it stops being a single-item job and starts being a small move — see our hourly moving service for how those are billed, or movers in Vancouver for the full picture.
Pianos Are a Different Job
A piano is technically a single item and it is emphatically not this service. Uprights and grands need their own equipment and their own handling, and a grand comes apart before it travels. We move them — it just has its own page, and its own process. See piano movers Vancouver rather than booking it here.
Frequently Asked Questions — Furniture and Single Item Moving
Can you move just one item?
Yes. A single piece is a normal booking, not a favour or an exception — the quote form has a "single item / furniture only" option specifically for it. It is one of the more common jobs we take.
How much does it cost to move one piece of furniture?
It is billed at the standard hourly rate rather than a per-item price: $140/hr for the 2-mover crew with truck and equipment included, and a 2-hour minimum, which is $280 plus 5% GST. Most single-item jobs are estimated at 2 hours, so in practice the minimum is usually the whole bill.
Do I still pay the 2-hour minimum for one item?
Yes, and it is worth being straightforward about it: a 2-hour minimum applies to every local move regardless of size, so a twenty-minute sofa carry is charged as 2 hours. If you have a second piece to shift, or something else that needs moving on the same trip, that is the time to mention it — you have already paid for the time.
Why two movers for one item?
Large furniture is a two-person carry. One person and a truck exists as an option at $105/hr, but it is not the right crew for a fridge or a sectional down a staircase, and attempting it is how both the item and the person carrying it get damaged.
Can you move a piano?
Yes, but it is handled differently from other single items — different equipment, and on a grand piano the legs and pedal lyre come off before it moves. That has its own page, and a piano request is reviewed by a person rather than auto-quoted.
Can you move an appliance like a fridge or a washer?
Yes. Appliances need to be disconnected, emptied and defrosted before the crew arrives — we move them, we do not plumb or wire them. A washer that has not been drained will leak down the stairs, so it is worth doing properly the day before.
Do you take items bought secondhand or from a store?
Yes — it is the same job. Give us both addresses and the access at each end when you call (604) 726-9828, and the piece is treated exactly as it would be if it were coming out of your own living room.
Tell us what needs moving
Choose “single item / furniture only” as the home size, or call (604) 726-9828 — 7am to 10pm, 7 days a week.