New house, new bed: the moving checklist for the mattress nobody plans

A house move is the most common trigger for buying a mattress, and the worst time to think about it. Removal vans, keys at 2 pm, and a bed that either did not survive the journey or does not fit the new room. Here is the checklist, in the order the move happens.

Six weeks before: decide whether the old mattress moves

Strip the bed and look across the surface at eye level. A dip of more than 2.5 cm where you sleep, a soft edge, or a mattress over eight years old is not worth paying a removal firm to carry. Order the new one now, delivered to the new address on move-in day or the day after, and book disposal of the old one at the old address. See six signs a mattress is done.

If it is good, it moves. Buy a mattress bag (a heavy polythene sack, a few pounds) so it does not arrive with a black mark down one side.

Four weeks before: measure the new house

• The bedroom: will the same size fit with the wardrobe and a walkway? A king in the old house is not always a king in the new one.
• The stairs and doors: width, headroom on any turn, the landing, the bedroom door. A king-size sprung mattress with a steel edge does not bend; a double goes almost anywhere. See will it fit up the stairs.
• The base: is the bed frame coming, and does it fit the new room? A divan base is two pieces and goes up any stairs; a king-size frame with a headboard may not.

Two weeks before: the order and the timing

If a new mattress is coming:

• Deliver it the day after the move, not the day of. Removal day is chaos and the delivery team needs a clear route to the room.
• Have the base built before it arrives. A mattress on the floor for one night is fine; a week is not.
• If it is delivered flat by two people, tell them about the stairs when you order.
• If it is rolled, someone has to carry the box up and it needs a day to expand; plan the first night accordingly.

Moving day: the old mattress

• In a bag, on its side, flat against the van wall, with nothing heavy stacked on it. A mattress folded in half in a van comes out with a crease in the foam.
• Not on the roof rack.
• Not left behind for the buyers unless agreed in writing. A mattress abandoned in an empty house is a dispute.

First night in the new house

Whatever else is in boxes, unpack: the mattress protector, one set of sheets, the duvet, and the pillows. Label that box "BED" and put it in the van last so it comes out first.

The new house as a new chapter

A lot of people find the new house is when the mattress that was "fine" turns out not to be, because everything else is new and it is the one old thing in the room. If you are starting again in a new place, the bed is the least dramatic and most effective thing to replace: it is where a third of the new life happens. Our guide on a new mattress after a breakup is about exactly this, whatever the reason for the move.

How we fit in

Every Chapter mattress is made to order in 10 to 14 days and delivered flat by two people on a day you choose, to the room you choose, with the old mattress taken away on the same visit if you ask. Order it when you exchange, and tell us the move date.

The short version

• Check the old mattress now; do not pay to move a dip.
• Measure the new room, stairs and doors before assuming the same size.
• New mattress delivered the day after the move, base built first.
• Old mattress in a bag, on its side, or disposed of at the old address.
• Bed box in the van last.