Move a fridge on its side and it needs a 24-hour rest before you plug it in, or you risk the compressor. That's the short version. Here's the full playbook for moving a fridge, washer, and dryer through a Boston walk-up without a repair bill on the other end.
The 48-Hour Prep Window
Appliances aren't grab-and-go. Start the day before, not the morning of.
Empty the fridge and freezer, and eat down what you can in the days leading up to the move. Pull the shelves and bins, wash them, and let everything air dry. Then unplug it and prop the door open with towels underneath to catch the defrost water. Do this at least 24 hours out. A fridge that's still cold, full, and dripping is the appliance most likely to cause a mess or a delay when the crew shows up.
The washer needs its own prep. Run it empty on a short cycle to clear any standing water, then disconnect and drain the hoses completely, coiling them so they don't leak in the truck. Front-loading machines often need transit bolts to lock the drum in place, the same hardware used when the washer was first delivered. Check the manual or the manufacturer's site for your model; running a washer without reinstalling them after the move is what usually blows out the drum suspension.
The dryer is simpler if it's electric: unplug it, clean the lint trap, and detach the vent hose. If it's gas, stop, and read the next section before you touch anything.
Do You Need a Plumber for the Gas Line?
Yes, every time. Massachusetts law requires a licensed plumber or gas fitter for gas appliance work, and that includes disconnecting and capping a dryer's gas line before a move. Movers, no matter how experienced, aren't licensed for it and won't touch it.
Book the plumber a few days ahead of your move date, not the morning of. Boston plumbers get booked solid around common move dates, and September 1 is the worst of them. Budget $75-$150 for a straightforward disconnect, more if the line needs a new shutoff valve. You'll need the same call on the other end to reconnect it, so line that up before move-in too, especially if your new place is a Boston walk-up where a stuck delivery truck can throw off a whole afternoon of scheduled trades.
How Do You Move a Refrigerator Without Wrecking the Compressor?
Refrigerators travel upright, full stop. Laying one on its side lets the compressor oil run into the cooling lines, and that oil can clog the system once it's turned back on. If a fridge absolutely has to tilt to clear a doorway or a stair turn, keep the tilt under 45 degrees and get it vertical again as fast as possible.
Tape the doors shut with stretch wrap or moving tape, not duct tape, which leaves residue on finished surfaces. Once it's at the new place, don't plug it in right away. Olympia Moving puts the wait at 4 hours minimum if it stayed upright the whole move, and 24 hours if it was tilted or laid down at any point. Skip the wait and you risk a compressor that never fully recovers, which is a far more expensive problem than a few hours of a warm fridge.
How Do You Get Appliances Down Triple-Decker Stairs?
This is where most DIY appliance moves go sideways. A 200-250 pound refrigerator or washer doesn't handle like a couch. It's dense, top-heavy, and unforgiving on a turn.
The right tool is an appliance dolly, not a standard hand truck. It's taller, wider at the base, and comes with a ratchet strap that holds the appliance against the frame so it can't shift or tip mid-carry. On a straight run, one strong person can manage a dolly alone. On stairs, especially the tight switchback landings common in Somerville, Allston, and JP triple-deckers, you want two people: one guiding from below, one controlling the tilt from above.
Measure doorways and stairwell turns before move day, not during it. A standard fridge is 28-36 inches wide, and older Boston buildings sometimes have doorframes that were never built with a modern French-door model in mind. If it doesn't fit through cleanly, you're looking at pulling the door off its hinges, which is a five-minute job if you know it's coming and a stressful one if you find out with the fridge wedged sideways in the hallway.
We deal with this constantly on Boston jobs: it's rarely the appliance itself that's the problem, it's the building. A narrow 1900s stairwell in a South End rowhouse or a switchback landing in a JP triple-decker turns a routine appliance move into a genuine puzzle, and that's exactly the kind of job that separates a crew that's done it before from one that hasn't.
DIY Dolly Rental vs. Hiring It Out
Renting the gear yourself is cheap on paper. Whether it stays cheap depends on how the day actually goes.
| DIY with rented dolly | Movers with appliance experience | |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment cost | $10-$50/day for an appliance dolly (U-Haul, Home Depot) | Included in the crew's rate |
| Labor | You and whoever you can recruit | 2-3 trained movers |
| Time on one appliance | 30-60+ minutes with stairs involved | 10-15 minutes typically |
| Injury risk | High — most appliance injuries happen on stairs, not flat ground | Lower, trained lifting technique |
| Damage risk to walls/appliance | Higher without a strap system and experience | Lower |
The math flips fast once stairs are involved. A rented dolly is genuinely fine for a single ground-floor appliance move. Add two flights of triple-decker stairs and a tight landing, and the time and injury risk usually outweigh what you saved on the rental.
Do Movers Charge Extra for Appliances?
Sometimes, and it's worth asking before you book, not after the truck is loaded. Some companies treat a fridge or washer as a "heavy item" and tack on a surcharge once they're already at your door, the same way stair fees and fuel surcharges show up on other jobs. That's the moment you have the least leverage to say no.
NoTimeMover locks the quote before the crew shows up, appliances included, so a fridge on the third floor doesn't turn into a surprise line item at the end of the day. It's the same approach we take with pianos, safes, and other heavy items: if it's genuinely part of the job, it's part of the price you agreed to, not an add-on discovered mid-move.
What to Do the Moment You Arrive
Don't plug anything in yet. Let the fridge sit its 4-24 hours first, reinstall the washer's transit bolts before running a single cycle, and hold off on the dryer's gas line until your plumber shows up to reconnect it. Electric dryers just need the vent hose reattached and the cord plugged back in.
If your new place is one of the harder Boston walk-ups to move into, get the appliance placement figured out before the truck arrives. Repositioning a fridge after it's already wedged into a kitchen nook is its own headache, and it's one extra thing you don't need on move-in day.
NoTimeMover is fully insured and includes appliances in the same locked-in quote as the rest of your move, no surprise "heavy item" fee at the door. If you're planning a local move that includes a fridge, washer, or dryer, tell us upfront and we'll price it in from the start.