Some items will simply not go through a building. A three-seater sofa that arrived before a wall was built, a piano, a safe, or a large appliance destined for a fourth-floor flat with a lift the size of a phone box - the staircase is not the answer, and forcing it damages the item, the walls, or both. Crane and hoist hire takes the item up the outside of the building instead, in through a window or over a balcony.
Drophex Logistics arranges lifting equipment hire either as part of a move or as a standalone job. Every lift starts with an assessment of the access: what the item weighs, which opening it has to pass through, where equipment can be positioned, and what sits overhead. That assessment decides whether the job needs a furniture hoist, a larger lifting set-up, or a different approach entirely - and if a lift is not the right answer for your building, we will tell you before you book rather than on the day.
Planning matters more than the equipment. Positioning, ground conditions, overhead obstructions and the size of the opening all decide whether a lift is straightforward, expensive, or not worth attempting at all.
We check the weight and dimensions of the item, the opening it must pass through and where equipment can safely stand before quoting.
The item is protected, secured and lifted externally, then brought in through the window, balcony or opening.
Once through the opening it is unstrapped, moved into place and reassembled if it was taken apart for the lift.
Sofas, corner suites and oversized furniture that cannot turn the landing, whatever angle you try.
Flats and offices where the passenger lift is too small and the stairs are the only other route.
Pianos, safes, large appliances and glass or stone tops, where dropping it is not a recoverable mistake.
Flats, houses and converted buildings, plus offices and commercial premises with restricted access.
Book a lift on its own, or as one stage within a larger house or office removal.
A lift is quoted on access, not on the item alone. The more of this you can tell us up front, the more accurate the quote:
When the item is physically wider than the tightest point on the route, when the stairwell has a turn it cannot clear, or when the weight makes carrying it unsafe. If it went in before an extension or a partition wall was built, that is usually a strong hint that it will not come out the same way.
Typically large furniture, sofas and corner suites, pianos, safes, large appliances and heavy glass or stone tops. What matters more than the category is the weight, the dimensions and the size of the opening it has to pass through.
It is quoted per job, because the access drives the price far more than the item does. Positioning, the height of the lift, how long the equipment is on site and whether permissions are needed all feed into it. We assess before quoting rather than giving a headline figure that changes.
Often, yes. If equipment has to stand on the pavement or the road, or the lift passes over shared or public space, permission from the council, the freeholder or the building manager is usually required. Tell us the address early so this can be looked into before a date is fixed.
That is what the access assessment is for. Send photos of the item, the opening and the outside of the building along with the floor level, and we will tell you whether a hoist is workable, whether another route exists, or whether the item genuinely cannot be moved that way.
Yes. It is often just one stage of a larger job - the crew handles the rest of the property as normal and the lift deals with the one item that will not go through the building. It can be booked alongside house removals or office removals.
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