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How to Get a Sofa Through a Door
- Fantastic Team
- Published: October 2, 2020
- 6min read
- Views: 52
Moving house is hard enough as it is. It takes time, money, not to mention lots and lots of nerves. However, there’s one aspect which you can never anticipate and that alone can easily drive you up the wall. The situation when you’re moving your sofa and the front door is just too narrow. Nothing you try seems to work and you’re growing desperate and frustrated. Do not worry though, as today you will learn how to get a sofa through a door.
So, if:
Then read along!
Before you even think about moving a sofa through the door, save yourself the trouble and find a measuring tape. Measure the full dimensions and not just the width and height of your sofa. Write down the measurements so you don’t forget them.
Now that you know the exact dimensions of your sofa, it’s time to move to the doorway. In this case, you only need to measure the height and width of all the doorframes where the sofa will be put through. If you live on the second floor or above, measure the size of the lift, as well as any staircases and railings. Also, if you have a sloping ceiling, measure its height so you know if the sofa will fit.
When you have those down, compare sizes with the sofa and you will know right away if the move will be easy or hard.
It would be really frustrating to successfully squeeze the sofa through a narrow doorway only to find a radiator blocking it from the other side. That’s why you have to inspect the room first and get whatever you can out of the way. Radiators, obviously, would be impossible, while pieces of furniture should be moved to another part of the room so they won’t cause an obstruction.
Now, when you’ve removed any obstructions from inside the room, it’s time to remove the doors as well. You’re not obligated to do this, however, it will make moving your sofa through the doorframe a little bit easier. Luckily, interior doors are lightweight and easy to take off.
This is how to remove an interior door
As an extra measure, you can also remove the door hinges and door stops. The hinges might tear the sofa fabric if the door frame is too narrow and you have to squeeze it in.
On the other hand, door stops, if they’re on the floor, can cause you to trip and fall whilst carrying the heavy sofa.
Moving a sofa even from one floor to another, simple as it may sound, requires a minimum of 3 people. That way the chances of anybody getting a serious back injury or inflicting property damage gets reduced significantly. Keep in mind, none of you are professional movers, so the more friends you call and show up, the better.
If you fail to secure at least 3 people, don’t take up this task at all.
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Sometimes you have to take the sofa apart as much as you can to fit the pieces through a door. Unlike old sofas, where everything is built together as one big item, most newer models have detachable legs and armrests, however, it will not be noticeable right away.
If the legs are not enough to fit the piece through the door, go for the armrests. Check if there’s a gap between them and the seatback. If there is one, then likely they’re two separate parts which can be detached.
Now that all initial preparations are carried out, you can proceed to move your sofa through the door.
The good thing about sofas is that, even though they seem large, they’re soft and thus can be squeezed through door frames and corridors. All you need to do is push and watch your fingers.
If the sofa is too big to fit through the door frame, even after all other obstacles are removed, then you’d have to move it at an angle.
Place the sofa on one end in a vertical position with the seat side facing the door. Now, twist the piece as if it were walking through the doorway. If the door frame is too low, tilt back the sofa top a little and continue in the same manner until the entire piece is inside.
Another option is to move the sofa in a horizontal position, but tilt at an angle so that it forms the letter V. It will make the piece horizontally smaller and easier to manoeuvre around the frame.
Find professionals to take care of your sofa.
Moving and fitting sofas through tight spaces is a daunting task which shouldn’t be done by unqualified personnel due to the risk of serious injury. The movers Fantastic Services works with are highly experienced and qualified to dismantle and get any piece of furniture through different spaces. Whenever you’re doing a small move in London, be sure to check out our man and van services.
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Do you have a move coming soon? How are you palling to move your sofa? Let us know with a comment below.
Image Source: Shutterstock / Andrey_Popov
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