An armchair question

[ferrit worrier]

Well actualy it's a sofa question.

Sarah our youngest has moved to Wantage in Oxfordshire with her partner Chris. A nice little flat above some shops, very pleasant and nice neighbours, I provided "Dads removal service on Tuesday this week, their sofa bed arrived this morning, and they cannot get it through the door!

Reasons;
1 top of a flight of stairs sharp right turn 180', door on left opposite bannister.
2 sofa too tall to go vertical through door.
3 they've tried putting an arm through the doorway and getting the rest to follow but the wall and doorway inside wont allow the top bit to come inside.
4 they are both now tired out from trying Aahhh

Sarah has taken the bed mechanism out to reduce the weight, Good thinking just like her dad The only thing left is to see if it will dismantle any more.

They have taken the doors off as well to give them a bit more room, but to no avail

The item in question is a DFS "Rosa" sofa bed it's a long shot but has anybody tried this before. I'm going down on Saturday with some other things for them. any ideas would be really welcome.

[eileithyia]

Will it go horizontal and hang out across the top of the bannister in order to go in?

[thirdcrank]

No practical help, of course, but this may cheer you up and smoke out somebody with some useful advice.

Right Said Fred

"Right," said Fred, "Both of us together
One on each end and steady as we go."
Tried to shift it, couldn't even lift it
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and

"Right," said Fred, "Give a shout for Charlie."
Up comes Charlie from the floor below.
After strainin', heavin' and complainin'
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.

And Charlie had a think, and he thought we ought to take off all the handles
And the things wot held the candles.
But it did no good, well I never thought it would
"All right," said Fred, "Have to take the feet off
To get them feet off wouldn't take a mo."

Took its feet off, even took the seat off
Should have got us somewhere but no!
So Fred said, "Let's have a cuppa tea."
And we said, "right-o."

"Right," said Fred, "Have to take the door off
Need more space to shift the so-and-so."
Had bad twinges taking off the hinges
And it got us nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and

"Right," said Fred, " Have to take the wall down,
That there wall is gonna have to go."
Took the wall down, even with it all down
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.

And Charlie had a think, and he said, "Look, Fred,
I get a sort of feelin'
If we remove the ceilin'
With a rope or two we could drop the blighter through."

"All right," said Fred, climbing up a ladder
With his crowbar gave a mighty blow.
Was he in trouble, half a ton of rubble landed on the top of his dome.
So Charlie and me had another cuppa tea
And then we went home.

(I said to Charlie, "We'll just have to leave it
Standing on the landing, that's all
Trouble with Fred is, he's too hasty
Never get nowhere if you're too hasty.")

[kwackers]

Dismantling it seems like the best option (if it'll reduce any further), failing that hoisting it up through a window?

As an aside, many years ago a friend of mine bought his first house which he gutted. Whilst the ceiling was out he popped the floorboards in the bedroom and hoisted his huge bed through the gaps in the joists.

Some years later and a few months after he sold the house he got a phone call from the purchasers who'd been scratching their heads all weekend trying to get the bed out, down the stairs, through the window - they'd tried everything and it wasn't even close...

[NUKe]

try you tube someones bound to have posted Videos of such conundrums.

Can you stand it end on? start feeding the back through then turn it as it goes through so the base goes through
.

[AlbionLass]

Shame it's not on the ground floor you might have been able to pop a window out. Simon frequently gets called at short notice by a friend who owns a furniture shop to go to a customers house and take a window out to get a large item, sofa. bed etc into the house.

[ferrit worrier]

try you tube someones bound to have posted Videos of such conundrums.

Can you stand it end on? start feeding the back through then turn it as it goes through so the base goes through
.

Too tall for the doorway

Nice one TC I would forward it on to her but they arn't on the net yet, that was a bit like Chris Sarah and me on Tuesday, Hired van, drove home, filled it drove to Wantage, emptied it, drove to Oxford collected some more things from Chris's parents house, drove back to Wantage, emptied it, Drove home. 380+ miles 7am start 11pm home that was one long day. The last verse is how it is at the moment standin on the landin !

Going in Horizontal might work but it's holding it out over the stairs, while lining it up with the door.

I'm just hoping that I can either wriggle it in, or take off a bit more of the framework

[ferrit worrier]

Shame it's not on the ground floor you might have been able to pop a window out. Simon frequently gets called at short notice by a friend who owns a furniture shop to go to a customers house and take a window out to get a large item, sofa. bed etc into the house.

Unfortunatly it's on the second floor and the windows are only lickle ones or roof lights, it might not have been so bad if they'd only moved round the corner, but no, Wantage 175 miles away! mind you it is nice


Malc

[thirdcrank]

I think Nuke is probably right. Unless it's longer than the height of the doorway, or has huge arms, then the best thing is to pass either the seat or the back through the door first (so you need only to clear the thickness of that part of the upholstery) then manoeuvre it round so the remaining back or seat (depending on which went through first) can follow.

As for Nuke's Youtube suggestion, there's always this (which may cheer you up, even if it doesn't actually help one bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzEBLa3PPk

[ferrit worrier]

I think Nuke is probably right. Unless it's longer than the height of the doorway, or has huge arms, then the best thing is to pass either the seat or the back through the door first (so you need only to clear the thickness of that part of the upholstery) then manoeuvre it round so the remaining back or seat (depending on which went through first) can follow.

As for Nuke's Youtube suggestion, there's always this (which may cheer you up, even if it doesn't actually help one bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzEBLa3PPk

And the line was "Do you know the piano's on my foot? no son you hum it I'll play it"


Nice one TC

[Mick F]

Giggles loudly!

Sorry FW, I can't advise much other than say that if it won't go in the door, it has to go in through some other way or not at all.

Back in the old days, flats and big houses had a lifting device and a big upstairs window for hoisting big furniture in.

Some years ago, our daughter and boyfriend lived in a large caravan and they took on our old Chesterfield settee. We got it there ok, but the door and access were far too small, so we had to take out the huge lounge window!

Hundreds of screws and loads of sealant, but the settee went in, and the window was sealed up afterwards. The settee remained there for a year or two before being extricated via the same route!

[tooley92]

Have you tried a saw

[ferrit worrier]

Have you tried a saw

Not yet I'll "See" it on Saturday

[R_nger]

Had a similar dilemma several years ago, a new sofa was "guaranteed" to fit...on delivery we were advised to take a saw to our bannisters, but eventually managed to get it through a LARGE upstairs window with the assistance of a number of ladders and burly chums. Of course, we then discovered an extremely tight squeeze through the interior doorways !

I'm sure none of this helps your current situation, but it might help to know that you're not the first and that solutions can usually be found.

How about converting the item to his and hers armchairs ? (Sorry !)

[mill4six]

You need to read Douglas Adams' "Dirk gently's holistic space detective agency" The sofa problem is well covered along with how to dispose of old fridges.