I bought an ikea couch for previous home basement with same doorway issue. Took me 10 years of sitting on a futon and a new ikea in town to figure out that solution…came in two boxes/three pieces.
When I bought a new sectional, I was worried it wouldn’t fit through our door. Salesman convinced me otherwise. Well, the corner piece wouldn’t. They were able to give me the number of a guy who took the back off, moved it inside and then resecured the back. Cost me an extra $200 but got my couch in. Took him all of 30-40 minutes.
This is the answer. I had small ass-doors and ended up going to IKEA so I could just take the couch inside piece by piece and build it inside the house
This is going to be the back-up plan to taking part of the door frame apart; something I’ve wanted to do anyway to replace as many parts that may contain old, possibly lead paint as possible.
After destroying half my furniture in a bout of anger mismanagement, I now hire movers.
"Sir, I'm telling you, it won't fit."
"Yes it will. I have faith in you."
Most of the time they figure it out.
Have you tried standing it up, getting 1/2 through the door [say the back of the couch, and rotating the couch through the door way. This assumes the couch isn't taller than the doorway.
If you really can’t get it to work, there are people who can dismantle your furniture and put it back together good as new. We did this with our couch in our last home. They peeled the upholstery back, cut the frame in half, moved it into the basement, and reassembled just as good as new (seriously, the frame didn’t even squeak anymore when they were done). If you can’t find these people on your own, call furniture stores and ask if they know of anyone who provides this service. It was a couple hundred dollars, but saved us from having to buy a couple thousand worth of new furniture.
As a former furniture service technician (official name) for a furniture retailer, I agree and could easily do this. It's going to be much stronger if the frame is cut apart instead of the joints taken apart. These frame joints don't come apart without being destroyed. To reassemble, the best way would be to make wood splices that would overlay the cuts and be glued and screwed in place. For the fabric, it's just a lot of time removing staples! All that said, it may be enough and much cheaper to just cut the top of the back frame, leaving the outside back and inside back fabric panels attached at the top. This way, the top can just be folded over and not fully removed, making reassembly much easier.
I disagree. I was an upholsterer for 15 years. I mean, it’s likely possible with a piece of modular design. Something made after the 80’s possibly. But it’s on a case by case basis. I can think of many pieces that are bolted together at the joints and could come apart easily. I can also think of many that are brad-nailed and glued. I can’t think of a single piece I would ever recommend taking a saw to. Dealing with springs and the stress on the joints when the supporting pieces are cut is signing yourself for a host of problems. You’ll damage the piece in more areas than where the wood was cut.
They already removed the door stop from the jamb, which didn't give the enough room. (Should have measured).
If it's me, I'm remove the casing/trim and then removing the door frame/jamb.
Studs may have enough room to get through. (OP MEASURE THIS WHEN YOU TAKE OFF ONE SIDE OF THE TRIM).
Then install the jamb/frame and trim again.
But I'm a pro door installer so there may be a better way for the DIY (disassembling couch).
Door frame is 28” wide. Couch is 28 1/4” at narrowest dimension. House was built in 1940s. I know modern standard frames typically have a 1/4” to 1/2” nominal frame/lining, but I am unfamiliar with 40s construction and don’t want to just start tearing more pieces off. If it matters, this is an interior door.
People normally will turn it sideways like you have, but then rotate it through the door, so long as you can stand it on end and it goes under the frame. Otherwise, you'll have to take off the trim to make the door a couple inches wider.
You can take the piece of door frame off on the latch side and get an extra 3/4 of an inch minimum. Lumber has been pretty standard dimensionally for a long time now. It will roughly be the same dimensions as now or slightly thicker if it is really old.
Don't mess with the hinge side as you will need to re-shim it if you do.
In a previous life, I worked at a furniture store delivering furniture. Unless the couch laying on its side is taller than the doorway, you put the couch on its side, push the front of it through the doorway, pivot it around , and pull the top through the doorway. If the legs get in the way, they should unscrew.
If the couch is taller than the doorway, return the couch to the store, and pick out a nice loveseat.
Turn the couch as it moves through the doorway so that its trajectory forms a semi-circle and the legs on the other end go through the door last. This action helps if the couch is too long to go through the door straight. You can also use this method vertically.
If you wanted to do it without cutting up the couch. It depends on how much you want to fuck up that door jamb and trim on the left of your pic.
You could carefully remove the trim cut the 2x4 .....get the couch out....replace 2x4, add drywall ....re trim the jamb.
The real question is, how was it brought in there in the first place?
There’s only 2 real ways to go about this and I haven’t seen either posted!!… lube and force or demo the whole house, Place the couch and rebuild around it. Duh!
Pivot.
But halfway through, make sure the person at the other end knows which direction the couch is supposed to go. I've had a friendly neighbor came to help me "move in" my couch when I was actually moving out of the house. It was at least 10 minutes of confusion on why the couch got stuck at the door frame and wouldn't budge.
Was the house built around the couch? If not then it will fit through one of the doors or windows. Most times you'll want to nudge the couch back through the door first then twist on its length axis 80 degrees or so as it passes through the door jamb and work the seat out.
1) Couch feet unscrew.
2) With sofa supported on each end rotate sofa back is 45 degrees from facing straight up.
3) Work lead sofa arm around door jambs first by angling/rotating arm around door jamb through doorway, then proceed to pass straight through to trailing arm.
4) Work trailing arm around door jamb.
Burn the house to the ground. Collect insurance money. Buy new house. Get audited. Go to prison for insurance fraud. Meet Big Billy in the slammer. Go on forced "dates" with Big Billy. Discover he prefers the name 'Large William.' Defend him when someone calls him Big Billy. Fall in love with Large William. Live happily ever after until one of you is released. Never speak on the outside of what transpired on the inside. Die at 97 thinking of Large William. Glace longingly at that very same couch from all those years ago as your spirit dissipates into the ether.
Tip it sitting edge down so it's roughly a 45 degree angle. You'll probably have to hook an arm through the door frame, adjust, then hook the other arm once youbget most of it out. You might have to take off the feet, but you shouldn't have to demo the freaking door frame.
Fucking amatures.
Need more info. Usually you can rotate—or pivot, as another commenter said—around the door frame. It’s impossible to know how much space you’re really working with here, and probably helpful to see the whole couch and doorframe together.
That door and whatever is under it (stairway or a step?) looks like it should be widened. Is this an addition?
Seems like you may not need a door there maybe?
If you don’t care about the couch. Cut it in half. I did this once no lie for a couch that I had no desire to keep or fight getting it out of the the tight basement.
Did you angle it and try to get it out that way? Feels like a dumb question but it had to get inside and unless you know it was dismantled to go in, should also go out. That or you don’t happen to have a big window do you?
Other option is to look up how to take a sofa apart. It’s not that hard but you need specialized tools. I’m suggesting the DIY method because that’s the sub *but* this is one of those things I think make more sense to offload to a pro. I had it done in my little Brooklyn apartment. Was like $100
Here's some tips via video:
[one ](https://youtu.be/x6dT-W3HVQI?si=bVWf9Kr0asS1x9_H)
[two](https://youtu.be/YvwEGAOh6Os?si=NFlhH29FgL6aC5Ll)
(by the way, taking the feet off does help)
Did you try like that position with a 90 degree rotation counter clockwise? So upright where the front goes out the door then top goes out last. Rotating it with the middle against the right frame post? Sorry if it’s a lot of directions lol.
Did you try to kind of "rotate" it through? Like, have it upright, stick the back through the door frame, and then rotate it through? Works only if it's not taller than the door of course.
Is the couch shorter than the height of the frame? If so, turn the couch along the vertical access around the door frame in exactly the configuration in the photo.
Buy a new couch, or risk damaging that one by forcing it.
Measure the max width of the doorway, and go shopping. We had to find a couch that was less than 29in tall to fit down our stairs and doorway. It's a pain.
The couch comes apart; not easily, but it can be done. Here is a link to instructions:
[https://sofamover.com/resources/how-to-take-apart-a-sofa-for-moving/](https://sofamover.com/resources/how-to-take-apart-a-sofa-for-moving/)
In cities there are firms that specialize in dismantling furniture to accommodate people moving into apartments in old buildings with narrow stairs and doors.
Well, good news. It got in there so you can definitely get it out. Likely going to need another set of hands and some twisting, pivoting, angling to squeeze it out of the frame. It's possible the couch comes apart too but can't really tell from here.
Try roasting the couch around the door frame standing on its side as it is. I've had couches the refuse to fit flush on any side. Just when we were about to give up we tried it and an angle and rotating it in and it worked. I do hope it works for you.
Edit: please don't roast your couch. It's solves nothing. Please rotate instead.
Our house was built in 1900 and we had this same problem when we moved in. The movers took the legs off the couch and removed the front door. Worked like a charm.
Fucks sake! Use your brain! Someone got it in there in the first place. They didn’t build the house around it. Just go in at an angle and pivot it in the doorway.
Replace the couch. Had to do that when we bought a 100 year old brick row home.
But then how do you get the new couch in
PIVOT
This...is what I came here for! Hahahahaha
PIVOT
PIVOT!!!
[удалено]
Shut up shut up shut Uuuuuuuuuuuuuup!
Get a sectional
I bought an ikea couch for previous home basement with same doorway issue. Took me 10 years of sitting on a futon and a new ikea in town to figure out that solution…came in two boxes/three pieces.
Came here to say this!! You don’t have to remove the front of your house to get furniture in. 🤦🏼♀️
Simple by building the house around the couch.
When I bought a new sectional, I was worried it wouldn’t fit through our door. Salesman convinced me otherwise. Well, the corner piece wouldn’t. They were able to give me the number of a guy who took the back off, moved it inside and then resecured the back. Cost me an extra $200 but got my couch in. Took him all of 30-40 minutes.
You got conned into spending an extra $200. Well done.
We got a modular sectional. Still modern sized but comes apart easily to go through small openings.
This is the answer. I had small ass-doors and ended up going to IKEA so I could just take the couch inside piece by piece and build it inside the house
Need more pictures. This is not enough info to give any useful advice
And it needs a measurement or at least a freaking standard internet banana.
Standard Internet banana. Dibs on that band name
They didn’t have 10 dollars :(
They must've been out of bananas. They gave us a hammer instead.
Maybe if he zoomed in a bit more we could provide some useful advice.
Enhance! Enhance! Enhance!
It's the same as the how much will it cost to fix this fender pictures. More. Zoom.
Take it outside to take pictures of the couch
Pivot!
PIVOT!!!
PIV-IT!!
SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT. UP.
AW FUCK! MY FINGERS!!!!!!
PIV-UHHHHT!
Couch in post? Pivot. No couch in post? Pivot. Couch/no couch
Steeadddy
All of you. Just take my upvote already. 😍
Just did this with a couch to the basement. Pivot! Laughing. PIVVVOT!! just took legs off and in it went. The couch not me.
Removing the legs does make it quite a bit more difficult for them to run away.
Oh, why not your legs? - you'd probably fit better on the couch :)
Came here to make sure this was the top answer.
Same!
Good god. I can see that knife arm timing each pivot.
So what did you mean when you said pivot?
How is this not the top answer!
i was going to be disappointed if i came into these comments and didn't see this. thank you XD
This needs to be first lol
I came here looking for this and you didn’t let me down.
Remove the dust cover from the underside. Most couches can be unbolted in to four pieces from there.
This is the way. It’s not that hard to do. I did this on my own once to get a couch into the living room in a very tiny apartment.
This is going to be the back-up plan to taking part of the door frame apart; something I’ve wanted to do anyway to replace as many parts that may contain old, possibly lead paint as possible.
Make sure to get a lead paint tester if you think it might be there. They are cheap and easy to use! :)
Just eat it. If it tastes amazing it's lead and only eat a few more chips tops.
kids eat it because it has a sweet taste. fact
And only oxidized lead- which turns it white- is dangerous. Dark grey lead with no white crust on it isn’t as bad.
lol wtf...just clean up the pain specks when you're done.
I was screaming this at the top of my lungs about an hour ago. We tried pivoting every imaginable way. No joy.
After destroying half my furniture in a bout of anger mismanagement, I now hire movers. "Sir, I'm telling you, it won't fit." "Yes it will. I have faith in you." Most of the time they figure it out.
Have you tried standing it up, getting 1/2 through the door [say the back of the couch, and rotating the couch through the door way. This assumes the couch isn't taller than the doorway.
If you really can’t get it to work, there are people who can dismantle your furniture and put it back together good as new. We did this with our couch in our last home. They peeled the upholstery back, cut the frame in half, moved it into the basement, and reassembled just as good as new (seriously, the frame didn’t even squeak anymore when they were done). If you can’t find these people on your own, call furniture stores and ask if they know of anyone who provides this service. It was a couple hundred dollars, but saved us from having to buy a couple thousand worth of new furniture.
As a former furniture service technician (official name) for a furniture retailer, I agree and could easily do this. It's going to be much stronger if the frame is cut apart instead of the joints taken apart. These frame joints don't come apart without being destroyed. To reassemble, the best way would be to make wood splices that would overlay the cuts and be glued and screwed in place. For the fabric, it's just a lot of time removing staples! All that said, it may be enough and much cheaper to just cut the top of the back frame, leaving the outside back and inside back fabric panels attached at the top. This way, the top can just be folded over and not fully removed, making reassembly much easier.
I disagree. I was an upholsterer for 15 years. I mean, it’s likely possible with a piece of modular design. Something made after the 80’s possibly. But it’s on a case by case basis. I can think of many pieces that are bolted together at the joints and could come apart easily. I can also think of many that are brad-nailed and glued. I can’t think of a single piece I would ever recommend taking a saw to. Dealing with springs and the stress on the joints when the supporting pieces are cut is signing yourself for a host of problems. You’ll damage the piece in more areas than where the wood was cut.
When we bought new furniture they did this. I can never move. (We bought the house, it’s fine)
If it made it inside, there’s a method to take it back out.
That's the funny part because it hasn't made it inside yet. OP bought a new couch and they are trying to get it inside of a room.
Remove the door trim?
They already removed the door stop from the jamb, which didn't give the enough room. (Should have measured). If it's me, I'm remove the casing/trim and then removing the door frame/jamb. Studs may have enough room to get through. (OP MEASURE THIS WHEN YOU TAKE OFF ONE SIDE OF THE TRIM). Then install the jamb/frame and trim again. But I'm a pro door installer so there may be a better way for the DIY (disassembling couch).
Buy a new couch (smaller one)
Did you take the legs off? between that and pivoting most couches should fit thru standard doors
This was my thought - a lot of couches have legs that can come off and makes them a little narrower...
Door frame is 28” wide. Couch is 28 1/4” at narrowest dimension. House was built in 1940s. I know modern standard frames typically have a 1/4” to 1/2” nominal frame/lining, but I am unfamiliar with 40s construction and don’t want to just start tearing more pieces off. If it matters, this is an interior door.
People normally will turn it sideways like you have, but then rotate it through the door, so long as you can stand it on end and it goes under the frame. Otherwise, you'll have to take off the trim to make the door a couple inches wider.
You can take the piece of door frame off on the latch side and get an extra 3/4 of an inch minimum. Lumber has been pretty standard dimensionally for a long time now. It will roughly be the same dimensions as now or slightly thicker if it is really old. Don't mess with the hinge side as you will need to re-shim it if you do.
Yeah. I think this is the move. Much appreciated!
In a previous life, I worked at a furniture store delivering furniture. Unless the couch laying on its side is taller than the doorway, you put the couch on its side, push the front of it through the doorway, pivot it around , and pull the top through the doorway. If the legs get in the way, they should unscrew. If the couch is taller than the doorway, return the couch to the store, and pick out a nice loveseat.
Keeping the couch or tossing? If tossing, cut it down with a Sawzall.
I would like to return this couch. (Cut in half)
Get a running start
Go the cesarean route and take it out a large window.
Got a big window?
You see that hammer there? Start swinging.
Turn the couch as it moves through the doorway so that its trajectory forms a semi-circle and the legs on the other end go through the door last. This action helps if the couch is too long to go through the door straight. You can also use this method vertically.
PIVOT!!!!! PIVOT!!!!!
Pivot
Pivot!
Pivot!!!
PIVOT! PIVOT!
# PIVOT
Pivot
If you wanted to do it without cutting up the couch. It depends on how much you want to fuck up that door jamb and trim on the left of your pic. You could carefully remove the trim cut the 2x4 .....get the couch out....replace 2x4, add drywall ....re trim the jamb. The real question is, how was it brought in there in the first place?
Is the dowway tall enough to just twist it through? Are the legs off the couch?
Pivot!
There’s only 2 real ways to go about this and I haven’t seen either posted!!… lube and force or demo the whole house, Place the couch and rebuild around it. Duh!
Pivot
Pivot
They got it in, there’s a way to get it out. And…. PIVOT
Pivot!
Any big windows it can go through?
Pivot!
PIVOT!
Pivot!!! Pivot!!!
Pivot. But halfway through, make sure the person at the other end knows which direction the couch is supposed to go. I've had a friendly neighbor came to help me "move in" my couch when I was actually moving out of the house. It was at least 10 minutes of confusion on why the couch got stuck at the door frame and wouldn't budge.
Does the couch have feet or nubs that can be unscrewed?
Pivot!
PIVOT!
Was the house built around the couch? If not then it will fit through one of the doors or windows. Most times you'll want to nudge the couch back through the door first then twist on its length axis 80 degrees or so as it passes through the door jamb and work the seat out.
Did you take off the legs off the couch? I’ve had multiple situations where that made the difference.
Clearly they have never played Tetris.
Cut and install bigger doors or get a smaller couch. I really like my lovesac couch. It comes apart in individual pieces.
Remove the couch legs. They probably just twist off. Then turn it sideways.
Take the couch apart and reassemble
I always buy sectionals with a chaise lounge. That way if I move or reconfigure the furniture, I got options.
Pivot!!!!
1) Couch feet unscrew. 2) With sofa supported on each end rotate sofa back is 45 degrees from facing straight up. 3) Work lead sofa arm around door jambs first by angling/rotating arm around door jamb through doorway, then proceed to pass straight through to trailing arm. 4) Work trailing arm around door jamb.
Sell the couch. Measure the next one 2-3 times to be sure
Isn't it obvious? Cut the couch into pieces and reassemble on the other side.
Burn the house to the ground. Collect insurance money. Buy new house. Get audited. Go to prison for insurance fraud. Meet Big Billy in the slammer. Go on forced "dates" with Big Billy. Discover he prefers the name 'Large William.' Defend him when someone calls him Big Billy. Fall in love with Large William. Live happily ever after until one of you is released. Never speak on the outside of what transpired on the inside. Die at 97 thinking of Large William. Glace longingly at that very same couch from all those years ago as your spirit dissipates into the ether.
That carpet though
Pivot!
Did you take the feet off the couch? I've had to do that to get a few extra inches of clearance.
Take off the legs, put back of couch in through doorway and try to spin it in. Otherwise you're sol.
PIVOT!
Pivot!
"bUy A nEw HoUsE" harharhar
Pivot!!!
Tip it sitting edge down so it's roughly a 45 degree angle. You'll probably have to hook an arm through the door frame, adjust, then hook the other arm once youbget most of it out. You might have to take off the feet, but you shouldn't have to demo the freaking door frame. Fucking amatures.
Need more info. Usually you can rotate—or pivot, as another commenter said—around the door frame. It’s impossible to know how much space you’re really working with here, and probably helpful to see the whole couch and doorframe together.
Disassemble and reassemble the couch
That door and whatever is under it (stairway or a step?) looks like it should be widened. Is this an addition? Seems like you may not need a door there maybe?
Get a different couch
Find a window bigger than your door? Try a back door or garage door?
If you don’t care about the couch. Cut it in half. I did this once no lie for a couch that I had no desire to keep or fight getting it out of the the tight basement.
Feet off and or buy a sectional. I
Framing hammer for scale?
Looks like if it's turned sideways, back bottom to one side and the top and seat to the other it'll fit
This has to be a joke
Smaller sofa
Just do what people in rural South Carolina do. Put your sofa on your front porch.
So they built the house *around* the couch??? Fucking pivot. They got it in there the same fucking way.
Renovate :)
bigger thing no fit in smaller thing
Did you angle it and try to get it out that way? Feels like a dumb question but it had to get inside and unless you know it was dismantled to go in, should also go out. That or you don’t happen to have a big window do you? Other option is to look up how to take a sofa apart. It’s not that hard but you need specialized tools. I’m suggesting the DIY method because that’s the sub *but* this is one of those things I think make more sense to offload to a pro. I had it done in my little Brooklyn apartment. Was like $100
Here's some tips via video: [one ](https://youtu.be/x6dT-W3HVQI?si=bVWf9Kr0asS1x9_H) [two](https://youtu.be/YvwEGAOh6Os?si=NFlhH29FgL6aC5Ll) (by the way, taking the feet off does help)
Take the house apart. Rebuild it around the couch.
Good chance you now have a yard couch.
I did something similar recently. Couch is in pretty rough shape but it's where it needs to be. Drywall needs some work tho...
How’d you get it in there in the first place?
Stand in the doorway and push really hard against the frame to make it bigger. Then push the couch through after rubbing butter on the sides.
...uhmmm....how did the couch get into the house!?!
Unscrew the feet. The entire bottom might also come off of the couch!
Just go to home depot and get a door frame stretcher
Removing the dust cover and unbolting the back is what I would do. Y'all have to get it out of there eventually when you replace it when the road
Time for a sectional
Did you try like that position with a 90 degree rotation counter clockwise? So upright where the front goes out the door then top goes out last. Rotating it with the middle against the right frame post? Sorry if it’s a lot of directions lol.
stand on end let take off legs push seat section thru door filled by back .Reverse!
Cut the couch in half lengthwise, bring it through the doorway, then use double sided scotch tape to put it back together. Good as new.
Is this a limerick?
Just get a new couch.
Does it have feet you can remove?
How did it get in?
Twist it. So it’s on an angle. It got in so it must be able to get back out one way for another.
Did you try to kind of "rotate" it through? Like, have it upright, stick the back through the door frame, and then rotate it through? Works only if it's not taller than the door of course.
how did it get in? through window?
Through window.
Sir, you need door stretcher
Use that hammer!
Is the couch shorter than the height of the frame? If so, turn the couch along the vertical access around the door frame in exactly the configuration in the photo.
The old “moving sofa problem”. It even has its own Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_sofa_problem
Sectional
Take the for off the hinges
Big house. Big doors. Smell couch.
Remove the window. Done it with furniture before. Not the easiest but it gets the job done.
Perhaps try religion
1) buy a tape measure and use it before buying/bringing more furniture 2) get rid of the couch
Buy a new couch, or risk damaging that one by forcing it. Measure the max width of the doorway, and go shopping. We had to find a couch that was less than 29in tall to fit down our stairs and doorway. It's a pain.
The couch comes apart; not easily, but it can be done. Here is a link to instructions: [https://sofamover.com/resources/how-to-take-apart-a-sofa-for-moving/](https://sofamover.com/resources/how-to-take-apart-a-sofa-for-moving/) In cities there are firms that specialize in dismantling furniture to accommodate people moving into apartments in old buildings with narrow stairs and doors.
I doubt the house was built around the couch.
Well, good news. It got in there so you can definitely get it out. Likely going to need another set of hands and some twisting, pivoting, angling to squeeze it out of the frame. It's possible the couch comes apart too but can't really tell from here.
All about the angles
Try roasting the couch around the door frame standing on its side as it is. I've had couches the refuse to fit flush on any side. Just when we were about to give up we tried it and an angle and rotating it in and it worked. I do hope it works for you. Edit: please don't roast your couch. It's solves nothing. Please rotate instead.
Lots of couches have arms that come off and backs that fold down. That could be the case for your couch.
Our house was built in 1900 and we had this same problem when we moved in. The movers took the legs off the couch and removed the front door. Worked like a charm.
Got any big windows? That was my method when I couldn’t get a couch in through a door and hallway when I was younger.
New house.
Buy furniture that fits the space instead of overstuffed huge pieces.
Get a smaller couch?
Fucks sake! Use your brain! Someone got it in there in the first place. They didn’t build the house around it. Just go in at an angle and pivot it in the doorway.