What to Do if Furniture Doesn’t Fit Through the Door

Moving in many cases is related to transferring not just your personal belongings but also some of your furniture. Unless of course you have sold it out in a sale you have organized or online before moving out. Sometimes the new home may be smaller or you may find it cheaper to leave the old furniture and sell it to the new owner instead of shipping it, especially if you are moving long distance. Whatever the reason, you see that you will need to buy new furniture. Usually modern buildings are made to fit the standard size furniture so whatever you decide to buy for your new home will most probably fit but this is not always the case.

Older buildings may need extra work to get your couch or table in. You may also have larger pieces of furniture like a king size mattress or a piano. And this is the key moment to note the that its size is very important. What every moving expert will recommend to you is to measure the furniture before buying it so that you make sure it will match the room it is meant for and fit through the door. Otherwise moving becomes a bit more complicated. Still, if furniture doesn’t fit through door there are ways out of it.

If you can prevent this situation from happening to you – this would be the best outcome. First of all, measure the size of your new home and the furniture that will go through it. This is how not only you will know if it will fit the room but also if it will go through the door. You also need to know the width of the hall and the staircase if the couch is going up stairs.

If you plan to purposely buy a larger piece of furniture then you can plan better how to deal with it and organize it in time. If this situation occurred to you without predicting it then take a look at these tips. What to do if furniture won’t fit through door?

What if the Furniture does not Fit the Door?

Here you will find a few possible solutions that you can use. Of course, every case is different so you need to decide which option is applicable for you. What is not advisable is trying to break or move walls – especially if you are renting the place. Some of the walls are made with a supportive function so breaking them or moving them can threaten the strength of the construction of the whole building especially if you don’t know which walls carry this function. However precious or expensive is your furniture getting it in must not be done in a dangerous way like this. The safe options that you have to choose from if your furniture doesn’t fit through door are listed below.

Measure the furniture when you by it and the door frame. This is how you can be sure that when your couch, table, etc. arrive, they can go through the door without a problem.

Before thinking of serious measures like hoisting or dissembling furniture try and see if it will go through the door anyway. Things like couches and sofas are soft and if you measure them according to their full length, width and height it may seem impossible to get them in. Anyway, try to get your sofa in vertically. Or think of different angles through which you can try to get it in and maneuver. If it doesn’t work, remember that a couple of inches from the soft area of the couch can be squeezed in through the door frame either way.

If furniture won’t fit through door you can take a large blanket and place your couch on it on its end. Wrap it up with the blanket and then carry it through the door. It will be easier to get it in like this. The blanket will also provide protection for the couch surface during carrying.

If you need just a little bit extra space see if you can take the door out of the hinges. Another potential problem solver is the door frame – it can add up another 1/2 inch, if necessary. It is fixed with nails – if you can get them out and get your furniture in, then you can place back the door frame and the door itself.

Perhaps this is the best option of all. First of all, you have experts who know how to move large furniture, dismantle it or assemble it – in general how to handle it safely. Since you are probably going to use a moving company for your moving anyway you can ask them to fix the problem. If this is a couch, cupboard or other stuff that can be taken into parts use the opportunity. 

Moving companies’ professionals do this all the time – they are used to the process so much that it is the most regular thing for them to do and while you worry how to handle the situation they’ll just come and do the job. In this case if your furniture won’t fit through door and you call a moving company you will have nothing to worry about.

In a case when your furniture won't fit the door you can count on movers - they have a routine in handling cases like this.

The movers can dissemble that and then assemble it back for you. Whether the movers take this approach or decide to get your furniture in through the window – they will advice you what to do. Save money on hiring movers for that, too. Asking the moving company to use more services from them is one of the ways in which you can ask them to give you a discount for you as well! 

Find movers in your state and contact them to see if they offer this service and at what cost it will be or just use the moving company that has organized your moving. If your furniture doesn’t fit through door your mover may be able to help you with it.

Think about calling back at the store from where you bought your new furniture or another furniture store in the area. Ask them if they can send someone out to dismantle it. They should point you towards such a person or be able to contact you with someone who can recommend such an expert to you.

A similar option is to remove just the legs of a table or chair to get it through if you can instead of taking the whole furniture apart.

Hoisting the furniture through the window or using a crane

This is the last option you can consider using when planning what to do if your furniture didn’t fit through the door – try with the window but measure it first of course. In this case you may have to hoist your furniture down from the roof or through the balcony. This is very dangerous to do if you do not have any experience in it so even though you can hire the equipment from such companies always call experts – use a moving company. They have the professionals and know the technology in which a furniture can be hauled up through the window if it won’t go through the door.

This approach is good but sometimes it can not be applied – the terrace of your neighbour is up stairs or for some other reason. In these situations you can also use a crane but again remember – for yours and your belongings’ safety only real professionals should do such work.