Check the whole route, not one door
A sofa that clears your apartment door can still stop earlier: at the building entrance, in the lobby, at the elevator, on the stairs or at a hallway turn. Before you buy, look at every point the sofa has to pass, in order.
- The building entrance and the lobby
- The elevator, or the stairs and their landings
- Your hallway and its turns
- Your apartment door, and the room door if the sofa goes further
Our free Will My Sofa Fit? check gives you a Yes, Tight or No verdict before you order.
Walk-ups and small elevators
When the elevator can't take a sofa's length, it goes up the stairs. We have done exactly that: the elevator couldn't take the sofa, so it went up the stairs, taken apart as needed. A walk-up doesn't rule out the sofa you want. It changes how it gets in.
What makes a sofa harder to get in
It's the upholstery, not the price tag. When the back upholstery is its own panel, taking the back off is quick. When the back and arms are one continuous piece, more of it has to come off. Sleepers and recliners take more work because they are heavy.
Every sofa comes apart
Every sofa is wood with upholstery over it, or metal with screws and upholstery over it. With the back off, what's left is a U: both arms and the seat, and that fits through almost any NYC door. For a tighter entrance, we take out an L: the back plus one arm. How a sofa is taken apart at the door →
Two ways to plan it
Before delivery. Have the store send the sofa to our workshop. We take it apart indoors on a clean carpet, then carry it in and rebuild it in your home. The Workshop Fit →
On delivery day. We take it apart right where it is and rebuild it inside. Same day when you book before 7 PM; otherwise, the earliest open slot. The On-the-Spot Fit →
From our work
