Every couch comes apart
"Comes apart" can mean two things.
The first is a sofa made to come apart. Where a piece is made to come off, with clips, with screws or as a module, we take it off that way instead of cutting.
The second is every other sofa. There is always a joint area you can release to take a part off. The back can come off. So can the base, and so can an arm. How easily it comes apart depends on the upholstery. Inside, sofas are genuinely built about the same, and what mainly changes is the way we lift the upholstery. Sleepers and power recliners add a mechanism, covered below.
To get a back off, we usually cut the wood frame with a saw, right at a joint or just before it. We put it back together with wood pieces, steel plates or both screwed across the cut, and we reattach the upholstery.
This is how the work is done by two generations of one family: Julian, 17 years; his father, more than 35.
Not every aluminum frame comes apart by unscrewing. One that does not has to be cut, which is a different kind of job. Send us the link or a photo before you book.
Look at the back: one panel or one piece
A picture of the back of the sofa shows whether the back's upholstery is separate or wraps around as one piece.
The upholstery divides. The back's upholstery sits on top of the other upholstery, and there is an edge that pops out. The back is separate, so the back comes off.
The edge runs all the way around. The upholstery is one piece, wrapping to the arms. Taking off the back would mean lifting a lot of upholstery, so we lift the upholstery at the bottom all the way around and take off the base instead. It is easier, and it does almost the same job as taking off the back.
Most of the time, taking off the back or the base is enough for the sofa to fit.
When the back comes off, what is left is a U: both arms and the seat base. When the entrance is tighter, we take out an L instead: the back plus one arm, leaving the base and the other arm.
This is what we ask for: the product link, or a picture of the back of the sofa. From the pictures we give a price and the scope of the work, and the exact take-apart is worked out on site.
Type by type
Sectionals and corner sectionals
A corner piece has a back that turns a 90-degree angle instead of a straight back. On a corner piece the method is essentially the same as on any other sofa. We lift the upholstery and make four cuts close to the edges, and the back lifts out as one 90-degree piece.
More on sectionals: Do sectional couches come apart?
Sofa beds and sleepers
A sofa bed is a little different. The bed mechanism comes out first. Screws hold it on the sides. We release them and pull it out, which leaves an empty space in the middle. It comes out from the bottom side, not the way it would normally slide, so it doesn't scratch or catch the fabric.
The mechanism is then tied so it doesn't open on its own. It is carried to the blankets already laid out where the sofa will be put back together.
Then we lift the upholstery and, most of the time, take off the back. Very rarely, taking out the front board is enough. That is when the front upholstery lifts easily and it is clear the sofa will go right through. It depends on how complicated the upholstery is.
A sleeper is heavy, and that is why it costs more. For price, see Sofa disassembly in NYC.
Power reclining sofas
A power recliner is always unplugged first. Flipped over, it usually has two long metal bars holding all three seats together. Releasing them turns the sofa into three chairs.
On most recliners the backs come right off. Each back has two clips: we lift the clip, then slide the back out. What is left is the seat.
The motor is usually attached to the seat and to the metal bar, so once the bar is released the motor is loose. We tie it so it doesn't move around during the carry. The cables are usually zip-tied to that bar. We cut the zip tie and gather the cables together so they don't swing around.
Putting it back is the reverse, with the zip ties going back where they were.
A recliner is heavy, and that is why it costs more. For price, see Sofa disassembly in NYC.
Modular sofas
On a modular sofa, usually no disassembly is needed. If it doesn't fit and the pieces can come off, we take the pieces off and carry them in separately, with no cutting. We only cut if it is necessary.
Slipcovered sofas
A slipcover comes off before any work starts. Afterwards, it goes back on.
Leather and other fabrics
Leather is the same method for the most part. The work is done carefully, as on every sofa. Whatever the fabric, it is usually fabric over cushioning over wood.
The path decides what comes off
The same sofa can be a different job in a different building. The path to where the sofa is going is the big decider of which piece comes off.
Most problems can be seen. When it looks close, we measure the length and the depth, to account for the stairs and turns and to see whether the sofa needs taking apart at all.
The route matters from the lobby to the apartment. We ask about it. If the tight spot is the elevator, is the apartment right there? Is there a turn into the apartment? Are there turns on the way? Some New York apartments are very narrow.
A sofa can clear the elevator with only the back off and still need a couple more inches at the apartment. So we check every turn on the way and at the apartment, and we ask for photos or video of the full path, not only the tight spot. The route has its own guide: check the whole route.
Arms. An arm comes off for tight turns with long sofas. It usually does not come off alone. It normally comes off together with the back or the base. When the path needs an arm off, and the arms have screws while the back and base do not, we take off both arms. That can give enough wiggle room to stand the sofa up and turn it in.
When only an arm needs to come off, we have to see it on site. One case is an arm sitting just above the door or the turn: the arm comes off, the sofa turns in, drops down, and goes on to the next room. If a spot is still tight with the back or base off, the arm comes off next. In a very narrow spot, both arms come off.
Low ceilings. With a low ceiling, the piece that comes off can still be the back. Say a sofa is going up to a second floor and can never be stood up on the way. With no back, the arm can turn into the apartment, and the sofa can start going in diagonally. Nothing forces it against the other side of the hallway wall. It keeps to the right or the left, depending on where the door is, and slides in. The arm goes in first.
How it goes back together
A back that has been cut free goes back where it came from. It slides into its spot and is clamped in place. We start at a corner, usually a top one. Usually a wood piece goes under the cut, and steel mending plates go across it on the top side. Steel L brackets go in the bottom corners. Screws hold the plates, brackets and wood. A base or an arm goes back in the reverse of how it came off.
Most sofa frames are held together with glue and staples. With the screws and plates added across the cut, the joint is more sturdy than it was before.
The upholstery is reattached in reverse order, pulled firm so the front looks the way it did before. Once it is back together and in place, you look over where we worked and sit on it.
There is more in How a sofa is taken apart at the door. The same page answers Should you take it apart yourself?
Buying a sofa and want to know first?
Send us the link before you buy. The AI Quote Tool shows the price range to make the sofa fit, from a product link or a photo. This is what we ask for:
- A photo of the sofa.
- The product link, or a photo of the back of the sofa.
- A photo or video of the tight spot, and of the full path to the apartment.
There are two ways to get it done.
The Workshop Fit. The sofa comes to our workshop. The store sends it to us, or we pick it up from the store. It is taken apart indoors on a clean carpet in our workshop. The pieces are wrapped in blankets and plastic, brought in wrapped, and unwrapped inside. It is put back together in your home.
The On-the-Spot Fit. The sofa is taken apart where it is, anywhere with enough space: the lobby, the hallway or the sidewalk. Blankets always go under it. It is put back together inside.
For prices, see Sofa disassembly in NYC. If the sofa is already at the door, The On-the-Spot Fit takes it apart where it is, and How a sofa is taken apart at the door shows how it goes.
The taking apart and the putting back together are ours either way.
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