How to Move a Couch Through a Small Door

Ross Sapir

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There’s no way around it: moving is a challenging task for even the best of us. Whether you live in a small New York City apartment or a spacious home, there are obstacles that make the moving process one that leaves individuals and families at their wits end. One of the most frustrating hurdles that often arise on move day is finding out, to your dismay, that your couch will not get through the door easily. Determining just the right maneuvers to get your couch out of the door, down a narrow hallway, or into an elevator often requires a great deal of time and physical effort. However, with the right preparatory steps, you can make it fit with minimal exertion.

Put the Measuring Tape to Use

The most obvious step that many forget when attempting to move a couch through a small door, is measuring the dimensions of the couch. Often, it is not until you’ve already attempted a great deal of pushing and wiggling before this step occurs. Take out the measuring tape and determine the length, width, and height of your couch. If your couch has legs that cannot be detached, make sure to include their height in the overall length of the furniture. The height of the couch is the distance from the floor to the top of the couch’s back.  If the legs can be detached, do so now and measure from the bottom of the couch to the top of the couch back.

After collecting the measurements of the couch, you will need to measure the opening of the door through which the couch needs to go.  When dealing with particularly narrow doorways, this is a crucial step in determining just how you’ll situate your couch to successfully fit it through. Using a tape measure, gather the height and width of the door. Make sure to measure each of the doorways in your apartment or home that the couch will need to go through. It is often the case that different doorways have different dimensions, despite being in the same home.

Problem Solving: How to Handle Dimensional Obstacles

After you’ve measured your couch and small doorway, you may need to address obstacles due to differences in their dimensions. If you find that your couch is both too wide and too tall for your door, then the length of the couch will need to be shorter than the door’s height in order for a successful move. Keep in mind that you may be able to gain addition room by removing the actual door from the doorway.  Also important to note is the amount of space you have on either side of the doorway to maneuver the couch through. There should be at least a foot of space on either side of the doorway.

If you find that the back of the couch is taller than the width of the door, the couch’s width will have to be narrower than the door’s width. If this is the case, you will be able to successfully slip the couch through the doorway by turning it so that the couch back is facing the ceiling.

Make the Move

If you’ve accounted for the dimensions of your couch and the door, it is time to move the couch. First, make sure to remove all of the couch’s cushions. This will make moving easier as you won’t have pieces falling in your way, and will lighten the weight of the couch. You also might consider placing cardboard down on carpeted surfaces. This will enable you to easily slide your couch on this surface without getting caught. For the moving of the couch, start by standing your couch up on one end with the bottom of the couch facing the doorway. Next, situate the couch so that the back and bottom form a V. Together with a helper, attempt to slide the couch through the door, ensuring the couch’s seat is facing inside. As you slide the couch through the door, let it wrap around the doorway.

Call in the Professionals

If you’ve tried all the techniques recommended and still have no luck, it may be time to reach out to a professional moving company. Our team of skilled movers will be able to determine just the right angles to get your couch out of the narrow doorway, or will have the capabilities to disassemble and reassemble your couch as needed.

Roadway Moving is the leading moving company in New York, helping families safely and efficiently move their valuables in a timely and affordable manner. Our expert crew of movers specialize in solving even the most complicated moving challenges, particularly that of maneuvering large furniture through small spaces. From determining the right angle to get a couch through the doorway, to dismantling and reassembling furniture that is just too big, we have the moving solutions that meet your unique needs.

Contact us today to receive a comprehensive quote and discuss the details of your move. We guarantee your satisfaction, but you don’t have to take our word for it. Simply browse our online reviews to see why clients trust us as they transition to their new NY home.