Can I replace my fridge with my narrow staircase?

June 25, 2018 9:30 PM

I live in a three-floor townhome with the kitchen on the second floor. The townhome is modern (circa 2010) and contains a 36" standard depth fridge. I bought the townhome after construction and I have no idea how the fridge got there. I want to replace the fridge, but have no idea how it can get to the second floor. The staircase from the first floor to the second floor is narrow and has two 90° turns in addition to a third 90° turn from a small entrance to the townhome to the staircase. What can I do?

I think the worst place is the "middle" turn of the staircase, where it is 82" from side to side around a 180° corner (36" on either side, with 10" in the middle). Is this sufficient to take a standard sized 36" (or really, 35.5") fridge around the corner? I'm already assuming I'll have to take off the railings in the staircase.

I'm incredibly non-mechanically-inclined and I don't know what measurements to figure out if this is possible or not. I'm perfectly fine with hiring any number of people to take the fridge up the stairs. However, I don't want to be stuck with a fridge in my garage and no way to get it up to the second floor. Any tips on making sure this is possible? Should I negotiate the fridge sale contingent on getting it to my kitchen?

Am I radically overthinking this? I assume I am because this is a new house and code would not allow a house that can only fit a fridge when brought in during construction...

posted by saeculorum to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

Any chance it came in through a window? A range of solutions for moving a sofa through a window here on yelp.
posted by metahawk at 9:37 PM on June 25, 2018 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Wow, that was a detail I should have put in! There is a balcony that I could put the refrigerator through if necessary, but I'm trying to figure out if I should plan on using that balcony as my default plan or whether the staircase is an option. I'd rather not have to get a scissor lift or equivalent just to move a fridge unless necessary.
posted by saeculorum at 9:40 PM on June 25, 2018

Often they can take the doors and handles off when they deliver it, which should give you a couple inches of wiggle room.
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 9:48 PM on June 25, 2018 [5 favorites]

Are there landings at the turns? Are they deeper than the fridge? If so, it'll probably work with the doors off. You can verify this with some tape, a box cutter, and some cardboard, of course. Assuming that you are certain the height won't be an issue, it shouldn't be too hard to create a square of cardboard the same size as the fridge.

Otherwise, measurements and math (along with a better description of the space) will be required.
posted by wierdo at 10:24 PM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]

And if you can move this up the stairs, and even if it is a small fridge, get at least one other person - this is starting to sound like contortionism. Good idea wierdo.
posted by unearthed at 10:47 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I might even want to construct a cardboard box the size of the fridge, for a risk free test run.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:22 AM on June 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

I assume I am because this is a new house and code would not allow a house that can only fit a fridge when brought in during construction

That's my assumption, too.

My sister and I have moved a full-sized upright piano up stairs that are tighter than yours sound. Professional movers/appliance delivery workers should be able to do the job.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:17 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I just bought a new fridge for my second floor apartment. The locally owned appliance store (where the price was the same as Home Depot) delivered it up the straight-shot except for a landing at the top and a 90 degree turn stairs and hauled away the old one. The people who move appliances around for a living tend to be experts. It's well worth paying the extra to get them to do this, in my case it was just $35. And don't be tempted to buy a used fridge, they're so much more energy efficient these days it's not worth buying used.

To my surprise the 28" fridge I ordered turned out to actually be 28.5" wide and just barely fit, I should have gone to the store and measured it, who knew. So measure yours! They haul them up so that the fridge front or back is facing the hauler, in other words they don't put them sideways on the dolly so it's the width measurement that's most important, not the depth. (Think of it as a car driving up the stairs...)

I did have to take off a door and move some furniture. Instead of building a box the size of the fridge cut out some cardboard the size of its footprint and walk it up as if you were carrying a whole fridge. The only thing this won't calculate for is the height of your ceilings, but unless your fridge is exceptionally tall this shouldn't be an issue..
posted by mareli at 5:59 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

This is absolutely a case of hire the pros. I've watched professional appliance delivery people install a couple fridges in different places, and they're very, very good at it. I still have no idea what minor deity they bribed to get our current fridge in place when our kitchen was renovated in 2016.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 6:57 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]

nthing Professionals. They got a washer & dryer into a tiny nook in my house I could have sworn would only take a dryer, & hooked them both up. I still don't understand the black magic they used to do so. They're worth the money.
posted by wwax at 10:13 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

Hire professional movers. They are used to this type of stuff and have all the right kind of gear.
posted by RhysPenbras at 11:20 AM on June 26, 2018

Response by poster: For those who are curious, I had a fridge delivered.

Turned out the delivery truck couldn't park on the street I live in and I had to reschedule delivery for mid-August. It was quite an anticlimactic day given my question.
posted by saeculorum at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]