Save my sofa

April 11, 2007 3:57 PM

My movers finally arrived in Boston (Somerville) with my furniture and various items. Yay! But neither my sofa (my beloved red microfiber sofa, the whole reason I hired movers!) and my bed frame won't fit up the stairwell. Short of leaving them on the street is there anything I can do with them?

I only have a Honda, so I can't move these myself. The movers have been great about trying repeatedly - but it's clear they won't fit. Is there a service that I'm just not imagining that might help me out?

posted by FlamingBore to Home & Garden (22 answers total)

If you have a deck or porch (Irish battleship?), I have had success with rigging up a pulley system to hoist furniture up to it in order to avoid a narrow internal stairway.

/former Somervillian
posted by Rock Steady at 4:05 PM on April 11, 2007

Response by poster: RockSteady - sounds like they are going to do that with the bed frame, but they can't do it with the sofa. Thanks for the idea.
posted by FlamingBore at 4:07 PM on April 11, 2007

They can't because it's too heavy, or what?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:11 PM on April 11, 2007

In New York there's this guy and this guy. No clue if there's an equivalent in Boston, but it wouldn't surprise me.
posted by raf at 4:11 PM on April 11, 2007

No reason they can't hoist the sofa...movers do this all the time. I've lived in places where half the furniture came in and went out through the window. Check with other movers.
posted by desuetude at 4:11 PM on April 11, 2007

Does the sofa have feet that can be removed?
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:13 PM on April 11, 2007

Apparently New York can support six of these guys, so it wouldn't surprise me if Boston had an equivalent.
posted by raf at 4:14 PM on April 11, 2007

You could rig a haul system with a couple of pulleys and a rope. Scroll to the bottom of this page for ideas. Use a rope with a hefty safety margin of capacity. Use more rope or nylon webbing to attach the pulleys. All that is at the local hardware store (or your nearest well-equipped caver or rock-climber).
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:21 PM on April 11, 2007

Response by poster: No, feet can't be removed. The sofa is not *that* heavy - but the available space to pull it into the apartment will not accommodate the bulk of it.
posted by FlamingBore at 4:22 PM on April 11, 2007

I'm going to echo MonkeySaltedNuts ... even if they're only a couple of inches tall, removing the feet from a couch can make a huge difference. Almost all wooden couch feet screw off ... it's a lesson you only usually need to learn once.
posted by tastybrains at 4:22 PM on April 11, 2007

Response by poster: Yes, I would - if I could. It's a single piece sofa with metal legs that appear to be part of the frame. This sucks.
posted by FlamingBore at 4:34 PM on April 11, 2007

No, feet can't be removed

You need the right tool to remove the feet. It is called a saw.
posted by yohko at 4:36 PM on April 11, 2007

Oh, and my movers can remove my windows. Not sure how they do it, not being a window-expert myself. But the whole thing comes out.
posted by desuetude at 4:41 PM on April 11, 2007

Talk to these guys. Even if you're not moving a piano.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 4:45 PM on April 11, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The sofa is going to sit outside wrapped in plastic. Hopefully it will still be there tomorrow and I can find someone with a truck to come get it and take it to a storage facility.
posted by FlamingBore at 4:48 PM on April 11, 2007

Where in Somerville are you? Most places, there's no chance your couch will still be there tomorrow if it's out front. If you can, put it back between the houses or something clearly on the property and as far away from the sidewalk as possible.
posted by feloniousmonk at 5:43 PM on April 11, 2007

Most bedframes can be disassembled. As for the couch, my Grandmother's two-family house in Somerville had no front porch or back porch, so not even a piano mover would have helped get something upstairs. If something didn't fit, SOL. Sorry.
posted by longsleeves at 6:06 PM on April 11, 2007

It's supposed to rain/snow here tonight. Is there a porch or other cover you can put it under, rather than just plastic wrap?
posted by olinerd at 6:08 PM on April 11, 2007

If you don't want someone to steal it, make a sign for the couch that says BEDBUGS. No one will touch it.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:06 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Good news!

A. My landlord came home and parked in front of it to block site of it.

AND

2. Got a hold of my one and only friend in the area who has a friend with a trailer and is willing to come in from the sticks to pick it up and take it back to her place until I can put it in storage or something.
posted by FlamingBore at 7:33 PM on April 11, 2007

Seconding Death Wish Piano Movers. I have several friends who used them to have the exact same situation you describe resolved. Two of my friends had to have couches loaded into their homes through a second story window (in the same area as you - Belmont and Watertown). I don't know what their cost is, but I am sure they are well versed with your problem and can probably give you a general quote over the phone.
posted by pazazygeek at 10:15 PM on April 11, 2007

FWIW I had to bring a sofa in through a second story window and it was quite an experience ! I put my foot through my new neighbor's window and broke his lamp. Hello there! Nice to meet ya!

Getting that same sofa OUT was more fun because ... I just shoved it and enjoyed the brilliant cracking sound it made on the asphalt below.
Wheee!
posted by Hugh Jorgan at 8:21 AM on April 12, 2007