How do I get a sofa or a wardrobe through a doorway?

The five measurements to take before lifting anything, the diagonal trick that gets a sofa through a tight door, and what to remove when it still will not go.

Difficulty: intermediate
Time: 1 hr
Read: 5 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Measure five things first: the doorway width with the door off, the doorway height, the item's smallest cross-section, the hall width for turning, and the stair headroom. A sofa usually goes through a narrow door on its end, turned diagonally and rotated as it passes. If the smallest dimension of the item exceeds the smallest opening, no technique will work — take the door off, take the feet off, or dismantle.

Getting furniture through a door is a measuring problem pretending to be a strength problem. Almost every failure comes from measuring the item and the door but not the turn beyond it, or from measuring the doorway with the door still hanging in it. Ten minutes with a tape measure decides whether the next hour is easy or impossible.

Safety

Large furniture is heavy, awkward and moved on stairs and in doorways, which is where back injuries and crushed fingers happen. Two people minimum, three for anything on stairs, and agree who is calling the moves before lifting. Never take the weight of a sofa on your own on a staircase, and keep hands off the leading edges at doorways.

What you'll need

Tape measure
Screwdriver, for removing doors and feet
Two or three people
Blankets or cardboard, to protect floors and door frames
Straps or a furniture trolley (optional)
Camera, to record how anything comes apart (optional)

Step by step

Measure the doorway with the door removed.A door in its frame steals 40 to 50mm of the opening. Lifting the door off its hinges is five minutes and it is often the whole answer. Measure the clear width between the stops and the clear height.
Measure the item's smallest cross-section.Not its length or its overall size — the smallest rectangle it can present to the opening. For a sofa that is usually the height by the depth. For a wardrobe it is the depth by the width. This is the number that must fit.
Measure the turn, not just the door.The hall width beyond the door, and the width at any corner. A sofa that passes the door and then cannot turn in a 900mm hall has not solved anything. This is the measurement people forget.
Measure the stairs: width, headroom and the turn at any half landing.The half landing is where large items get stuck. Measure the diagonal available at the turn and the headroom under the ceiling above it.
Take everything removable off first.Feet, castors, cushions, arm covers, doors, drawers, shelves, handles and the back panel of some sofas. Feet alone are often 100mm, which is frequently the difference. Photograph and bag the fittings.
Take the sofa in on its end, diagonally.Stand it on one end, lead with the top corner angled into the doorway, push it through diagonally, and rotate it as the back half passes. This is the standard move and it works when a flat approach does not, because the diagonal of the opening is longer than either side.
Hook a wardrobe or a tall unit through, tilting as it goes.Lead with the top edge tilted in, walk it through, and bring the bottom up on the other side. For anything that will not fit at all, dismantle — take the back off, release the cams, and rebuild inside.
Protect the frame and the floor.Blankets or flattened cardboard over the door stops and the architrave, and along the floor. Cheap insurance against a repair job that costs more than the delivery.
Agree the moves before lifting.One person calls it and everyone else follows. Most doorway injuries happen because two people push in different directions with hands on the leading edge.
If it will not go, stop and remeasure rather than forcing.Forcing splits frames, tears upholstery and breaks fingers. If the smallest cross-section is genuinely larger than the smallest opening, the answers are dismantling, a window entry with proper equipment, or returning the item.

Tips

Measure before you buy. Retailers publish the smallest cross-section of sofas, and many sell versions with removable arms or backs specifically for this problem.
A wardrobe that fits through the door assembled is a wardrobe you can move house with. This is one of the strongest arguments against gluing flat-pack joints.
Sliders under the feet turn dragging a heavy item across a floor into pushing it, and they protect the floor at the same time.

Common mistakes

Measuring the doorway with the door still on — The door and its stops take 40 to 50mm off the clear opening. Take the door off and measure the real gap.
Measuring the doorway and not the hall beyond it — The turn after the door is where things get stuck. Measure the hall width and any corner.
Leaving the feet on — Feet are often 100mm and they are four screws. That is regularly the whole difference.
Forcing a stuck item — It splits frames and architraves and it crushes hands. If it does not go with steady pressure and a rotation, it is not going.

If it doesn't work

The sofa will not pass the doorway flat

Cause: Its depth exceeds the clear opening — Fix: Stand it on one end and take it through diagonally, rotating as the back half passes. Remove the feet first.

It got through the door but will not turn in the hall

Cause: Turn not measured — Fix: Stand it on end in the doorway and rotate it there, where there is more space above. If the hall is genuinely too narrow, dismantle.

It is stuck on the stairs at the half landing

Cause: Insufficient diagonal or headroom at the turn — Fix: Reverse it out — do not push on. Dismantle, or take it in through a window with proper lifting equipment and help.

The wardrobe fits nowhere

Cause: Built in a room it cannot leave — Fix: Dismantle it: back panel off, cams a half turn anticlockwise, panels apart along the dowel axis. Rebuild in the destination room.

Questions people ask

What measurements do I need before moving a sofa?

Five: the clear doorway width with the door removed, the doorway height, the sofa's smallest cross-section, the hall width beyond the door for turning, and the stair width, headroom and turn if it is going upstairs. The hall turn is the one most often forgotten.

How do you get a sofa through a narrow door?

Take the feet off, stand it on one end, lead with the top corner angled into the opening, push it through diagonally and rotate it as the back half passes. The diagonal of a doorway is longer than either of its sides, which is what makes it work.

What if the furniture genuinely will not fit?

Dismantle it — flat-pack comes apart, sofa arms and backs are often removable, and beds always are. Failing that, a window entry with proper equipment and help, or returning the item. Do not force it: split frames and crushed fingers cost more than the delivery.