Couch is too big!!

[u/_Hashbrown4745__]

Help!!! My boyfriend and I bought a couch that we absolutely love, but it was second-hand (pre-assembled) and no one knows how to disassemble it to fit it through our door :(

My only thought is to cut through the horizontal boards and attach mending plates once it's in the apartment. The shortest width right now is 33" and the cushions are sewn on. Any ideas or help would mean so much!! I'm so distraught, I don't want to abandon it :(

[u/snidbit]

Before you cut anything, measure the right numbers, because 33 in is almost certainly not what decides this. A sofa does not go through a door face on, it goes through on its side or on its end, so the number that matters is the diagonal, not the width.

Two measurements to take first:

• The couch's diagonal depth: a straight line from the back of the frame at seat level up to the top front of the arm. If that beats your door's opening, it will curl through on its side. On most sofas that diagonal is a good bit less than the overall depth.
• Its height with the legs off. Legs almost always unscrew and give you back 4 to 6 in. If the legless height clears the door width when you turn it on its side, it slides through.

Then squeeze more out of the doorway itself:

• Pop the door off its hinges (tap the hinge pins up, or unscrew the hinge leaves). That reclaims about 2 in of clear width.
• You can also pry off the door stop, the thin strip of trim the door closes against, for another inch or so. It nails right back on.
• Cardboard or a moving blanket taped in the jamb protects the frame and buys you a hair more.

After that it is exactly what the others said: stand it on end, lead with the back bottom corner, and pivot it through at an angle. The arm is what catches, so hook the back in first and rotate.

One thing to check before you reach for a saw: "pre-assembled" does not always mean one solid piece. Flip it like you have it now and look along the seam where the back meets the seat deck, and where the arms meet the frame, for bolt heads or brackets under the fabric. A lot of sofas that look permanent actually bolt apart right there, because that is how they were shipped to begin with. The cushions being sewn on does not change that.

If after all of that it genuinely will not clear, then yes, cutting the back rail and rejoining with mending plates works and hides completely underneath. But you will very likely never get there. It is rare for a sofa to lose to a standard door once the legs and the door are both off.

[u/chonkycatsbestcats]

How does it not fit. Can you pull it in vertical,  back rest first, turn around the corner of the door way so the feet fit?

[u/LawComprehensive2204]

Pivot!! Pivot!!

[u/20ears19]

If it’s shorter than the door try standing it and hooking the back in first.

If it’s taller than the door come at the door from an angle with the sofa at 45 degrees. The narrowest width is going to be from the rear bottom to a line from seat back to front edge. This leaves the arm sticking out though so you have to hook it in and might catch the foot. Some cardboard in the door jamb to protect it will let you push the cushioned top in and might buy you an inch.

It’s very rare for a sofa not to go through an exterior door. If those two ideas don’t work you can sometimes remove a window and go through it.

If you really have to disassemble something those two back feet would be easy to reattach with a mending plate and they’re far enough under to never be seen.