Bed won't fit up stairs!

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c1aro

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Mother's house being sold - she has no need of furniture any more - so decided to get a van and transport a double bed sixty miles from her place to mine.

Get home only to find that there is no earthly way the divan base will fit up the stairs (stairs has two returns and also I have another stairs into the attic which is reducing the amount of headroom that is available.)

Had a brainwave: could I cut the wood in the divan base and this would make it "hinge" - in which case I am sure that it will fit upstairs. Has anyone ever tried this or am I fooling myself. It is only going to be a guest bed and much and all as I love my visitors, they will only be staying a few nights at a time (I suppose I'm saying that a good night's sleep isn't concerning me). But at the same time I'd prefer not the have a "Fawlty Tours" type scenario of the bed collapsing under them!

Any ideas?
Thanks.
 
c1aro said:
Mother's house being sold - she has no need of furniture any more - so decided to get a van and transport a double bed sixty miles from her place to mine.

Get home only to find that there is no earthly way the divan base will fit up the stairs (stairs has two returns and also I have another stairs into the attic which is reducing the amount of headroom that is available.)

Had a brainwave: could I cut the wood in the divan base and this would make it "hinge" - in which case I am sure that it will fit upstairs. Has anyone ever tried this or am I fooling myself. It is only going to be a guest bed and much and all as I love my visitors, they will only be staying a few nights at a time (I suppose I'm saying that a good night's sleep isn't concerning me). But at the same time I'd prefer not the have a "Fawlty Tours" type scenario of the bed collapsing under them!

Any ideas?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Don't suppose you can take out the window of the bedroom and take it in via a crane? (Might be expensive, though!)

Be careful also if you have a spring mattress - you are NEVER supposed to bend these to get them around a turn in the stairs, as you can bend the steel frame and basically wreck the support in the mattress completely.
 
Theoretically you don't need an expensive crane. Just some strong rope and some strong people to lower the bed out the window.

How'd the bed go in if it won't come out???
 
Gabriel said:
Theoretically you don't need an expensive crane. Just some strong rope and some strong people to lower the bed out the window.

How'd the bed go in if it won't come out???
Click to expand...

The issue as I read it, is going in, its already come out. i worked a J1 summer moving furniture. As people over there had balconys we had to once or twice do a hoist....straps to the item to be lifted.2 or 3 or more people lifting, (weight dependent) 1 or 2 people below trying to hold the thing out from banging against the wall.
In your case, average house in ireland, hoist is no good.

I never saw it done right, but I do know that some of the other lads on the job had done moves where the bed bases had been halfed, so it can be done.
 
The window option is out as the access there is even less that the stairs.

Yes I do know that bed bases come in two halves ie they are bought that way. I already have a kingsize bed and the base is in two separate pieces with steel bolts which are screwed into both sides to keep it steady - hence I was wondering if I could do a DIY job myself. The divan base just seems to be a series of planks (wrong terminology probably) which are reinforced down the middle on the top and bottom. These are then covered with material. (I took off the canvas bottom to get a better look). The mattress sits on this (no problem getting the mattress up stairs).

The problem is the fact that I have the second stairs to the attic and this is reducing the amount of headroom that is available - plus the two returns on the stairs.

I don't think I have any choice but to half it.
 
We ended up having to take down the banisters to get an old (non-dividing) double bed up the stairs many years ago. It's still in the spare bedroom - I guess it will go out the window in pieces some day.
 
Hello All

The husband is going to tackle butchering the base at the weekend. I think this is preferable to taking down the banisters. The bed didn't cost me anything other than the 60 mile trip.

This problem has only highlighted another dilemma - if ever we were to leave this house (God forbid) we would have to leave all the attic furniture in situ as that was taken up before banisters went in and also existing beds that are on the first floor that went in before the attic stairs was in place.

I will post early next week with update.
Thanks.
 
instead of wrecking the bed... give it away to SVdeP and buy yourselves a new one that comes in two parts.
 
Keep the mattress and get a new bed frame, that an be assembled upstairs.
a typical 4'6" should cost only 149 euro.
 
Update:
God Bless my husband and his patience.
He took the canvas sheeting that was on the bottom of the bed off and dismantled one end of the bed thinking that he could get an extra bit of leeway, but to no avail. The whole thing had to be dismantled and then reassembled upstairs. It took a few hours but now the bed is insitu and is stable. I know I could have given the bed away but the circumstances were such that I wanted the bed for sentimental reasons and giving it away would have been a last resort.

So, I suppose my advice is - it can be done but with a lot of effort and time.
 
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