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Original poster

Help! I have a giant painting trapped in my house!

199 replies

steamedxmaspudding · 27/09/2024 09:38

This will out me to anyone who knows me but...

I have a giant oil painting upstairs in my house (about 2m square) which I have to move as we're having some building work done in a couple of weeks. Only problem is, it won't fit down the stairs! Or into any of the other rooms on that floor. What the hell do I do? I love it and really don't want to damage it. I have been in touch with various art conservators/reframers etc but none of them have been able to help or even offer any advice.

Current plan is to take it off the frame (it's not framed under glass, just canvas stretched over wood) and then just bend it a little bit to get it downstairs but I'm really worried about the paint cracking 😫

Any ideas gratefully received!

OP posts:
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Original poster
steamedxmaspudding · 27/09/2024 10:47

BuzzieLittleBee · 27/09/2024 10:40

Hmmmm. If you've already been in touch with experts, it's not likely that anyone here will be able to suggest anything they haven't done.
Has your list of experts included removal companies? (you only mention art-related people in the OP). They would have a POV, as one day it will have to come out of the house!

By far the most sensible suggestion is one lots of people have made - to wrap it well and lean it against one of the remaining walls. You can't be removing all 4 walls in the room it's in?!

Unfortunately none of the experts have actually suggested anything, I just keep getting passed from pillar to post, from restretchers to conservators to other conservators... I think they're probably used to much grander projects!

Good idea to contact some movers though as I hadn't really thought of that, they might have some ideas.

OP posts:
CleftChin · 27/09/2024 10:47

Oh, I see the pics now.. no.. probably not ceiling then!

Original poster
steamedxmaspudding · 27/09/2024 10:47

Bjorkdidit · 27/09/2024 10:45

I'm only here because when I started to read the thread title I thought it said 'help I have a giant panda trapped in my house'.

But now I've read the thread, that might be easier to deal with.

I wish it was a panda! That would be so much more fun...

OP posts:

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Art & design
Grammarnut · 27/09/2024 10:48

commonground · 27/09/2024 09:40

I mean, the obvious question is... how did it get up there in the first place?!

Getting something upstairs is often easier than the reverse. Also, the hall layout may have changed?

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:48

TickingAlongNicely · 27/09/2024 10:35

It doesn't need to be 2x2 metres paintings are flattish. So just one dimension bigger than 2m

Show quote history

Not even that. You need a hypotenuse of just over 2m. Rough maths that’s a window 1.5m x 1.4m

commonground · 27/09/2024 10:49

Would it not go back into the end corridor room and then approach the stairs from there? Or is the rake too steep?

It's a really lovely painting. Hard to tell from a photo but the paint looks quite flat so you might be OK with it not cracking.

It would be lovely as a whole wall mural. Perhaps keep it off the frame and paste it to the wall when your walls are ready?!

artictern · 27/09/2024 10:49

Bjorkdidit · 27/09/2024 10:45

I'm only here because when I started to read the thread title I thought it said 'help I have a giant panda trapped in my house'.

But now I've read the thread, that might be easier to deal with.

I read that as well…wishful thinking on my part 😂

WonderingAboutBabies · 27/09/2024 10:50

If it can't go down the stairs, can it go up??

DancefloorAcrobatics · 27/09/2024 10:50

I think you need an expert to come to your house and assess for value & condition- if necessary pay for the call out. Art dealers, galleries or specialist transport companies...
Then decide what to do with it, either take it out of the frame or move the banisters.

It looks in good condition in the pictures, but once you take it out of the frame, all hell can break loose! You might end up with a hefty invoice. So banisters could be the cheaper option in the long run.

Boidont · 27/09/2024 10:50

If you can’t do what @realalala suggested, I’d be more inclined to cover the artwork? And let everyone know to be careful? Not ideal but all I can think of

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:52

steamedxmaspudding · 27/09/2024 10:36

OK, this is really going to out me 😂

Hard to take a good pic of the painting but this is it and the space it's hanging in!

I know it looks like it should be able to go into that room at the end but I promise you it won't, we have tried. It's too tall to go through the doorway except at an angle and the banister post gets in the way.

I should add -

  • DH hates the painting and would gladly see it chopped up and put in the bin so is not really on board with me demolishing parts of the house to get it out
  • Even if we managed to get the builders to work around it somehow, we're hoping to move house next year so I will have to get it downstairs at some point!
  • Taking down the banisters would basically mean dismantling the staircase so I'm not really sure that's an option at all, though I might ask the builders about it

Yikes. I can usually “see” how something will fit with alarming accuracy (hanging grown up in a house raised from the street by a flight of stairs with a turn in it and a house full of musicians). But I don’t think this would even work with the bannisters out.

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:52

Boidont · 27/09/2024 10:50

If you can’t do what @realalala suggested, I’d be more inclined to cover the artwork? And let everyone know to be careful? Not ideal but all I can think of

There isn’t going to be a wall to put it back on.

Demonhunter · 27/09/2024 10:53

You could try asking on one of the sub/r for art. There are some that take art seriously and don't stand for trolls and someone there may be able to advise?

MumonabikeE5 · 27/09/2024 10:54

Make a hole in the floor/ceiling?

Bgfe · 27/09/2024 10:55

Love this thread. Reminds me of DH and my son trying to fit an extra height PAX wardrobe in a room and son yelling at the top of his voice ‘You have to consider the hypotenuse’!

Sorry not helpful. I vote Banisters.

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:55

MumonabikeE5 · 27/09/2024 10:54

Make a hole in the floor/ceiling?

Likely to be beams/pipework running under there.

DogInATent · 27/09/2024 10:55

Chop a slot out of the top of the doorway, reinstate afterwards.

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:56

Bgfe · 27/09/2024 10:55

Love this thread. Reminds me of DH and my son trying to fit an extra height PAX wardrobe in a room and son yelling at the top of his voice ‘You have to consider the hypotenuse’!

Sorry not helpful. I vote Banisters.

I use my maths every single day for something. Those memes about algebra never coming in handy are very base. 🥸

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:56

DogInATent · 27/09/2024 10:55

Chop a slot out of the top of the doorway, reinstate afterwards.

What doorway? It’s a staircase!

Nothinglikeagoodbook · 27/09/2024 10:57

I like the idea of wrapping it then attaching it to the ceiling.

DogInATent · 27/09/2024 10:57

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:56

What doorway? It’s a staircase!

Show quote history

The very obvious one in the photo that the OP says it won't go through except at an angle.

ItTook9Years · 27/09/2024 10:58

Nothinglikeagoodbook · 27/09/2024 10:57

I like the idea of wrapping it then attaching it to the ceiling.

The OP says it has to go downstairs because there won’t be a wall to put it back on where it is.

And does that hallway even look wide enough to do that?!

DollopOfFun · 27/09/2024 10:58

Make it into a jigsaw puzzle. You'll get it out, plus be entertained for days putting it back

Vatqueenquestion · 27/09/2024 10:58

It is hideous [sorry]. Hope you get it out in one piece. From the photo, the canvas and paint look fairly thin/flexible, which might make the light rolling mentioned earlier most suitable?

SofaFromRomania · 27/09/2024 10:59

It looks from your photo like you could feed it upwards against the banisters to the stairs to the 2nd floor, hold it flat against them as you guide the bottom of the painting over the 1st floor banisters then drop it carefully dow in the gap between the stairs rather than trying to take it down the stairs themselves?