AIBU - Complain to housing developer that sofa doesn't fit in our house?

[binkyblinky]

Oh wise women of mums net, I need some advice please!

We recently moved into a new home on a brand-new development. It is a three story townhouse and the lounge is on the middle floor.

On moving in day we discovered that our sofa would not fit up the stairs and into the lounge. It is not a large sofa it is a modular sofa, the end units went up fine but the middle section which is a corner unit would not fit. The staircase is so narrow that we had to take apart the tops of our single Ottoman beds to get them up the stairs as well. This is in a large family home.

There are four identical homes to ours on the estate and every other person in those homes has had the same issue, with our neighbours sitting on beanbags for three months. The beanbag neighbours have had three sofa deliveries, all unsuccessful at getting up the stairs.

I feel angry that I had to throw away part of my sofa. The show home has a massive Corner unit in it. We were not advised when we moved in that staircases was so narrow and that we would have trouble fitting furniture up them.

If we were to team up and complain to the housing developer about the poor design, and that four families have been left with no seating, Would we get anywhere? Is there anything that we could do to ask for monetary compensation to buy sofas that you assemble at home? The other three families currently have their sofas in their kitchens while they try to solve this problem. It's ridiculous, being sold a £400,000 house And not being advised of this issue.

I can't see how they should say it is our fault, when they show home clearly written misrepresents the size of the furniture we required. Wisdom needed, thank you

Buy an ikea tiddafors sofa. They are a flat pack sofa and great for getting in and out of small spaces.

DH and I run a business OP in the furnishing trade, and you wouldn't believe how many phone calls we get on a weekly basis of people moving home that day and realising their sofa won't go in.......... and they expect us to drop everything and go and sort it

Our usual advice is to ring a glazing firm and get a window taken out! We've done quite a few difficult deliveries (including over balconies etc) and there is always a way.

I had a 3 storey house previously and I had measured the window on the Juliette balcony as a standby in case my furniture wouldnt fit up the stairs. Happily there was never a problem .
Its not just new houses though -my first house was a teeny 100 + year old terraced house with bendy skinny stairs and the bedroom windows had to be removed every time bedroom furniture was delivered in the street.
To paraphrase a MN favourite - its not a house problem its a furniture problem

I had the exact same problem when I lived in a 3 story townhouse. Bought two lovely two seater sofas in a sale, and the delivery men couldnt get them round the bend in the stairs even removing the feet. Ended up having to spend an extra £600 to buy ones that fitted. So disappointing!

Anyone who thinks it’s pointless learning pythagoras/geometry at school should read this thread.

I'd definitely try complaining, so they at least adapt their designs in the future, but it's a bit late for you to get any benefit out of complaining now your property has been built. Did you see it before you bought it, or did you buy off plan?

In the meantime, you may want to check out Nabru sofas. I bought a giant 'L' shaped sofa from them ten years ago that comes completely apart and is still going strong. (I didn't fancy putting it together myself, so I paid about £25 extra for their delivery guy to do it. In hindsight, it's really simple and I could have done it by myself.)

www.nabru.co.uk/

It’s a common problem, it is your responsibility to check your furniture fits. Otherwise you have to buy new furniture or pop a window out

I wouldn’t think you could get a sofa upstairs in most houses, unless it was very small. This would be an obvious problem with a living room on the middle floor to me. Sorry, not helpful, but I really can’t see you getting far with the developers. I assume you bought off-plan as well, as there isn’t always a show home and staircases won’t be included in measurements. But you can always push it and see if they will pay for lifting up and through windows?

When we lived in a converted terrace in Brighton we had a futon because the stairwell was so narrow. That was a hundred year old house, admittedly converted into flats in the 20thC, but it's not just new builds. At the time there was a company in Brighton that built sofas in situ.

Very frustrating op, an dishonest of the builder to furnish showhomes in furniture that you can't get up the stairs. We visited one where the doors wouldn't close in the bedroom because the bed they'd put in didn't really fit in the bedroom!

I grew up in a townhouse, the window had to come out for large pieces of furniture

Both friends I know with townhouses had the window removed to put the sofa in the lounge. I just thought that was common knowledge tbh.

Which I appreciate doesn't help you but I really don't think a complaint will get you anywhere.

Just moved out of a Victorian terrace conversion.

Sofa came in and out of the first floor window and why I insisted on paying lots for removers.

You cant really complain to the developer that you bought furniture that was too big!. If a living room was on the first floor I would definitely have measured the staircase very carefully. I really don't understand people buying off plan- surely its better to see what you are buying when you are spending that much.

What a nightmare! To be honest it's not just getting the stuff in that's the problem in a new build. We've discovered they put stuff ie doorways, light switches, plug sockets, radiators etc in the MOST stupid places. Like a radiator smack bang in the middle of the main wall in the room which stops you putting furniture there, or a doorway smack bang in the middle of a wall so that either side is too small for sofa, or plug sockets halfway down the room where you would never need it etc. Just so stupid. It's been infuriating trying to fit furniture and fittings around a ridiculous layout. They even put the central heating control panels in the middle of a wall instead of tucking them away out of sight or near a doorway. Not to mention the light fitting in the lower hallway directly in front of the stairs so that your head bangs into it every time you come down the stairs. No thought given at all.

@Squittly Thanks - that gave me a right proper chuckle

The house we rented before we bought current one had awkward entrance. We had to take our window out to bring in the sofa. I thought it was our mistake that we didn't measure, didn't even think about complaining.

YABU to buy a house on new estate. Tiny gardens, garage you can't fit any normal car in, not enough parking and this.

If people stopped buying this crap they would have to make them proper sizes.

@Squittly

Did you pivot?

🤣

This isn't new. Our last two homes, which were pre war, had doorways that wouldn't allow a modern sofa through. We buy ones in two parts and screw them together.

Afraid you're unlikely to get anywhere with the developers OP- what solution would you be after? A reduction in price? Demolishing the existing stairs?

I do definitely feel your pain though - we live in a newbuild townhouse built in 2009. We wanted to put a corner sofa in the spare room on the middle floor for guests to sleep on- measured to make sure the sofa would fit the room (which it did comfortably), paid to rent a van to collect it from the warehouse and then much to our despair we had exactly the same issue as you. We then had to pay again to hire the van the next day to return it so were nearly £100 out of pocket and no sofa 😫 New builds are unfortunately notorious for narrow awkward staircases as we now know!

@TomHardyAndMe

Anyone who thinks it’s pointless learning pythagoras/geometry at school should read this thread.

I am going to be quoting this to my teenager who currently hates pythagoras.

It's not just new houses that can have problems. Our house is over 100 years old, with a U-shaped staircase. The wardrobes we brought with us wouldn't go up it. One went in a window (after being pushed up a ladder ) and the other has stayed downstairs to house the vacuum cleaner.

We looked at quite a few bungalows with converted lofts, and I'd say to DH, "We wouldn't get our wardrobes up those stairs." Little did I realise we'd have the same problem in the one we bought.

I can also recommend sofa.com, who make qualify chairs & sofas, give excellent size information and deliver & put together beautifully.

The stairs need to be in line with building regulations. Past that it’s your responsibility to have furniture that fits, I’m sorry, I understand the frustration. But unless you’ve been mis sold in some way, Ie they told you it was x size when it wasn’t, or they have not complied sith the required regulations then you won’t have a leg to stand on.

Furniture not fitting is a common problem, in many many houses.

Leave a review stating as much on their website.