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

@Sallylondon I wish I'd have heard of these! I've given the corner unit away to charity now, but I'll know for future! Thankyou!

Have you checked the staircase complies with the regulations?

Great post, jiggery Wokery.

Don't get the PIVOT hilarity. What am I missing?

@Parques

Don't get the PIVOT hilarity. What am I missing?

😂 If you have been in a property with difficult angles and large furniture you usually end up going up the stairs then shouting pivot pivot at the other person whilst carrying something really heavy trying to squeeze it at an angle it doesn't like! It sometimes works though!

We bought a fully furnished show house and all the furniture was normal size. The only thing missing was loo rolll holders in all the bathrooms/toilets. So the miniature furniture is not always true.

OP didn't you measure?!

I thought everyone knew show homes had every trick going to furnish them - special small furniture, sofas winched in through julienne balcony doors, bannisters removed to get furniture upstairs etc.

New builds are tiny and the 3 storey type are the worst.

@Parques
m.youtube.com/watch?v=n67RYI_0sc0

If you don’t want to click the link just type in Ross pivot into YouTube.

Don't get the PIVOT hilarity. What am I missing?

Friends

[quote binkyblinky]@BlueThistles thanks for the snarky comment. In the south east, in the area we live, this is cheap for a new, 4 bed family home. [/quote]
FFS I was actually DEFENDING you .....

sorry for sympathising with your situation...

Thanks! Get the PIVOT link now!

My sofa is a futon. It was delivered and built onsite in my last flat. Same with my double bed. Then rebuilt in my current house. I honestly think the movers didn’t need to do this, but it’s less hassle for them than manoeuvring very heavy furniture round awkward corners. So the solution is to buy furniture that you can built onsite.

The irony is the sheer luxury of the width of that staircase!

Yes, they don't take full size furniture, they're like dolls houses.
Just take all dimensions of entrances and take them with you/ look at them when buying furniture.
I think you'll get a face if you complain. Your home, your measurements, surely.

I once lived in an old terrace house and we had to get the larger furniture for upper level in via window pulled up by ropes. I remember the beds and wardrobes at least had to go in this way. We just used several strong male friends and did a BBQ and gave them a carton of beer each (was in uni days).

I feel your pain, we live in a tiny bungalow with the tiniest front door known to man, I have to buy furniture by size rather than choice as most stuff will not fit through the door. Buy yourself a good tape measure and check the measurements at least 3 times before buying.

We had this exact same problem with our old home. When we went to view the show home the developers said that they would be making the stairs wider and of course they didn’t. On the day we moved in we couldn’t get the sofa up the stairs and ended up having to buy a new one 😔we had to purchase a recliner as that’s all we could get up the stairs as they come apart. If you don’t mind me asking is your housing developer Keepmoat Homes?

We had this issue in a Victorian terrace. Couldn’t get a divan base or wardrobes up the stairs! The stairs were narrow and they had a huge support beam at the bottom, so you couldn’t PIVOT your furniture.

We ended up taking the wardrobes to pieces to get them upstairs, so they were wonky and shit from being reassembled, and after sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a month, we managed to get a slatted bed which came in a million pieces. It taught me to always check the staircase before moving.

I read this thread last night and then browsing my Pinterest this morning, an ad came up for Swyft sofas which seem to be designed for “modern living” too small narrow stairwells so might be worth looking at.

We used to live in a Victorian terrace with fairly wide stairs and we managed to get a divan bed wedged in the staircase when we taking it down. We ended up having to saw it in half.

I live in a townhouse, we had this problem with our sofa. We removed one of our juliette balconies to get it through the French windows.

We had a big couch and had unpick the fabric on the bottom and unscrew the arms then put it back together to get it into the house.

Just ask them- none of us can tell you. Write to the developers jointly.

Go on forums online for other new build estates made by the same and other developers and ask if anyone else has found this.

Always measure every door, hall and staircase.

The big sofa they used in the show home must have been fully dismantlable.

I also have a new build with living room on middle floor. Thankfully we had a build your own sofa so had no issue getting it in and will have to buy the same again.

Last year I bought a beautiful solid wardrobe and matching dresser for the dc. Got the wardrobe up to first floor but its too tall by about 2inch to go up to second floor.

I don't see complaints to the developers will help but as house designs are reused maybe see if there are sites for house design reviews.

I should check but about to dash into the day. Did anyone suggest removing bannisters yet? In my FIL's house that's what they had to do on a certain corner. Some of the bars can be unscrewed opening out the side option (For more pivot!)