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Original poster

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

259 replies

binkyblinky · 01/03/2021 19:20

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

OP posts:
cherish123 · 02/03/2021 17:24

I actually think YANBU. I think the developer has cut costs to fit more houses in. There isn't that much variation in sofa size.

bondgirl76 · 02/03/2021 17:56

So..my son is a removal man..and they have problems all the time.On. friday..they had to take a sofa through a window..happens all the time.That was going onto a 3rd floor.Houses today are not built to accomodate large furniture...Tight stairways and halls...

TomorrowIsAnotherDae · 02/03/2021 17:59

Hi OP. FWIW I don’t think you are BU.

I see you say you’ve sorted it now, but in case anyone else is in a similar situation DFS sent delivery men to my house prior to me ordering the sofa I wanted (I’d had a problem with another furniture supplier) and they looked at the space and confirmed they would be able to get it into my living room without any problem. The service was free and if they found that they were wrong I wouldn’t have been penalised (previous supplier had tried to charge me £400 for taking a sofa that didn’t fit back to the warehouse)

ulab · 02/03/2021 18:03

There are companies that literally build sofa in your room. I have one of those massive corner ones from Nabru. It came in parts and was assembled in my living room. www.nabru.co.uk/

rozee83 · 02/03/2021 18:03

Having viewed alot of these type of houses, we would of used the french doors/juliet balcony to hoist furniture in with a make shift hoist lol

Doris86 · 02/03/2021 18:11

@bondgirl76

So..my son is a removal man..and they have problems all the time.On. friday..they had to take a sofa through a window..happens all the time.That was going onto a 3rd floor.Houses today are not built to accomodate large furniture...Tight stairways and halls...
Very true, but unfortunately whilst people continue to buy them, developers will continue to build inadequate size houses.

When looking at houses we viewed a new build show house. Tiny rooms, tiny garden, no garage and one allocated parking space.

We then viewed a 1930s house. Big rooms, big garden, garage plus driveway for 4 cars. Same price as new build. Guess which one we bought.

StellaWol · 02/03/2021 18:18

@Squittly

Did you pivot?
Dying!
StellaWol · 02/03/2021 18:19

YABU - it’s up to you to check your furniture can get in the house. You could politely ask if the developers can help you.

Mary54 · 02/03/2021 18:22

Usually large items go on through windows, not up the stairs. And it isn’t a new house issue. Our house was built in 1960, is large (6 bedrooms, 3 stories) stairs are wide with big landings. And we still got our wardrobe jammed on one of the bends. It had already been broken down into three parts but the only answer was to get it down again and winch it up to the third floor. Being in a rural area, I have often seen people using tractors to lift things in through windows.
So yes, yabu and I really cannot believe your neighbors or their removers were incapable of working out how to get beds into bedrooms

AlwaysLatte · 02/03/2021 18:24

Our top floor is up a very narrow staircase (very old house) so all the furniture had to be assembled up there - fine by our kids, whose bedrooms they are, as they like it more modern, but a bit of a nightmare if it's your family living space and you're trying to manoeuvre sofas! That said, we've always measured any bulky furniture that's going up any staircase...

BatshitCrazyWoman · 02/03/2021 18:27

I lived in a townhouse once - moved out about 20 years ago. It was easily big enough to get a massive three seater sofa up the stairs. We did have a Juliet balcony in the first floor living room, so I suppose if it hadn't we'd have got it in through the French windows.

I have a corner sofa from Snug - it came in 6 boxes as all the pieces are separate - arms, back, base, legs and cushions. Am contemplating a sofa bed from them for the spare room as in my current house I think it will be tricky to get that up the stairs!

VinylDetective · 02/03/2021 18:30

Even careful measuring doesn’t ensure the bloody sofa will fit. On paper you can get a three seater sofa into our house. In practice you can’t.

The angle in the tiny hall and the position of the stairs means it just won’t go. We discovered this to our cost when we had to return a three seater, exchange it for a two seater and the bastards at DFS refused to refund the difference.

Roselilly36 · 02/03/2021 18:30

Common problem in Townhouses, most people take them in & out through the window. Someone I know says she won’t replace her sofas as it’s hassle etc.

Jenasaurus · 02/03/2021 18:31

@hopeishere

We had this. Luckily the developer was still on site so they somehow popped the window out and used a cherrypicker to put it in the window. Flipping sofa workshop just abandoned it in the hall!!
But what about when the time comes to get a new sofa, will you take the window out again?
TomorrowIsAnotherDae · 02/03/2021 18:32

@Mary54

Usually large items go on through windows, not up the stairs. And it isn’t a new house issue. Our house was built in 1960, is large (6 bedrooms, 3 stories) stairs are wide with big landings. And we still got our wardrobe jammed on one of the bends. It had already been broken down into three parts but the only answer was to get it down again and winch it up to the third floor. Being in a rural area, I have often seen people using tractors to lift things in through windows. So yes, yabu and I really cannot believe your neighbors or their removers were incapable of working out how to get beds into bedrooms
Maybe you should go round and show the imbeciles how to do it?
hellohelpfuladvice · 02/03/2021 18:41

Do you have patio doors in your lounge? A few people here in our townhouses had big sofas in through the lounge doors, railing taken off.

I've just had new sofas and it was a struggle, but DFS managed to get two 2 seaters up the stairs. We had a modular 3 seater that spilt into 3 before and arm chairs.

hellohelpfuladvice · 02/03/2021 18:43

I hate having a lounge upstairs, so annoying and not practical. But it's the compromise for the overall space of the house v price.

janj2301 · 02/03/2021 18:51

EXACTLY the same problem my daughetr had, they took the hand rail off still no luck, the compnay took it back and reordered a sectional one, at cost. The handrail has never been the same since and that was 6 years ago

Leedsfan247 · 02/03/2021 18:57

Maybe you should have checked the dimensions before you made your purchase??
We had a similar problem in a townhouse and ended up removing the upvc windows to get the sofa in on the first floor.

Kitdeluca1 · 02/03/2021 18:58

@Squittly came to the comments for this😂😂

VinylDetective · 02/03/2021 19:00

@Leedsfan247

Maybe you should have checked the dimensions before you made your purchase?? We had a similar problem in a townhouse and ended up removing the upvc windows to get the sofa in on the first floor.
You can check and check and check again. The measurements might be fine in theory, if the angles are wrong the sofa won’t fit. I know this to my cost.
Deidre21 · 02/03/2021 19:17

As escapethecastle said - no doors... those houses are ridiculously small considering the cost

Celestine70 · 02/03/2021 19:27

Ticky-tacky houses.

LockdownCheeseToastie · 02/03/2021 19:38

Relatives still don’t know how their superking bed got upstairs in their period property- left the movers battling with it, got back a few hours later and were told don’t ask! Suspect the stairs or part of them were removed.

C0mm0nsense · 02/03/2021 20:11

It’s definitely worth making a fuss and if you get nowhere then go to the local press.

In terms of a sofa to fit, have a look at the NABRU website. They do sofas that you put together yourself with lots of versatility and you’d definitely get these up narrow stairs.

Best of luck.

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