I'm in love with a sofa but it would involve removing a window

[burritofan]

I've fallen in love with the perfect sofa bed for my sitting room (tiny flat, baby on the way, need a spare bed), in the Angelic Blue cotton: www.willowandhall.co.uk/the-appledoe-sofa-bed.html?size=2%20seater

It would look dreamy even covered in baby sick and DP's inability to eat snacks without spilling! But the minimum recommended door width to get it in is 78cm; ours (if we take front and sitting room doors off their hinges) are 73cm... Even taking out the door jambs wouldn't get us to 78, and we've just painted.

Would it be RANK MADNESS to get a glazier to take a window out to get the sofa in? They're uPVC. Anyone done this? Was it easy/expensive/messy/a total ball-ache/worth it/not worth it? Other thing is we plan to move in around 18-20 months so we'd have to then do the window thing in reverse fairly soon...

There is another sofa bed that would fit (www.willowandhall.co.uk/the-gastard-sofa-bed.html?size=2%20seater ) but I don't love it as much and they're so expensive, it's a waste not to buy the "I love you" sofa. Equally we could buy a crappy and less convenient clic-clak style (but I don't think we can fit one long enough for anyone taller than a Hobbit), or potentially get something battered from eBay and save the "forever" sofa for the "forever" house, but it's still money down the drain in exchange for not being as comfortable: we need something that's both our main sitting room sofa and a spare bed for us.

Would Sofa Assist work - anyone used them, are they national?

Your hormones have taken over. It's not worth taking the window out. That's just madness and will cost the same in the end as just buying one that fits. Do you own the freehold? If not I'd think you'd need to involve the freeholder to take a window out. It's really not worth it.

Find another one. It's just not worth the hassle or expense.

To give you a different perspective, my DB and DSIL had to get the windows in their old house taken out to get sofas in and out twice. Both times it was cheap, quick and easy. It is worth a phone call to see if anyone can help you.

Also - I've personally used Sofa Assist (we moved house to somewhere with a first floor living room and our corner sofa wouldn't go up the stairs, even dismantled). They came out the next day and sorted it all with zero fuss. Friendly, helpful and very professional. If your flat is above the ground floor, I would call them ahead of a glazier, as they have a van mounted hoist that can lift heavy furniture high enough to to through windows. If you have a chat to Frank, who's business it is, he will ask you about the access and can give you quite an accurate assessment on whether he can help over the phone.

Do you need to only remove the pane of glass or the full window frame?

If just the glass, this is easily done yourself - just take out the black seals from the inside then the outside. We had to do the same for our sofa. Two man job so one person holds the glass whilst the other removes seals.

It would be the whole window, not just the glass. Huge window, though, I could fling two or three sofas through at once! Ground-floor flat. However: I don't own the freehold and the freeholder is awful, and we're about to go into battle over his loft conversion and the scaffolding he'll want to take through my bedroom. Prefer to save my battles.

You're all probably right about the hormones. I spent the weekend up a ladder frantically repainting the kitchen ceiling and shouting to DP about how much I hate the colour of the wood worktops. But I might give Frank a call anyway...

Dad and SM live in a flat and are always popping the windows out to get furniture in/out (they are refurbishing). It’s surprisingly cheap, quick and simple.

The first link offers on-site assembly. It's a nice sofa.

It does say you can get bolt on arms if your doors are narrow - could that work? Have you called them to discuss?

I have to say I think this is madness.

But go for it if it's what you really want!

The gastard is much nicer anyway so yabu

They have this written on the site:

Delivered assembled or in parts depending on the design. The delivery team will place and assemble (if required) in your room of choice and take away the packaging.

So perhaps it could fit without taking out a window? Contact them to ask.

I've just got off the phone with them and with the removable arms it WILL fit! 🎉 No windows need be harmed.

I was starting to flashback to the time my housemate & I brought a table home from the charity shop & the only way to get it into the kitchen was to lower it down from a bedroom window... which we did using the washing line... balancing on a plant pot.

@Reccy2018 I did fall for that one first but then I moved on to a new love; I'll never forget its brief imaginary time in my sitting room, though.

Thanks, everyone! I know theoretically I was being mad, but also there's a tiny evil Elle Deco-shaped goblin on my shoulder, whispering things...

It’s very like lots of other sofa beds. Look on sofa.com. They make ones that can come in bits

@PinkOboe I have a sofa.com sofa on the other wall & love it! They do have a gorgeous sofa bed (the Bluebell) but it's too wide/deep for my sitting room – there are very few sofa beds that will fit through the front door, and fit in the room without taking up all the floor space/blocking the door. It's a lovely flat but it stomped on all my Loaf dreams when I moved in.

I don’t want to ruin this for you, but we had a sofa from them and regretted it.

@Kescilly Uh-oh... Tell me more?

I used to work in the removals industry as a rep. Factoring in the cost of a glazier to remove and replace windows on both ground and upper floors to allow furniture in and out was commonplace.