Home› Advice

"specialist" removal company (IE that will take furniture out a window) - London

RAINBOWGIRL22RAINBOWGIRL22 Posts: 24,459
Forum Member
✭✭✭
in Advice #1
Sorry, hopefully my last moving related question :o

We have a sofa that we could only get in through the balcony, it's going to have to come out the same way.

Only issue is, balcony is 50ft high and needs to be lowered into neighbours garden.

I have tried Goggling specialist removals, but it's not bringing up what I need.

To get the sofa in we ended up using a local company who sent round 3 blokes, a blanket and a rope :o OH ended up having to help them as well.

Want something a bit less risky this time?

Any ideas / solutions.

PS: it's just the sofa we need moved, the rest we have people helping with.

TIA

Comments

  • tiacattiacat Posts: 22,521
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #2
    Where in London are you, I will be interested to know the answer if its south east London. We have the same problem when we move. I bought this sofa and didnt measure properly and it had to sit in the hall for a week before I found a glazier who took out our front room window to get it in for me.

    Im not sure what we will do on moving, Im hoping the removal company will do it.
  • RAINBOWGIRL22RAINBOWGIRL22 Posts: 24,459
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #3
    Just been back to look at the thread from 5 years ago (when I was asking how to get the bloody thing in :D) and the consensus was

    PIVOT

    :p

    Sadly there was no really useful suggestions.
  • Mumof3Mumof3 Posts: 4,529
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #4
    Specialist piano removal companies can deal with most challenges. Compared with grand pianos, sofas are a doddle.
  • GogfumbleGogfumble Posts: 22,155
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #5
    How old is the sofa? May be an idea to weigh up the cost of a new one compared to a specialist removal company. Might be worth getting some saws, crowbars etc to it and scrapping it and buying a new one.
  • Galaxy266Galaxy266 Posts: 7,049
    Forum Member
    ✭
    #6
    There are specialist companies who will dismantle your sofa, or whatever, take it out of the door, and then reassemble it. Far easier than taking it down the outside of the building!

    My brother used one the last time he bought a new three piece suite.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,468
    Forum Member
    ✭
    #7
    How much is the sofa worth?, might be more cost effective to just leave it and buy a new one :D

    However, I did see a video on YouTube recently (it was supposed to be a 'bad' example) where they slid a sofa down a long zipwire suspended from a pulley, and using an extra rope to control it's descent speed - worked absolutely perfectly.

    I would have thought one of the biggest problems with finding a company to do it is their liability insurance?.
  • CitySlickerCitySlicker Posts: 10,414
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    #8
    That reminds me of a friend I was helping move into a tower block in E14, they were Z style flats so enter one level, up some steps to living area level, up more to bathroom, keep going up to the bedrooms, final set up to an emergency escape. Talk about tight corners, it was a long day, we were both hungry and he looked close to tears. We ended up getting three of us behind the sofa and just taking a running ram to it, that got it in.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    #9
    hire a bouncy castle and have it errect where the sofa will fall? but really i'd imagine it'll require some serious kit and i doubt many companies are willing to lower stuff of that weight without serious payments to cover the insurance bill so it'll be either a very large cherry picker or a small crane and neither sound shall we say cheap
  • RAINBOWGIRL22RAINBOWGIRL22 Posts: 24,459
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #10
    We found a removal company to get it in, I was far from impressed (as I say it was a few blokes, a rope and a few blankets) but it did the job! I guess I'll have ring round tomorrow.

    Sofa is still in excellent condition - wasn't cheap [came with a 25 year guarantee] so discarding it isn't an option.
  • CitySlickerCitySlicker Posts: 10,414
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    #11
    I've had my thinking cap on over this. You could phone round the piano movers (try R&M in Chiswick but they WILL be expensive). If you wanted to do it on the cheap you could phone round and look to hiring a 'block and tackle' set and do it yourself. Pay a local glazer to be around on hand to remove and replace the window.

    Or you could ring round the local furniture shops and ask who they use for delivery and would they like to do a quick job for you? I found this site http://www.sofasandstuff.com/general/important-stuff/delivery/ which has a delivery phone number, I'd be tempted to chance your arm and ask them for help.
  • cris182cris182 Posts: 9,595
    Forum Member
    ✭
    #12
    tiacat wrote: »
    Where in London are you, I will be interested to know the answer if its south east London. We have the same problem when we move. I bought this sofa and didnt measure properly and it had to sit in the hall for a week before I found a glazier who took out our front room window to get it in for me.

    Im not sure what we will do on moving, Im hoping the removal company will do it.

    Health and safety and insurance will probably prevent them removing a window unless they are specifically trained and insured to do so
  • RAINBOWGIRL22RAINBOWGIRL22 Posts: 24,459
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #13
    Sorry just to confirm that I don't actually need a window removed (that was just an example as the sort of "specialist" removal company I am looking)

    Sofa fits out of balcony, I just need to get it from my flat to the ground! I just figured if a co. removes windows they will hike a sofa down for us.
  • burton07burton07 Posts: 10,871
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    #14
    Any big removal company such as Pickfords will do it. Alternatively, the shop where you bought the sofa should take it apart and reassemble it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1
    Forum Member
    #15
    Hi,
    I do understand this is an old post but I do feel that I need to spread the word about Superb Moves
    We used www.superbmoves.co.uk and they were excellent. Our move wasn't easy, with a number of things needing to go into storage and then being delivered on the move day but it all went very smoothly. I'd definitely take a look at them. Highly recommended.
  • CABINETCABINET Posts: 1,787
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #16
    Jasonnever wrote: »
    Hi,
    I do understand this is an old post but I do feel that I need to spread the word about Superb Moves
    We used www.superbmoves.co.uk and they were excellent. Our move wasn't easy, with a number of things needing to go into storage and then being delivered on the move day but it all went very smoothly. I'd definitely take a look at them. Highly recommended.

    This won't last long :D:D:D
  • burton07burton07 Posts: 10,871
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    #17
    Jasonnever wrote: »
    Hi,
    I do understand this is an old post but I do feel that I need to spread the word about Superb Moves
    We used www.superbmoves.co.uk and they were excellent. Our move wasn't easy, with a number of things needing to go into storage and then being delivered on the move day but it all went very smoothly. I'd definitely take a look at them. Highly recommended.

    I've got quite a lot of tins of Spam that need moving. Could they do that?
  • justatechjustatech Posts: 976
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    #18
    After that balcony collapsed the other day killing the removal men I think that any company taking this on will want a structural check prior to working on it. I'm also surprised that no one has mentioned Pickfords as they seem to be up for anything.
  • GogfumbleGogfumble Posts: 22,155
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #19
    justatech wrote: »
    After that balcony collapsed the other day killing the removal men I think that any company taking this on will want a structural check prior to working on it. I'm also surprised that no one has mentioned Pickfords as they seem to be up for anything.

    When I saw that on the news the other day I thought of this thread.
  • seacamseacam Posts: 21,364
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #20
    RAINBOWGIRL22 wrote: »
    Sorry just to confirm that I don't actually need a window removed (that was just an example as the sort of "specialist" removal company I am looking)

    Sofa fits out of balcony, I just need to get it from my flat to the ground! I just figured if a co. removes windows they will hike a sofa down for us.
    Hi,

    Well it went in via rope and tackle and although you weren't that impressed, it will go out the same way.

    I haven't seen your balcony or either side of it but I was thinking a weighted tripod, a motorised winch, which can be hired and a few clamp straps should do it.
  • RAINBOWGIRL22RAINBOWGIRL22 Posts: 24,459
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #21
    It did indeed go out via a rope and tackle (with the help of my lovely BIL's and my accommodating neighbours!!)

    It's been its new home for over a week now and is never being moved again :D
  • Ron_JRon_J Posts: 1,751
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #22
    You haven't really lived until you've had to recruit a band of friends to attempt to lift a large sofa up the stone spiral stairs to the attic flat in a Scottish tenement. And what goes up must come down...

    Ps. You may all be friends when you start but you won't be after about two hours at it.
  • seacamseacam Posts: 21,364
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    #23
    RAINBOWGIRL22 wrote: »
    It did indeed go out via a rope and tackle (with the help of my lovely BIL's and my accommodating neighbours!!)

    It's been its new home for over a week now and is never being moved again :D
    :D And congratulations on your new home. :)
Sign In or Register to comment.