Two ways out of the flat
Furniture on the fourth floor can be brought down in two ways: through the stairwell, or with a furniture lift – a hoist set up in front of the building that carries things through a window or a balcony. Both cost something, only in a different currency: the stairs cost time and risk, the lift costs the hire of the equipment.
The choice is rarely a matter of taste. Most often it is decided for us by the dimensions of the stairwell, the size of the furniture and whether a hoist can be set up in front of the building at all.
When a furniture lift pays off
- A high floor with no passenger lift – from the third floor upwards the carrying time grows very fast.
- A narrow or winding stairwell in which there is no way to turn a sofa or a wardrobe.
- Large, heavy furniture in one piece: a corner sofa, a sliding-door wardrobe, a piano, a side-by-side fridge.
- A freshly renovated stairwell, where every scuff on the wall means a complaint from the residents’ association.
- A loft flat with a low passage or steep stairs.
The hoists used on moves usually reach the seventh or eighth floor, and larger models go higher still. Pulling a wardrobe up to the seventh floor takes them a few minutes instead of several dozen.
What can rule a furniture lift out
- No room in front of the building – the hoist has to stand a certain distance from the wall, on firm ground, and it needs space to extend its outriggers.
- Power lines, trees and canopies over the entrance that block the boom.
- Windows that cannot be opened fully, and balconies that are fully glazed or fitted with netting.
- Gated estates where driving in needs the consent of the management, sometimes several days in advance.
- Very strong wind – when large flat surfaces are being lifted, that is a real reason to stop work.
When the stairs win
On the ground floor, on the first floor and in buildings with a large passenger lift, a hoist usually makes no sense. The same goes for furniture that is new and flat-packed – taking a wardrobe apart takes a quarter of an hour, and once dismantled it fits comfortably into the lift.
The lift in the building has its own conditions, though: the dimensions of the car, the permitted load and the consent of the management to line the car with protection. It is worth checking this in advance, because a lift breakdown on moving day changes the whole plan.
What a quote over the phone does not show
The most common difference between the first price and the real one comes precisely from the way in and out. That is why we ask about the floor, the width of the stairwell, the dimensions of the lift, the turns on the landings and the space in front of the building.
If you can, take a few photos: the stairwell from the front door, the landing, the inside of the lift and the view from the window onto the area in front of the building. Work can be planned more accurately from photos like these than from a description.
Not sure whether a furniture lift is needed at your address? Show us the stairwell and the window – we will tell you which works out better.
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