I ordered a couch, and now afraid it might not fit through the door. 
this is a math question.  The dimensions of the couch are: the back
height (from floor to top of back) is 32"; the depth (from front to
back) is 38"; the front height (from floor to top of front, where the
couch arms are) is 17"; the length is 92".  I'm hoping i can angle it
through the door somehow.  The door dimensions are: 30.25"W and 81"
tall. Am I in trouble?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 24 Aug 2003 08:17 PDT

The key fact may be the feet -- does the couch have feet/legs and if
so, how high are they?

Even a couch that's, say, 33 inches high can usually fir through a 30"
door as long as feet can be inserted through the door first, followed
by the rest of couch's less-than-30" height.

Knawmasayn?

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Clarification of Question by bmcg-ga on 24 Aug 2003 08:31 PDT

the couch has feet, they are really short (about 2") and they are
included in the total back and front height of 32" and 17"
respectively i don't think the feet could be removed; is feet removal
the deal breaker?

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Request for Question Clarification by knowledge_seeker-ga on 22 Sep 2003 05:17 PDT

So, did it fit? ;-)

-K~

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Clarification of Question by bmcg-ga on 22 Sep 2003 09:27 PDT

couch isn't coming for another two months (coming on boat from italy)
but i think i'll be OK based on the comments here AND i went back to
the store, and the top of the back cushion is soft - giving it about
another 6 inches of "squish room"  i think i'll be OK.

I can't imagine that a manufacturer would make a couch that does not
fit through a standard door. Who would buy it?

You could however run into difficulties if you can't approach the door
head on, for example, if you are in an apartment that opens into a
narrow hallway, or if there is a sharp turn or stairs immediately
inside the door.

Otherwise, I am sure you have nothing to worry about. Couch
manufacturers know how big doors are. :-)

-K~

It's going to be a close fit, but the measurements you've given leave
open the possibility that it will go.

From your information I modelled the couch's cross-section as a
rectangle (representing the "arms") 17" high and 38" deep, plus on top
of this a right triangle sharing the 38" base and adding 15" more
height (representing the "back").

If the "couch" is rotated so that the right triangle hypotenuse is
vertical, then the effective width of the couch becomes the altitude
of a larger triangle (extended proportionally by the extra height of
the rectangle).  Sparing you the details for now, the overall
effective width (altitude of the larger triangle) works out to
29.765".

Now this calculation is too optimistic and too conservative in two
different respects.  The first respect is that you did not tell us how
"thick" the couch back is at the top; I've modelled it as if the back
came to a sharp point, whereas in reality the "front" of the back will
project forward a few inches.  This will tend to increase the
effective width of the couch.

On the other hand we have used the entire height of the arms in the
calculation.  Typically the height of the seating portion of the couch
is much lower than the height of the arms, and it is here that I think
you'll find a fair amount of "wiggle room".  Angle the tip of one arm
of the couch through the door first, and I believe you will find that
the seating portion of the couch follows easily up to the trailing
arm.  If you are going into a large room on the other side of the
door, there should be sufficient space to angle the couch once again
to bring the tip of the trailing arm through last.

Of course feet removal, where possible, is a good idea (as is removing
pillows and tying down any "hide a bed" mechanical component that may
be concealed in the couch).

Best wishes,
mathtalk-ga

Sometimes you (or the movers) can remove the molding around the door
temporarily which gains you a teensy bit of wiggle room. Good luck.

Oh does this question bring back memories!  :)   In my case I had
inherited an extremely long, wide, and bulky sofa.  I lived on the top
floor of an apt building.  The concern was not only having it moved
along the hallway but also getting it through my apt. doorway.

The movers guaranteed me - sight unseen - they'd never seen a doorway
and couch that couldn't be accomodated.  If worse came to worse it
could be heisted up the side of the bldg., and into the patio through
the patio door.

They got that sofa inside my apt without breathing hard!  Down the
hallway, and into my apt by doing some magical angling trick and slid
it into my living room.  Big Smiles.  No feet were taken off, nothing
was damaged.

Regards,

tlspiegel

I agree with knowledge_seeker-ga. Every time I have moved house, it
has amazed me how many pieces of furniture make it through with only
millimetres to spare. It must be that the manufacturers make them the
biggest they can, while still just fitting through standard doors. Of
course this means getting them through is like playing Twister...

If you live in the US then the build code says one you your doors to
enter or exit the home has to be 36" wide.  Are you putting this in a
room in your house or just trying to get into the house?
In the worst case just go rent a door/wall strechter!
LOL  Someone had to do it.

===================================================
ANSWER:
"
IF the thickness of the back cuishon of the couch is less than 15.4"
in width, the couch will enter through the door and you are not in
TROUBLE.
"

Clarifications: 
1: The question had one very important data missing: The thickness of
the back (the back cushion part). Therefore, my answer has the
condition that if it is anything more than 15.4" (at the topmost edge
of it) then the couch will not enter through the door.

2: If the thickness of the back is less than 15.4" then the couch WILL
enter through the door only if you know how to do it. You will have to
tilt the SOFA so that the bottom of the sofa maken an angle of (arctan
of (38-u)/15) where u is again the width of the back of your couch. In
addition, keep the length of the Couch perpendicular to the DOOR
entrance plane.

The angle comes out to be 56.4degrees. for 15.4" back width and for a
very thin back (which is unlikely) is 68.45degrees.

3: If you need further clarification and the method I followed to
calculate the above then write me back a note.

I really hope that this information willhelp you. In my guess, a
thickness of 15" of back is not impossible to have. But it would be
good to make sure it is less than 15.4" and you are not in trouble.

===================================================