It's the most dreaded moment of any removal: the sofa, the wardrobe or the mattress reaches the entrance of the new flat and... it doesn't fit through the door. You've paid for the truck, you've moved everything from the other side of the city, and now the piece of furniture is stuck on the landing. This article explains why measuring doors before a removal is absolutely critical and how to do it correctly.
The measurements you should ALWAYS know
Doors (width and height)
- Main entrance door of the building
- Lift door (front AND side, if it opens in an L-shape)
- Your home's front door
- Interior doors of each room
- Balcony or terrace door (if you have outdoor furniture)
Width of hallways and landings
- Hallway between the entrance door and the lift
- Landing on each floor (space to manoeuvre the furniture between the lift and your door)
- Internal hallways of the home (between the main bedroom and the bathroom, for example)
Lift: the 3 critical measurements
- Door width: the gap through which the furniture must enter
- Cabin depth: how much fits inside (sometimes narrower than the door)
- Cabin height: for tall furniture such as wardrobes, floor lamps, vertical mirrors
Stairs
- Step width (how many cm the tread measures)
- Usable width between walls
- Landing space to manoeuvre
- If there's a handrail, its height and whether it can be temporarily removed
The dimensions of "problematic" furniture
Sofas
- Standard 2-seater sofa: 160-190 cm long × 90 cm deep × 85-95 cm high
- 3-seater sofa: 200-240 cm × 90 cm × 85-95 cm
- Corner sofa: up to 280 × 250 cm
- Sofa bed opened: check it opened, it's usually 50-80 cm longer!
The sofa is the king of problems. Measure it in its 3 dimensions and compare it with ALL the gaps it has to pass through.
Mattresses
- Single: 90 × 190 cm
- Standard double: 135 × 190 cm
- Queen: 150 × 200 cm
- King: 160 × 200 or 180 × 200 cm
Spring mattresses are rigid: the longest dimension is what matters. To get a 200 cm mattress through an 80 cm door, you have to carry it on its edge. If the hallway turns 90°, the calculation gets more complicated.
Wardrobes
Wardrobes are usually assembled and disassembled, so the problem isn't the doors but the complete side panels (whole panels that can't be broken down any further):
- IKEA Pax 2-door wardrobe: side panel of 236 × 58 cm
- Prefabricated built-in wardrobe: depends on the manufacturer, check the invoice
Fridges
- Standard fridge-freezer: 60 × 65 × 200 cm
- Large fridge-freezer: 70 × 75 × 200 cm
- American-style (side by side): 90 × 70 × 180 cm — the most problematic in older buildings
Washing machines
- Standard: 60 × 60 × 85 cm
- Top-loading: 40 × 60 × 90 cm (narrower)
Other problem pieces
- Dining table with a solid one-piece top: width ~90 cm, length 140-200 cm
- Bed headboard: variable width, 80-120 cm high
- Pianos: see our specific guide to piano transport
- Large mirrors: very fragile, their size limits them more for safety reasons than for fit
How to measure correctly
Measure TWICE
It's proverbial: "measure twice, cut once." For removals: measure twice, move once. A 2 cm mistake can be the difference between fitting the sofa in or having to send it back.
Measure the usable GAP, not the closed door
When an open door rests against a wall, the usable width is reduced by the thickness of the door itself plus the handle. Measure the FREE SPACE with the door open at 90°, not the door's nominal size.
Consider the diagonal
Sometimes a piece of furniture that doesn't fit head-on does fit diagonally. Work it out: if the door is 80 cm and the sofa is 90 cm deep, it will go through on its edge if the sofa's height is low enough (90 cm high × 90 cm deep makes a 127 cm diagonal, so it would fit through an 80 cm gap if you tilt it).
This requires experience and professional crew. A removals company with 15 years in the trade can judge it almost by eye.
When it doesn't fit even with manoeuvring: 4 solutions
1. Disassemble the furniture
The most obvious option. Table legs, wardrobe doors, sofa supports... many modern pieces of furniture are designed to be disassembled. It takes 30-60 minutes and solves the problem.
2. Remove the door or the frame
Doors come off their hinges in 5 minutes. Sometimes that gains you the extra 2-3 cm you need. Frames: only if you have a lot of experience.
3. Outdoor crane (lifting through the balcony)
For impossible cases, a crane lifts the furniture from the street up to the flat's balcony. It requires a municipal public-way occupation permit, which the removals company arranges. Extra cost: €200-500 depending on height and time.
4. Accept that it doesn't fit
Sometimes it's better to sell that huge sofa on Wallapop before moving and buy another one suited to the new home. If you take the sofa to the new flat and it doesn't fit, you'll have to pay for transport back or take it to the recycling centre. Better to decide beforehand.
Prior technical survey: your removal's insurance policy
At Horizont Atlantic, for medium-large removals we offer a free prior technical survey. A technician visits your current home, notes down the dimensions of critical furniture, and then visits the new one (if available) to measure ALL the gaps. The quote we give you already takes into account:
- Whether furniture needs to be disassembled
- Whether an outdoor crane is needed
- Whether we need extra staff for a specific piece
This avoids surprises on moving day and removes the risk of "it doesn't fit, it's staying in the lobby."
Your measurement checklist: download and print
So you don't forget anything, gather this data before any removal:
- Entrance door (height × width) at origin and destination
- Home's main door (height × width) at origin and destination
- Interior doors of each room
- Lift (door × cabin) at origin and destination
- Stairs (usable width) if there's no lift
- Critical hallways (bottlenecks)
- Sofa, main mattress, largest wardrobe, fridge, washing machine (3 dimensions for each)
With this table in hand, any removals company can correctly assess your case and give you a price that won't change on the day of the job.
Want a free technical survey?
For removals to or from the Canary Islands, where shipping costs and the difficulty of "redoing" the job if something doesn't fit are high, the technical survey is practically essential. Contact us and we'll arrange a technical survey at your current home at no cost and with no obligation.
Frequently asked questions about door measurements for removals
What is the minimum door width for fitting large furniture?
Modern standard Spanish doors: 82-90 cm usable (after the frame). This allows: a standard 2-seater sofa (90-130 cm), a standard fridge (60-65 cm), a washing machine (60 cm), a king mattress in vertical position (180 cm long, 90 cm unfolded). Problematic: large chaise-longue sofas (180+ cm without breaking down), American-style fridges (90+ cm wide).
How do you measure the door correctly before a removal?
Measure the ACTUAL GAP (not the whole door). Open wooden frame: the distance between the right side of the frame and the left side, with the door fully open at 90°. Also note the height of the gap (floor to the top of the frame). For furniture that goes through by turning (sofas, washing machines), also note the depth of the landing (manoeuvring space).
What do I do if a piece of furniture doesn't fit through the door?
In order of cost: 1) full disassembly and reassembly at destination (cheapest if it has its original fittings), 2) lowering/raising through the balcony or window with an outdoor crane (€200-500), 3) discard it and buy a piece of furniture suited to the destination (depends on the furniture's value), 4) temporary storage in a furniture storage facility while you decide. More on getting furniture upstairs: taking large furniture up to a flat.
What if the building's entrance door is narrow?
Even more limiting. Older building entrances can have as little as 70-75 cm usable, clearly insufficient for a lot of modern furniture. Solution: unload on the street + carry it into the entrance manually with a crane or via the stairs. If you have furniture that doesn't fit through the entrance NOR through the balcony: selling it at origin is the only realistic option.
How do you avoid surprises on moving day with the measurements?
Prior technical survey: professional companies do a free visit to measure doors, stairs, lift, street access, and plan accordingly. If you don't book a survey: send photos + measurements to the removals company by WhatsApp a week beforehand. It's better to discover a problem with time to spare (you can disassemble, sell, or plan a crane) than on moving day with the truck waiting.
