Oh dear. The depth of the bookcase is only 18", where are you having problems getting it in the apt? With the crown moulding, how deep does it make it? The depth is what you'd worry about, so it seems it would fit in the door.

I'm not getting this either. How narrow is your door? The crown molding should come off easily, it's either attached by screws or nail. It should not have to be sawed off.

You should be able to turn it on it's side, slide it in the house, then stand it upright.

Even though it is about 6" taller than the average door, it should be able to come in on its side, as the others have said. There must be a problem with a tight turn. A wall right in front of the entry or something. Is there another door, maybe a slider at the back? How did you get your box springs in?

Window ?

The crown might be glued on - be careful. I am having the same problem with my very large armouir for my bedroom. Its too tall and too wide. I am waiting till spring and having a window taken out - put the piece thru the window- then have the window put back in. YIKES !

How about going through a back door?

Thanks everyone.

To make it clearer - I live in a garden apt with no back door and small windows. Enter into a 3ft by 3 ft entry space and directly in front of that is that is the staircase to the upstairs apartment. I am on the ground floor and my door is immediately to the left of the entry door.

Since it is about 6" taller than my doorway into the apt they were bringing it up the stairs and trying to make a turn with it into my apt door somehow. They said the entryway wasn't wide enough to do it.

The entryway is about 36" wide but if I have the heavy wood outside door removed from the hinges (It swings in and always stays hooked open) I will have about 41" width. I don't know if that will be enough. The delivery kid wouldn't answer me when I asked him if taking the door off would give enough room - they were incredibly unhelpful and just didn't want to be bothered.

The crown molding coming off would solve this because it would be short enough to make it thru the doorway into my apt. But it looks like it's glued on and spray painted over. You can't see nails and you can't really see where it's attached. It's made in China....

Love the story someone above has about needing to have the window removed LOL!

Measure absolutely everything about the furniture and the space as carefully as possible. When you look at an opening, be sure to check the whole space from floor to ceiling. An extra half inch of baseboard can be a problem and you won't know it if you are just measuring at shoulder height. Also, measure any obstacles inside your apartment. Then contact Harry Lipsky. An acquaintance who owns a furniture store swears that if there is way to deliver a piece into a space, Harry can figure out how to do it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Harry Lipsky

Oh my gosh, what an interesting webpage. What an interesting guy. Thank you very much!

Wow, that Harry Lipsky site is a great reference tool! Thanks, yogacat, for posting that link.

Massagegirl, do you have a sofa in your apartment? That bookcase is is 86" tall. A lot of sofas are wider than that, and deeper. And yet they can fit through dooways that are 30 or 33 inches wide.

You might have to take off both the outer door and the door to your apartment, but there should be a way to get that bookcase in.

I'm reminded of one apartment I had where the neighbors across the hall were moving out on the day I was moving in. They had to ask me to open my apartment door so that they could move their sofa out--they had to bring one end of the sofa into my apartment in order to angle it correctly to get down the stairs--there was only a short, narrow landing separating the two apartment doors. I was pretty impressed with how a bunch of guys helping out a friend were able to figure out the solution to the problem. People who deliver furniture for a living ought to be able to work something out for you.

Also reminds me of a previous three family home we lived in. When ever someone moved into the apartment on the top floor, if they had a queen size mattress, it had to go around the corner, through our backyard neighbors yard, over our fence, through my back door and then up the flight of stairs. It could not go around the first floor stairs. All the movers would not believe me, (I owned the house!) and would struggle, and struggle until they finally did what I told them.

Oh my. Also reminds me of a few years back we were renting a townhouse while our house was being remodeled. Our townhouse was on the 2nd and 3rd floors with the bedroom on the 3rd floor. The mattress and boxspring had to be hauled up using a rope from the bedroom sliding door. One desk we were never able to get up the stairs so kept it in the 2nd floor. One thing it keep in mind though, what goes in must come out. I'd rather not have to take apart a piece of furniture to get it in a rental; if you own, though, that may be worth considering.

Reminds me of the Friends episode when they were trying to get a sofa up the apartment stairs... PIVOT!!

What great stories everyone is sharing. My couch is small 85x36" and they stood nit on its arm and tipped it thru the door. I didn't want a love seat and had a hard time finding a mid-size sofa, since they seem to be making furniture bigger and bigger these days.

I've got my measurements and I'm going to contact Harry Lipsky now and hope for the best!

We have a large sofa bed on the third floor. We moved here about 16 years ago and I can still remember what a trial it was to get that up there. When I decide to redo that room or we move, I'm taking an axe to that sofa bed! I'm much rather demolish it than go through getting it down those two staircases.

Good Luck!

Since everyone is sharing....when we moved into our house the movers were able to get the 8' long air hockey table down the basement steps. Dinged the wall and scuffed the kitchen floor. Now that my house has new floors and the walls are dentless....that air hockey table will be included with the sale of this home.

And someone I know hired a piano mover to move a "free" piano to his apartment in NYC. The movers couldn't get it in and guess what? They left it on the sidewalk and said it wasn't their problem!

When is the expected delivery?

I'll share too...

A few years after we moved in we replaced our FR furniture and decided to move the older stuff down to the basement. DH and I were going to try doing this ourselves, and lo and behold our neighbor stopped in to say hello. We invited him in, gave him a beer, and after swapping jokes for a few, asked if he'd help with something. He didn't know what he was getting into!

We moved a (HEAVY) sofa bed down the basement stairs and we weren't clever enough to tie it shut. Half way down the stairs it somehow started coming open (unfolded) and got stuck - wedged in the stairwell. We sat on the steps and laughed until we cried! We finally got it figured out and luckily are still good friends with that neighbor.

Sorry I don't have a solution for the bookcase, but wish you the best of luck.

Reminds me of the Friends episode when they were trying to get a sofa up the apartment stairs... PIVOT!!

We say that all the time. ;D

Will the bookcase go into the building foyer? If so, they should be able to get it bottom first into your apartment.

You posted on Thursday. Today is Monday. What happened?