Removal of bay window

keithdc

We have a good-sized living room, but access is tricky for furniture (opposite stairs so difficult to get sufficient room to get things in).

A local furniture shop has kindly done some dummy runs to see what is likely to fit, and none of our top choices fit (including the corner unit of a corner sofa).

One option is to get a smaller sofa that fits, or a sofa that splits (both of these limit our choices and we would be less happy with the sofa).

The other option is to remove a window. Our living room has a bay window, which consists of two side windows and a large forward facing window which consists of three window panels. To get the sofa in, we would need to remove the front facing window, both frame and window, and then replace.
We have received mixed advice as to whether this would be a good idea- had one quote of about £250 to remove, prop up whilst sofa goes in, and then replace.
This would give us a much wider selection of sofa, and overall cost would likely be similar to the first option.

Is option two really a bad idea??

dunroving

It doesn't answer the question, but have you considered what you will do when you come to sell the house (or get rid of the sofa)? If you plan to be there a long time, it will not matter (saw the sofa up and take to the tip), but one never knows what is around the corner ...

keithdc

We have only recently moved in and planning to be here a long time

We are planning to buy a high-quality sofa, so will hopefully last a long time.

A couple of options for the future:
1) Just do the same process again (as seems to be cost-neutral anyway)
2) As and when, we replace the bay window, see if the front-facing window can be a single pan of glass so that we would only need to remove the pane rather than the frame as well.

Fire_Fox

Do neighbours with a similar layout have any better ideas? Would removing some spindles and/ or the bannister be possible/ easier?

Are you considering quick assembly sofas from furniture chainstores, or only fully assembled? By that I mean delivered, unpacked and assembled on site by a two person team in twenty minutes to half an hour. I did end up with a tiny jar of random extra bits tho!

Large pieces of furniture that don't come apart can be a massive PITA when you deep clean or redecorate.

DCFC79

I dont see option 2 as being a bad idea if it means you get furniture you like.

king132

Have you considered a modular sofa? You can create pretty much any design and style you like.

Have a look at Nabru.



My parents live in a town house with a living room on the second floor. We ordered a massive corner sofa, which came flat packed but easy to assemble.


5 years on and still looks pretty good.

trailingspouse

We had this issue with our current house.
We had two sofas when we moved in - one was easy to get in, the other (luckily, already past its best) simply wouldn't fit (narrow hallway and turns too tight). In the end they just had to put it in the garage - and there it stayed until it was too old and tatty even for the garage.
We bought a large sofa from Laura Ashley, on the basis that even a relatively small sofa was going to be difficult to get in, so we might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. We knew we would have to take the window out.
I rang the company that had put the double glazing in originally (luckily the previous owners had left us a lot of info). The biggest problem was getting everyone to be in the right place at the right time - the window people had to arrive before the sofa, then the sofa people had to deliver the day they'd said they would (didn't want to be without a window overnight), then the window people had to come back later to replace the window (but not before the sofa had been delivered). Nightmare.


And yes, the sofa is staying here until it's so old that taking an axe to it is the only sensible thing to do.

Our other sofa is now 5 years older and starting to show its age. Not looking forward to going through all that again...

keithdc

@Firefox

Good idea re: neighbours.
Looking at fully assembled.
I guess unassembled is possible, but we would want it to be good quality (idea of good brands appreciated).



@King132

Thank you for the idea.
Nabru look interesing, but unfortunately don't live near the showroom (and not keen on buying a sofa without sitting on it).



@trailingspouse

Was it a bay window you had removed?
Fortunately, we have space to store the sofa so would plan to have it delivered and then arrange window for a few days later.

Chop-D

We live in a 1930's house and replacing the bay windows was a lot harder than we anticipated as once they were out it was found they weren't level originally and it was a lot of work to get the new windows in to a good standard. You may be ok as it's the same window going back in but we didn't think ours were going to end up as much hassle as they were!

trailingspouse

keithdc - yes it was a bay window. But we didn't need to do anything with the frame, we just had to take the central glazed section out.

Have you thought about buying two chairs instead??

keithdc

Chop-D wrote: »

We live in a 1930's house and replacing the bay windows was a lot harder than we anticipated as once they were out it was found they weren't level originally and it was a lot of work to get the new windows in to a good standard. You may be ok as it's the same window going back in but we didn't think ours were going to end up as much hassle as they were!

Thank you- that's the concern that a couple of people have voiced, but others seem to think it will be fine.