Measure doors before you book a truck
Measure the sofa, the mattress, and the narrowest doorway before you reserve a truck.
A piece that fit on the way in may not fit on the way out if you have added a railing, a new door, or a turn the truck plan skips. Measure before you reserve the truck. Write the height and the width of the largest pieces and of the smallest doorway they must pass, including the landing and the turn, not only the door slab. A sofa that clears the door and dies at the corner still does not leave.
Measure the sofa, the mattress, the table that does not collapse, and any appliance you are taking. Write inches, not about three feet. Then measure the narrowest door, the stair rail, and the path to the truck. Share those numbers with the mover or use them yourself. If the mover asks whether it will fit and you answer it always has, you have skipped the tip. Read them the inches.
If a piece will not pass, decide now whether it stays, gets sold, or needs a different door. Taking a door off the hinges is a plan only if you have the tools and the time, and if the opening without the door is actually wide enough. A screwdriver and a helper are cheaper than a gouge in a jamb you no longer own, or in one you still do. Do not decide on the ramp.
Put the measurements on the same page as the truck reservation. If you are renting by the hour, a piece that has to be winched or left behind changes the hour count. Ask the rental desk what the truck's ramp can take, and write that down too. A reservation without the inches is a guess with a deposit. The inches are the part you can know today, with a tape you already own.
What to do
- Measure the largest furniture and the narrowest door, including the turn.
- Write the inches down and share them with the mover or use them yourself.
- Decide now what happens to anything that will not pass.
- Put the measurements on the same page as the truck reservation.