Basement stairs vs. sofa

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meegan

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We are planning to finish our basement and set up a family room. The problem is that the basement stairs are only 24 inches wide at the narrowest point. I spoke to a furniture store sales manager and he told me that there were no sofas that would fit down those stairs. Are there any inexpensive ways to remedy this situation?
 
I am thinking a sectional that you can bring down piece by piece, or something you can bring in boxed and then assemble yourself in the basement, like some Ikea modular furniture.
Did you check your local building and fire codes?

I ask because some building pr fire codes demand that you install an egress window if you are to use the basement as living area. (personally I would consider one anyway... it is always a good idea to have two ways of escaping the area in case of emergency)

I don't mean to be intrusive but 24" sounds like too narrow an emergency access in my opinion. I think in a home we should always be prepared for worst case scenarios, i.e. what if someone gets hurt or sick for example and paramedics need to get a stretcher down there?

Where I live I probably couldn't even get a permit to finish a basement like that without the egress.

Anyway, my point is: if you install an egress window you will have an opening of about 42" x 48" to bring in furniture.
 
Cyfree,
Thanks for the advice. We live in a pretty isolated area of Oregon (I'm 50 miles from the nearest furniture store) and I doubt there are any local building codes. We don't have any Ikeas near us that I know of and I already asked about sectionals and was told they wouldn't work (at least at that particular store.) We are trying not to spend too much money on this project so I don't know if it is economically feasible for us to put in a new egress or widen the stairs. Do you have any idea what the cost would be to do those things?
 
I'm pretty sure you can get Ikea to ship you something - We have a new couch, pretty comfortable, and as Cyfree said it comes in a box. You do however need a degree in mechanical engineering to assemble the thing ;-)

If you are looking for fence companies from Toronto to a Las Vegas fence company then you can find them all at the North American Fence Builders Association.
 
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