Desk jockeying

[jere7my]

If you needed to move a desk (30" x 29" cross-section) into a room with a large window (38" x 32") and a narrow door (27" wide), what would your choice be? Keep in mind that the window and screen slide open trivially easily, the sill is only 15" off the floor, and there's a huge porch at the same level outside the window.

Yes, that's right: you'd take the desk completely apart, muttering ill-naturedly the whole time about the poor quality of our tools, so you could bring it in through the door. Three doors, actually, plus a bunch of other furniture that needed to be skirted.

See, K. bought a nice solid oak desk for $150, which was a steal except for needing to be refinished. The shop recommended a garrulous old fellow named Leo, of Leo & Sons, to do the job, and it was he who delivered the desk today. He began by complaining that K. was obsessed with money, since she'd had the temerity to inquire about the cost of the job when she'd called. ($450, which quadrupled the desk's total cost.) Then he complained that I was still asleep, since he didn't believe K. the delicate flower would be able to assist with the deeply complicated moving job, which, he added, "professional movers would charge three or four hundred dollars for." Finally he became dead set against my window idea, despite agreeing that it would work; he just "wasn't prepared" to move something in through a window.

The guy did do a beautiful job, and there is now a lovely big desk lurking behind me like a mugger, but Leo was certainly a character. K. and I are both a- and be-mused.

(Does $450 sound like a reasonable price for hand refinishing? Anybody get anything like that done before?)

Comments

[megan-powell.livejournal.com]

It sounds reasonable. A friend spent $1,500 on a bedroom set, and our estimate for the breakfront, dresser, and two end tables was three grand. The general consensus was that this guy's prices were good to low.

[wayman.livejournal.com]

I think my mahogany dining table cost about that much to get refinished.

[irilyth]

We require pictures!

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

Yeah, refinishing is a lot of work, mostly because of the effort involved in getting the old finish and any other accumulated crud off of the furniture, especially if it has lots of curves and bevels and other fancy stuff. So while I've never had anything like it done, it seems reasonable.

I'm currently in the process of refinishing the top of a writing desk or something similar that I found in a dumpster; I don't think it will be too bad just doing the top, which is basically flat (and getting flatter as I plane it), but I'd hate to be doing the legs as well.

[antimony.livejournal.com]

While at a family reunion, we helped one cousin move, some years back. The main excitement was moving a heavy, big, wide, antique dresser from one second-floor bedroom. See, the steps were all narrow. But the bedroom had big french doors onto a balcony. So the dresser went out the french doors, over the railing, and down three ladders. As the only girl in the process, I was given one of the backup ropes, which were thankfully unneeded.

So really, you had it easy. :)