Delivery · Guide
Will a Marble Table Fit Through Your Door and Up Your Stairs?
A rigid stone slab cannot be bent around a corner the way a plywood table can, so the narrowest point on the route decides whether a piece arrives intact. Measure four things before you commit: the narrowest doorway, the stair turn, the landing, and the lift if you are using one. Then measure the crate, not the table — the crate is what has to fit.
What is the narrowest doorway I should assume?
In UK and US residential construction, interior doors commonly give 76 to 82 cm of clear width, and that is the figure most deliveries are planned against. Measure the actual clear width once the door is open, not the frame width.
| Measurement | Typical residential clear dimension |
|---|---|
| Interior door width | 76 to 82 cm |
| Stair width | 90 cm or more |
| Stair turn, headroom | Measure the diagonal of the landing |
| Residential floor loading | about 1.5 kN/m2 (150 kg/m2) |
Source: BS EN 1991-1-1 domestic floor loading
How do I measure a stair corner?
Measure the diagonal of the landing clear space, not the width of the flight. A slab that can turn a corner must fit the diagonal clear opening, and a tall piece must clear the soffit above the turn as well.
Will my floor take the weight?
A 79 kg coffee table spread over about one square metre is well inside the domestic figure of about 1.5 kN per square metre. The risk is not the total weight but the concentration — narrow feet landing between floor joists will flex the floor and make noise long before they cause damage.
| Item | Approximate weight | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 120 x 60 cm top at 30 mm | about 58 kg | Top only, base extra |
| 140 x 70 cm top at 30 mm | about 79 kg | Top only, base extra |
| Carved stone bathtub | 300 to 700 kg empty | Up to 800 to 1200 kg filled |
Sources: BS EN 1991-1-1 domestic floor loading; Marble density 2.70 g/cm3
What about a stone bathtub in a house?
This is the one case where a structural check is not optional. A carved bathtub at 300 to 700 kg empty can reach 800 to 1200 kg with water and a person in it, and the domestic live-load figure of about 1.5 kN per square metre is often not enough. A structural engineer should look at it before the piece is ordered.
Source: BS EN 1991-1-1 domestic floor loading
How should the piece be moved?
On edge, never flat. Stone resists compression well and tension poorly, and a slab carried flat sits in its weakest bending direction. A slab carried on edge with two people, straps and suction cups travels; the same slab carried flat and knocked against a door frame chips.
Do I need a crane?
Sometimes, and it is cheaper to find out in advance than after delivery. A piece over roughly 150 kg, or one going above ground floor with no usable lift, usually means either a stair-climbing hoist or a crane. We need the building dimensions and the street access to say which.
What this page does not cover
What this page does not cover: the door widths and floor loading figures are standard published values for residential construction in the UK and US, not a survey of your house. The bathtub weights are published ranges for carved stone tubs. We have not weighed any finished piece ourselves, and we cannot tell from here whether a crane is needed at your address — that depends on your street, your stairs and your lift, which we would need to see.