Measure in
1 · The box
Use the shipping box size, not the assembled size. It's usually in the store's shipping details. A rack comes in several boxes: check the longest one, usually an upright about as long as the rack is tall.
cm
cm
cm
2 · The doorway
cm
With the door open: from the frame to the face of the open door.
cm
3 · Stairs
cm
Wall to wall, or wall to handrail: whichever is narrower.
cm
From a step straight up to the lowest thing above it.
Enter the box's three sides to see the answers.
How it works
- Doors: the box's two shortest sides have to fit the opening. Its length doesn't matter if you can walk straight at the door.
- Stairs: a box going down the stairs travels along the slope, so the space above it is less than the headroom you measure straight up. We assume a typical 37° house staircase.
- The turn: we test every angle as the box pivots round the corner, flat and stood on end, and find the tightest moment. It's the classic “ladder round a corner” maths, with a box that has width.
The starting numbers are a standard interior door and the minimum stair size in Canada's model building code for houses (860 mm wide, 1,950 mm of headroom). Measure yours: older houses are often tighter.
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