Moving a stone slab up stairs

[mangocrazy]

Bit of an odd one, this. My house in Sheffield has a cellar (one of the reasons I bought the house) and in the cellar there is a stone table/slab standing on two rows of bricks. The slab measures 1.25 m x 0.8m x 50mm and by my calculations weighs around 100kg. At some point in the not too distant future I want to move that out of the cellar and into the garden and use it as a garden table. It will be mounted on brickwork which will in turn be built on a concrete slab.

My question is, will two people be able to manhandle the slab up the cellar stairs, through the kitchen and out into the garden? I'm not planning on doing it myself, but would ideally find a couple of strong blokes (bodybuilders?) to do it for me. For money, obviously. There is sufficient room to get the slab out, but it's still fairly cramped and the cellar steps are quite steep.

Does this sound realistic? What could possibly go wrong? Does anyone have a better idea?

 

[addjunkie]

Id move that on a sack barrow with two people. The barrow gives you something to get a proper hold off

 

[Ton-up]

I'd make a wooden 'sled' pulled by a rope and have a couple of guys at the top to pull and someone below to push.

 

[voipio]

Scaffold plank up the stairs, then a sackbarrow.

(^^^ They're quicker typists than me!!)

 

[mangocrazy]

Forgot to mention that the cellar stairs are only about 65cm / 650mm wide, so the slab will have to be transported upright. There is also very limited manoeuvring space at the top and bottom of the stairs.

 

[Kram]

The slab measures 1.25 m x 0.8m x 50mm and by my calculations weighs around 100kg

My calculations have been known to be wrong but thats coming in at 142kg based on 2.85g/cm³.
I managed to carry my 100kg lathe around an awkward corner and onto bench, and Im a weakling, so yes I would say two strong blokes would easily manage.

Forgot to mention that the cellar stairs are only about 65cm / 650mm wide, so the slab will have to be transported upright.

Make a frame to hold it the 800mm side vertical, weld some wheels on bottom and a handle. Ratchet straps to secure it. One person pulling/assisting with a rope and the other guiding up by handle.

 

[mangocrazy]

My calculations have been known to be wrong but thats coming in at 142kg based on 2.85g/cm³.
I managed to carry my 100kg lathe around an awkward corner and onto bench, and Im a weakling, so yes I would say two strong blokes would easily manage.

I based my calculations on weighing a smaller piece of the same material. It's Yorkshire sandstone and a 285 x 150 x 70mm piece weighed 6kg. Scaling that up came to 100kg. I'm not saying you're wrong, just detailing my calculation method.

Make a frame to hold it the 800mm side vertical, weld some wheels on bottom and a handle. Ratchet straps to secure it. One person pulling/assisting with a rope and the other guiding up by handle.

Making a sled to hold the slab upright sounds like a plan, but it's just making it all fit round the tight bends at top and bottom of the stairs that will be the problem.

 

[mangocrazy]

Just checked online and Yorkshire sandstone weighs 2500kg per cubic metre. Using that factor, my slab weighs 125kg.

 

[brightspark]

Id move that on a sack barrow with two people. The barrow gives you something to get a proper hold off

that and a scaffie plank and some rope to pull it up the stairs i did it with a safe from a cellar they gave me it if i removed it

 

[gaz1]

Forgot to mention that the cellar stairs are only about 65cm / 650mm wide, so the slab will have to be transported upright. There is also very limited manoeuvring space at the top and bottom of the stairs.

you make a sled and have the shortest side on a frame

use planks a trolley and a homemade angle frame that sits on the trolley

 

[JMS1972]

There was a similar stone table in several of the houses I lived in when at Bradford Uni.

We assumed they were sacrifical alters. I assume in these enlightened times you can appease the gods outside?

 

[gaz1]

There was a similar stone table in several of the houses I lived in when at Bradford Uni.

We assumed they were sacrifical alters. I assume in these enlightened times you can appease the gods outside?

right subject but not as stated

was used for cutting up and also storage within the cellers table was used more to keep cheese cold and away from mice and rats

the cold slab did what it was intended for as well as the cold cellar

 

[Gritineye]

I asked a body builder to help lifting once, he refused cos he was afraid of uncontrolled use of muscle, incase he become asymmetric, which would take weeks of special exercises to put right!

 

[mangocrazy]

So The Plan as I understand it would be to get a scaffold plank cut to length (slightly longer than 800mm), mount the slab (short side down) on the plank and make a frame to support it, lashing the slab to the frame using ratchet straps. Then attach rope(s) to it and haul it, pushing and pulling up the cellar steps. Is that a fair summary?

 

[mangocrazy]

I asked a body builder to help lifting once, he refused cos he was afraid of uncontrolled use of muscle, incase he become asymmetric, which would take weeks of special exercises to put right!

You do wonder what the point of bodybuilding is then, other than vanity...

 

[not done it yet]

I reckoned on about 120kg, might be a bit more. Do a risk assessment on the stairs, if expecting them to withstand a point load plus a body holding it. The planks and sled is the best idea, but needs something to arrest any backward movement, if it were to be a possibility.

 

[gaz1]

So The Plan as I understand it would be to get a scaffold plank cut to length (slightly longer than 800mm), mount the slab (short side down) on the plank and make a frame to support it, lashing the slab to the frame using ratchet straps. Then attach rope(s) to it and haul it, pushing and pulling up the cellar steps. Is that a fair summary?

you dont want to be underneath it if it gives its broken or ripped off limbs too much sliding weight behind it

 

[Barking Mat]

Block and tackle ? Two ?

 

[Seadog]

Are the stairs up to taking two large blokes plus a large piece of rock?

 

[mangocrazy]

Are the stairs up to taking two large blokes plus a large piece of rock?

Good point - yes they are. They're stone steps.