That phrase was drummed into us by my woodwork teacher some decades ago, and it's a mantra that everyone who cuts anything, be they carpenter, carpet-layer or haute couture designer, will know and follow.
Customers, on the other hand, should be able to rely on furniture suppliers to do the measuring for them. Unfortunately, a customer last week seems to have been let down.
The plan was simple enough, if unusual:
The customer has two elevating single beds, joined together to make a king-sized double. They're designed to be used that way, so that each half of the double bed can be elevated independently. What the customer wanted was a bed frame that would fit around the existing beds to give them a more contemporary look, with the added feature of a pop-up television in the foot board. The salesperson assured him it could be done and sold him a very smart and very big (and quite expensive) super king sized bed frame to do the job. And it very nearly worked.
Sadly, nearly is not good enough. The new bed frame was very big but not quite big enough, by a matter of about two inches in width and about three inches in length. So, when I arrived to assemble the new bed there was simply no way to make it fit.
Our customer had measured his existing beds but maybe the salesperson had taken his measurements from the catalogue, rather than measuring a real bed. This would have given him the external width and length, not the internal dimensions. Either that, or he had used the maximum mattress size, without taking account of the new bed's internal reinforcement (that is normally below mattress level).
But whoever didn't measure accurately, the lesson is the same: measure carefully - and measure twice!
Multiple Streams of Income: A Ready to Go Business
Multiple Streams of Income: A Ready to Go Business: In my previous post I told you about a simple, low cost business opportunity with Flatpack Assembly UK - less than £2,000 to start and making...
To your wealth and success!
To your wealth and success!
Multiple Streams of Income: Flatpack Assembly UK Review - Unique and Low-Cost ...
Multiple Streams of Income: Flatpack Assembly UK Review - Unique and Low-Cost ...: Brand-New Business Opportunity Makes £200 per Day A business opportunity has just been launched that allows you to make £200 a day or more...
To your wealth and success!
To your wealth and success!
Flatpack Assembly Suffolk on BBC Radio Suffolk
BBC Radio Suffolk's roving reporter Luke Deal popped in to see us yesterday. There are photos of his visit and a link to the broadcast replay on the main website blog (just updated), but here's a short cut to the Youtube video I made, featuring my eight minute slot:
I hope you enjoy it - it was certainly fun to do!
I hope you enjoy it - it was certainly fun to do!
Schreiber - The Same But Different
You might remember Schreiber furniture from the seventies or earlier - I certainly do - and my memories are of solid teak tables and chairs and ready-made (and heavy) bedroom furniture. I don't know if Schreiber did flat pack furniture as well back then or if it's a recent innovation but the flat pack wardrobes I assembled last week carried the Schreiber brand.
I've said before that most manufacturers now use similar construction methods and these wardrobes were at first sight very similar to Ikea furniture.
There are a few important differences, though:
The last is something to bear in mind if you need to factor in assembly time or cost when you choose your furniture. In this case a three to four hour job (quoted at the 3-hour/half day rate) turned into a full day job at the day rate - still a bargain at £150 instead of £240 plus.
Being higher density, the Schreiber pieces also seemed more fragile while being assembled and heavier and more difficult to manouvre than similar-sized Ikea units. The push-fit pegs grip ingeniously once they're tightened but the initial impression is that the furniture as a whole is less substantial until everything is pulled together. Two nice features to finish with are the door hinges that simply click together (I only had to adjust one door out of five) and the soft closers that add a touch of class.
The final result, then, is very pleasing, solid and well-finished, and the customers are more than happy with their new Schreiber wardrobes.
I've said before that most manufacturers now use similar construction methods and these wardrobes were at first sight very similar to Ikea furniture.
There are a few important differences, though:
- Firstly, the Schreiber units seem to use a higher-density (but slightly thinner) board for the carcasses.
- Secondly, the 'pegs' that are used to join the main pieces together are a push-fit rather than a screw-fit
- Thirdly, there was more work involved to produce the final result - drilling for handles, cutting decorative end panels and the plinth - which virtually doubled the time needed to build it.
The last is something to bear in mind if you need to factor in assembly time or cost when you choose your furniture. In this case a three to four hour job (quoted at the 3-hour/half day rate) turned into a full day job at the day rate - still a bargain at £150 instead of £240 plus.
Being higher density, the Schreiber pieces also seemed more fragile while being assembled and heavier and more difficult to manouvre than similar-sized Ikea units. The push-fit pegs grip ingeniously once they're tightened but the initial impression is that the furniture as a whole is less substantial until everything is pulled together. Two nice features to finish with are the door hinges that simply click together (I only had to adjust one door out of five) and the soft closers that add a touch of class.
The final result, then, is very pleasing, solid and well-finished, and the customers are more than happy with their new Schreiber wardrobes.
Boost the Economy and Improve Your Home (with our help!)
A Bank Holiday weekend is a great excuse for a shopping spree, and spring is a great time to make changes to your home, so you have two wonderful excuses, if you needed them, to help to boost the economy by buying some new furniture over Easter!
And we can give you a third excuse, if you need one, by giving you fixed price quotes for assembly of your new furniture. That means you can factor the cost of assembly into the overall price of your new furniture and know exactly what the finished items will cost you.
With most if not all furniture retailers offering some fantastic sale prices right now, that means you can almost certainly get your furniture fully assembled for less than the usual flatpack price, AND without skinned knuckles, back ache, stress or possible damage.
All you have to do is call or text us on 07787 403119, tell us what you've bought or plan to buy and we'll assess how long the job will take and quote you a price. Simple.
Alternatively, use the enquiry form and we'll call you!
And we can give you a third excuse, if you need one, by giving you fixed price quotes for assembly of your new furniture. That means you can factor the cost of assembly into the overall price of your new furniture and know exactly what the finished items will cost you.
With most if not all furniture retailers offering some fantastic sale prices right now, that means you can almost certainly get your furniture fully assembled for less than the usual flatpack price, AND without skinned knuckles, back ache, stress or possible damage.
All you have to do is call or text us on 07787 403119, tell us what you've bought or plan to buy and we'll assess how long the job will take and quote you a price. Simple.
Alternatively, use the enquiry form and we'll call you!
To Ipswich for an Ikea Adventure
I have said before that most furniture manufacturers use a very similar system these days, with more or less standardised fittings, which makes life easier all round, of course, because the systems they've settled on are simple and reliable.
However, that doesn't mean there's no scope for design, and Ikea like to be innovative as well as efficient in their use of materials.
This was the chest of drawers our Ipswich customer had waiting for me last week. As you can see, it has a wood frame with panels, rather than using plain sheets of thicker particle board (apart from the top and drawer fronts) like the last few Ikea jobs. I have to say, the frame was a bit of a puzzle and although the diagrammatic instructions were completely accurate they weren't very clear at first glance.
When you're presented with a piece like this you have to take in every clue the illustrations give you, including the number and positions of pre-drilled holes in otherwise identical component parts. Ignore the colours of these parts, because they're not shown in the instructions, but finished serfaces will always show to the front and top rather than the rear or underside.
A few minutes spent working out how things must go will almost always save you time overall - and potential damage, which is obviously not an option when you're providing a professional service!
In the end, this chest of drawers took about two hours to assemble and the client was very happy with the finished result.
However, that doesn't mean there's no scope for design, and Ikea like to be innovative as well as efficient in their use of materials.
This was the chest of drawers our Ipswich customer had waiting for me last week. As you can see, it has a wood frame with panels, rather than using plain sheets of thicker particle board (apart from the top and drawer fronts) like the last few Ikea jobs. I have to say, the frame was a bit of a puzzle and although the diagrammatic instructions were completely accurate they weren't very clear at first glance.
When you're presented with a piece like this you have to take in every clue the illustrations give you, including the number and positions of pre-drilled holes in otherwise identical component parts. Ignore the colours of these parts, because they're not shown in the instructions, but finished serfaces will always show to the front and top rather than the rear or underside.
A few minutes spent working out how things must go will almost always save you time overall - and potential damage, which is obviously not an option when you're providing a professional service!
In the end, this chest of drawers took about two hours to assemble and the client was very happy with the finished result.
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