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What I've Learned The Hard Way
September 5, 2007

There are millions of blogs out there and yet, so far only 8% of the population has a blog, Imagine the choices we’ll have when the number is 16%.  Too much information, so it is an honor to have you check in at this blog. 

I came across a blog written by Phyllida Herlihy and her article entitled 5 Easy Tips for Assembling Your Outdoor Furniture .

One of my jobs at Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery is to receive and open all furniture and case goods shipped to the store.  So I was interested in Herlihy’s topic.
Here are her 5 Tips:
·    First, make sure you have the right tools.
·    Next, we want to make sure that safety precautions are taken before you start on your outdoor furniture project.
·    Before you start putting the pieces together, make sure that you have all of the pieces that you need.
·    The fourth tip is included for those of you that will need to be cutting wood pieces for your outdoor furniture. First of all make sure that you know how to make the cuts.
·    The last tip is a fun one that will make your time assembly time much faster. It is a great idea to involve a friend or family member in your project.

Now, these are good tips and they appear logical and written by a woman, but there are some manly nuances that are missing.

I agree, one needs the right tools.  In order to receive and assemble furniture and case goods that I receive, I first need a sharp retractable box cutter.  I slice off the packaging from a sofa, for example, and it’s best if the sofa is standing on end, that way I don’t have to lift the sofa by myself several times to retrieve the plastic wrap with my foot.  I have found out the hard way not to make blind cuts into boxes with wooden furniture inside. 



Don’t pull the blade toward you.  The blade is very sharp and can nick your clothing.  My polo shirt that I’m wearing has a small hole six inches to the left of the pony. 

I’ve found that a pair of plyers works great at removing staples from the underside of dining room tables.  Be careful, when you jerk them out that your chin isn’t in the way.   I found that out the hard way. 

I believe we’ve about covered the safety precautions.  I wear leather gloves to protect my hands from the staples.  I learned to do that the hard way.  I don’t wear goggles.  I know I should, but I haven’t found the need to.

I’ve found that the workers that ship unassembled furniture to me have included all the screws, washers and nuts needed for the project.  In fact I’ve accumulated quite a supply of extras.  I hate to throw them away, you never know when one of the workers will slip up.

Naturally, I don’t read the directions before putting on the legs to a coffee table.  I do look at the picture.  I think I should have some idea of the look of the finished project.  Did you know that there can be an order to assembling?  I learned that the hard way that I might not want to tighten the four legs before attaching the shelf.  .

Generally, I don’t have to make any cuts.  I do have to drill holes to attach some tops to leg assemblies.  I know of no way to properly attach a square leg set to the bottom of a round table except by measuring again and again.  Did you know 3/8s is smaller than ½?  I remembered that the hard way.

Finally, buy a couple of good rug-covered dollys.  You would be amazed at the heavy furniture one person, all alone, can move with some leverage and a dolly.

Will you share with some of your tips by emailing me at landfair3554@comcast.net.  And check out our blog at Landfair Furniture (Blog).

Posted by Mike Landfair on September 5, 2007 | Comments (0)