Customer Help

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Customer Help

Do you find that choosing a piece of flat pack furniture is a bit of a lottery ? Looks nice but will it last ? What measurements do I need to take ? How can I tell the quality ?
Read on and hopefully we can help you through the flat pack maze.

Measurements
Most retailers will give the measurements of their furniture either in the catalogue or on a card on the display. Remember that you will need at least 25mm above and to the sides of large items that are built upright, such as those sold by Sleepmaster, Aldous and Aldiss, but they do have the advantage that they can be built in quite a small room as they are built upright in the position that they are required.
If you are buying a large item that needs to be assembled laying flat and then lifted into position remember that you will need at least 300mm of space all round the item to allow construction.
Remember to take measurements at floor and ceiling levels as not all walls are upright. Allow for skirting and coving unless you are happy for these to be 'adjusted' to get you furniture to fit.
MEASURE TWICE BUY ONCE

Carcase construction
Cam and peg with nailed back panels.	Advantages. The fittings will be hidden / discreet. Nailed back panel will greatly increase rigidity of the carcase.
	Disadvantages. Nailing can be fiddly and easy to split wood with badly positioned nail.
Cam and peg with clipped back panel.	Advantages. Ability to build this type of unit upright in its final position with much less space required for construction.
	Disadvantages. Less rigidity of carcase. 2 people required to fit panels . (These can be spotted by looking inside the wardrobe for small metal hooks that are slotted into a hole in the back panel and then screwed to the inside of the carcase.
Screwed.	Advantages. Easy to assemble.
	Disadvantages. Screws can be seen from the outside (Screw covers are sometimes provided but are never invisible) Splitting of panels is possible.
Drawers.
Dowel and glue	Advantages.Easy to assemble
	Disadvantages. Solely relies on the strength of the glue to hold the fascia on the drawer box.
Cam and peg.	Advantages. Strong and resilient form of construction.
	Disadvantages. The cam fitting is visible when the drawer is open
Drawer bases.	There are a number of options
	Hardboard. Easily deformed by heavy loads. Easily affected by moisture.
	Ply-wood. Stronger than hardboard. Can have splinters. Warps.
	Chipboard / MDF. Both of these are stronger than either ply or hardboard and only have a weight disadvantage. Look for bracing under wide drawers, this will help to keep the drawer base from bending when loaded
Drawer runner options	Plastic runners on carcase running in grooves in drawer. Lowest weight bearing ability. Can stick with wooden drawer boxes.
	Wooden runners. These are normally found associated with wooden drawer boxes. Medium weight bearing ability. Can stick.
	Metal runners (Lift off style) Medium weight bearing ability. Metal runners (Ball bearing style) These come in various weight bearing sizes with some able to support 25Kg. Drawer runner is screwed to side of drawer as safety stop. Top end runners may also have a soft close option.
Hinges.	Look for well known brands such as Blum and Hafele these will give years of service.
Handles.	Wooden, plastic, ceramic or metal. There may be no option but metal handles will outlast all of the others.

We offer a service which will improve the strength of some designs of drawer box for a small additional fee.

If you have any questions please feel free to give us a call and we will try to advise you and point you in the right direction.

We offer a service which will improve the strength of some designs of drawer box for a small additional fee.If you have any questions please feel free to give us a call and we will try to advise you and point you in the right direction.