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Why new furniture doesn’t last long

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Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#51

Post by ethbr1 »

donatj wrote: post #5

I had an argument with my therapist about this. My wife just gave birth to my daughter, we moved a bookshelf my grandfather built for me when I was born into her nursery and now my office is a mess, my books and such scattered. The mess is stressing me out. I am looking for a bookshelf to replace it, and told him I haven’t found anything I thought would last the rest of my life for a reasonable price. He insists I do…

There's the famous Adam Savage quip about "Buy cheap, then if you use it re-buy quality."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usB6jqa4Yt4&t=24s

Which I guess in your case boils down to...

Would you rather not have bookcases while you're searching for the perfect one?

Or would you rather have bookcases you aren't thrilled about, while you decide/look for more quality ones?

I'd hazard from the limited information, it might make sense to find the cheapest thing you can't push over, ASAP. Rip the band-aid off.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#52

Post by mikepurvis »

suoduandao3 wrote: post #21
stetrain wrote: post #4

My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. For the most part if you want a piece of furniture (ie a nightstand), there are two categories. Either you buy the Amazon/Wayfair version made of pressboard for $100-$200, or you can find a solid wood heirloom version for $2,000+. The domestic plywood or cheaper solid wood options are no longer mass pr…

used furniture is a good compromise there, though it's harder to get a consistent style when going that route. Part of Ikea furniture's appeal is also that it looks like other Ikea furniture.

This has been how I've largely addressed the missing middle issue for myself— I'm not up for $2000+ pieces, but when I want to do better than flat-pack trash, getting something for $300-500 second hand seems like a solid way to go.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#53

Post by bcrosby95 »

orev wrote: post #36
donatj wrote: post #5

I had an argument with my therapist about this. My wife just gave birth to my daughter, we moved a bookshelf my grandfather built for me when I was born into her nursery and now my office is a mess, my books and such scattered. The mess is stressing me out. I am looking for a bookshelf to replace it, and told him I haven’t found anything I thought would last the rest of my life for a reasonable price. He insists I do…

Even if you know that something is objectively better, if the majority of the market doesn’t agree, you’re going to find yourself spending lots of time and energy going against everyone else. At a certain point you just need to accept that that’s how things are and go with the flow, or take it upon yourself to really “fix” things, which will probably mean taking it on as a full time job or hobby. So in this case, you…

Or wait until the new child is older, and spend a lot of time building a new bookshelf with them.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#54

Post by foobarian »

Joker_vD wrote: post #47
foobarian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I wish it were plywood, it's actually MDF or other kind of pressboard.

Mmm, chipboard. Could as well be called "cheapboard". Low quality at low cost so you can pay twice.

My biggest issue with them is they handle water very poorly. The affected piece of the board swells and warps, and never returns to original shape.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#55

Post by Tagbert »

maximinus_thrax wrote: post #30
donatj wrote: post #5

I had an argument with my therapist about this. My wife just gave birth to my daughter, we moved a bookshelf my grandfather built for me when I was born into her nursery and now my office is a mess, my books and such scattered. The mess is stressing me out. I am looking for a bookshelf to replace it, and told him I haven’t found anything I thought would last the rest of my life for a reasonable price. He insists I do…

> He insists I don’t need something that will last that long and I am just resistant to change This is a bit of a red flag. Was this during a therapy session? They shouldn't be giving this type of advice, not to mention 'insisting' on it.

This is second hand commentary. We don't know what the therapist actually said, just how the poster is representing it, just that the poster interprets it as 'insisting'.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#56

Post by tfandango »

The same goes for hiring built in furniture. I got some quotes for about 8ft of cabinets with some bookshelves (painted, not even nice wood, probably decent ply) and it came in at 10k. I knew it would cost more than buying something from the furniture store but that really threw me. I think it's why we see so many "ikea hacks" online.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#57

Post by 5040 »

stetrain wrote: post #4

My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. For the most part if you want a piece of furniture (ie a nightstand), there are two categories. Either you buy the Amazon/Wayfair version made of pressboard for $100-$200, or you can find a solid wood heirloom version for $2,000+. The domestic plywood or cheaper solid wood options are no longer mass pr…

I was recently looking for a shelving unit for vinyl records. The Ikea solution was 100$. Next step up were 1000$ home-made units on Etsy. In the end, I went with Ikea. Something in the middle would have been nice.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#58

Post by Ekaros »

Joker_vD wrote: post #47
foobarian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I wish it were plywood, it's actually MDF or other kind of pressboard.

Mmm, chipboard. Could as well be called "cheapboard". Low quality at low cost so you can pay twice.

And then we get to cardboard. You know surfaces structure...

Very cheap, good enough if you never hit it properly with anything.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#59

Post by tfandango »

foobarian wrote: post #54
Joker_vD wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mmm, chipboard. Could as well be called "cheapboard". Low quality at low cost so you can pay twice.

My biggest issue with them is they handle water very poorly. The affected piece of the board swells and warps, and never returns to original shape.

yes, they used this for kickboard in my kitchen and even occasional spills and drips will cause swelling. Then you can't do anything about it but tear it out or try to repair with wood putty or something like that.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#60

Post by angry_moose »

For the real bottom-of-the-barrel, there are brands that are literally just cardboard held together by double-sided tape now. My wife accidentally ordered one of their vinyl record stands. To be fair, it actually did sortof ok until we made the mistake of moving it across the room (we took the records out first):

https://www.amazon.com/stores/WayBasics/page/792E6148-46C9-4...

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