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Why are most sofas so bad?

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Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#531

Post by katbyte »

zac23or wrote: post #530

Everything is bad these days, not just the sofas. 1. The new switches I bought broke before the old ones, which are over 20 years old. 2. LED bulbs last less than incandescent bulbs, even with a 20-year warranty. 3. The new cell phone's screen breaks very easily, it's not like the old Nokia's. And nowadays something expensive is no longer guaranteed to last. This is why I value old things so much: I have an old chair…

I think there are still quality products out there, but they are rare and expensive and you have to spend forever researching to figure out which products are :/

still are as so many see to be purchased and then running the ground for short term profits

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#532

Post by verisimilitude »

linsomniac wrote: post #512
lostlogin wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Particleboard is absolutely useless, MDF is mostly useless except using as a guaranteed flat surface on top of something to support it Unless there is a drop of moisture, then you throw it all away. It’s so depressingly wasteful.

I ended up doing MDF tops for my workbench (1" MDF over 3/4 plywood), and finished them with shelac for a protected, low-friction surface. It is still vulnerable to water damage, but not as bad as unfinished, and as a spoil layer it's not bad. It has plusses and minuses.

If you ever need to replace that MDF, try this: https://epoxytops.com/phenolic-resin-countertops/

I'm using it for my next workbench top.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#533

Post by lowlevel »

zac23or wrote: post #530

Everything is bad these days, not just the sofas. 1. The new switches I bought broke before the old ones, which are over 20 years old. 2. LED bulbs last less than incandescent bulbs, even with a 20-year warranty. 3. The new cell phone's screen breaks very easily, it's not like the old Nokia's. And nowadays something expensive is no longer guaranteed to last. This is why I value old things so much: I have an old chair…

I fully agree that new is very often worse than old. I've had to return 3 new iPhones in a row for manufacturing defects and out of box software errors. A TV lasts me maybe 4 years before it's 'broken' and needs to be replaced.' Home appliance longevity is laughable now.. (especially Samsung, my gosh.) I've purchased 5 new cars over the past 15 years or so, only one of which didn't have serious problems from new that had to be dealt with.. or could not be resolved/etc. We're just hitting bottom here, the next 10 years are going to be pretty rough.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#534

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

zac23or wrote: post #530

Everything is bad these days, not just the sofas. 1. The new switches I bought broke before the old ones, which are over 20 years old. 2. LED bulbs last less than incandescent bulbs, even with a 20-year warranty. 3. The new cell phone's screen breaks very easily, it's not like the old Nokia's. And nowadays something expensive is no longer guaranteed to last. This is why I value old things so much: I have an old chair…

I think when they try to hedonically adjust for inflation - they do a terrible job.

The quality of everything is trash. And if you want something that has the type of quality you used to get 30 years ago - you're going to pay close to 4-10x as much.

Everyone is selling trash for cheap. We live in a mall of garbage.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#535

Post by nijave »

dylan604 wrote: post #182
al_borland wrote: post #158

When I moved to an area for work I wasn’t planning to live long-term I ended up buying the cheapest sofa in the store. I think it was around $270. After a prolonged illness I grew more and more displeased with it, to the point that I went and bought a better one after I was better. I bought from a place that advertised the inside of the sofa more than the outside. It was all about the build quality and how long it wo…

Quality ain't cheap, and cheap ain't quality. In furniture, you definitely get what you pay for...or not. I've found anything Anything decent doesn't really start until ~$1k, and anything in the $3k range you mentioned starts to become heirloom quality. As with anything, these are YMMV, but serves as a fast basis for my experience

In the U.S. you can drop ~$5k on a Williams Sonoma et al sectional and get a cheaply made piece of junk. I've been happy with Maiden Home for around the same price. Wirecutter (now NY Times) has a couple good couch-buying articles.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#536

Post by illegalsmile »

bradgessler wrote: post #246
nostromo wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Room and Board sells great sofas that are made in the US. We've been very happy with ours. It's made from solid wood and stuffed with real feather down. It's several years old now and has shown no signs of aging.

I recently cut open a heavily used R&B sofa and found 1” thick plywood used through the frame. It was solid. The down feather pillows didn’t do well—lots of feathers made their way out of the pillow.

I've never really enjoyed down cushions on a functional everyday couch. Feathers inevitably make they're way out of the pillow, through the cushion's exterior fabric and into your back/arm/leg/etc... or just around the room. They lose loft and aren't as easy to replace as say cutting a piece or two of foam and inserting those. My current couch has a down cushion on the top of the seated part and backrest and when they go I'll replace them with memory foam.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#537

Post by monknomo »

sgc wrote: post #495
Symbiote wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ikea has two or three price points for each product. The cheapest will be made from chipboard or even cardboard. The most expensive varies, it might be pine or even something better.

I bought their highest end leather couch with a fold out bed a couple years ago, due to time constraints. I was very unhappy to see it was made from chipboard. Of course their shelves and such you can see what you are buying, but I would not trust anything upholstered myself.

I feel like the thing to do is to give whatever you are looking at in the showroom a pretty good shake, and to sit down on it hard. If it's creaky or loose at all there, it'll fall apart in no time at home

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#538

Post by Symbiote »

Hamuko wrote: post #426
Doxin wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IKEA sells many products in a couple tiers. E.g. if you get the cheapest billy bookcase it'll just about barely hold up if it's full of books and you don't nudge it. If you get one of the more expensive models it'll be surprisingly sturdy instead. Same sort of thing applies to nearly all their products. Yes they sell cheap crap -- that still serves its purpose mind you -- but they also sell slightly more upscale furn…

And even the cheapest crap you can get from IKEA doesn't seem that bad to me. I've had one of those 5-euro LACK coffee tables for around six years and it really only has some minor surface damage on the top. Far away from throwing out. Although at the same time, I think I'm on my third MARKUS chair because of the gas spring leaking. Thankfully they do have long warranties, so you can exchange them if it doesn't last…

It depends how well you treat it. Someone fidgety putting their feet on a €5 Lack table is enough to ruin it, as the connection between the legs and the tabletop is just double-ended screws.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#540

Post by enthdegree »

nostromo wrote: post #242
hammock wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can still get made in the USA sofas with real hardwood, not rubber wood, which is fine, or worse, soft pine or particleboard or OSB) North Carolina was and is the center of solid wood furniture), and they still cost several to many thousands of dollars, and they will still last 100+ years with a couple reupholsterings or so, but most furniture comes from Asia now and is sold for 10x less, and is not worth reuphol…

Room and Board sells great sofas that are made in the US. We've been very happy with ours. It's made from solid wood and stuffed with real feather down. It's several years old now and has shown no signs of aging.

I got a Room and Board 65" Jasper in Cognac Leather right before the pandemic. I thought I was overpaying and it ended up sitting in shipping for 4 months because of lockdowns. I was predisposed to hate the thing but it's become one of my most reliable large purchases. Very solidly built. The leather has held up perfectly in front of bright windows.
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