Flat Packs - love em or hate em?

[Julia]

Just spent most of the afternoon putting together a flat packed chest of drawers, as usual I have a few screws, nails and dowels left over but it's standing and looking just the picture. I quite enjoy putting them together when they go well but inevitably one bit always goes wrong, this one was missing two pilot holes. I bought one a few months back only to discover there were no instructions in the box, it was a challenge and I quite enjoyed it.

So flat packs, love em or hate em!

[ciderally]

i dont mind doing them as long as im left to do it on my own...i usually get it done ..use plenty wood glue...they wont fall apart...tee hee welllllllllll

[karia]

once got a garden table which turned out to have 2 holes for parasols when constructed... we just turned the other into a tumbler holder.

I get OH to do them..he had Airfix as a kid!;)

Do you think they put all the bits in the pack and then work out which ones to remove on the basis of which will cause you most hassle?[lol]

I think they are in cahoots with B&Q since we always end up there for necessary bits and bobs.

[justine]

cant stand them..Prefer real wood as you know what you are getting.....

better than having to deal with flat pieces, which you spend ours on only to find a few screws missing.....

[karia]

We know someone who bought a self assembly glass shelving unit and when they got it home the middle shelf was just fragments of glass that looked like it had been attacked with a toffee hammer.

They took it back to the shop...and the assistant looked at it and suggested that they glue it!:eek:

[justine]

We know someone who bought a self assembly glass shelving unit and when they got it home the middle shelf was just fragments of glass that looked like it had been attacked with a toffee hammer.

They took it back to the shop...and the assistant looked at it and suggested that they glue it!:eek:


well they do say that the AA have a good glass sealer.

[mums angels]

in my experience of flat packs they are awful once they go together you can never move them again without them breaking .. worst has to have been wardrobes or drawers with flimsy backs or bottoms in my opinion you get what you pay for i would rather save a little longer and get a good solid piece of furniture.

recently we did buy a homebase shed and it was really flimsy , hubby had to buy aload of wood to reinforce the walls , he could have done a better job of making one himself

[justine]

in my experience of flat packs they are awful once they go together you can never move them again without them breaking .. worst has to have been wardrobes or drawers with flimsy backs or bottoms in my opinion you get what you pay for i would rather save a little longer and get a good solid piece of furniture.

recently we did buy a homebase shed and it was really flimsy , hubby had to buy aload of wood to reinforce the walls , he could have done a better job of making one himself
They are the resons why we dont like them...Some are decent looking in the brochure but you get them home and they are flimsy and never goes together perfectly...
Unfortunately we do have some but that is more for convienience than love of them....

[Riffman]

I have built a lot of flat pack stuff.

The key to success is to use the fixings supplied, but double up everything with other screws/nails/glue.

I have yet to hear of anything I have made come to bits.

Overkill, but it works.

[Highland Laddie]

well they do say that the AA have a good glass sealer.

Justine, would that be AA Automobile Association
or AA Alcoholics Anonymous :lol:

[justine]

Justine, would that be AA Automobile Association
or AA Alcoholics Anonymous :lol:


I meant Automobile Association but you could take it either, they both deal in glass......

[cuddlepop]

I hate them and my son whose a joiner hates them even more than I do.
He dreads me buying in anything flat pack because he knows he'll have to put it up.
Instuctions what instuctions.:lol:

[balto]

i love making flat pack things as long a the other half doesnt stick his oar in and make out he can do a better job than me and if we attempt to do it together(flat pack i mean) then we end up nearly killing each other.[lol][lol]

[footie chick]

i love making flat pack things as long a the other half doesnt stick his oar in and make out he can do a better job than me and if we attempt to do it together(flat pack i mean) then we end up nearly killing each other.[lol]


With you one that one had to take down dunk beds after my other half "helped" me to put them together wrong. :lol:

[balto]

With you one that one had to take down dunk beds after he "helped" me to put them together wrong. :lol:
pardon you have got me a little confused:confused:confused

[footie chick]

pardon you have got me a little confused:confused:confused


OH tried to help me make the bunk beds ended up having to take them apart thanks to his "help"

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

Flat packs are the spawn of the devil[evil][evil].Have ye noticed the most complicated ones with all the instructions and hundreds aw bits are so easy to put together.See the easier ones with 2 or 3 pieces.......Murder I tell ye Murder......I have the blisters to show it.

[George Brims]

It all depends on luck I think. I have bought stuff at a range of prices over the years and had good and horrible experiences with both cheap and dear ones. Worst ever was an Ikea wardrobe/dresser thing I bought my daughter when she moved to Sydney to study. None of the drilled holes matched up, and the hole sizes were often off so either the screw wouldn't go in, or it wouldn't grip when screwed in. It took me about a day and a half! Worst of all, after I was done, I grumbled to her about this "cheap Scandinavian %^&*", and then noticed on the bottom of the instructions it said "Made in the UK"!!!

[footie chick]

Bought flat packed chest of drawers from Lidl's with no instructions was the easiest thing to put together. :lol: Sometimes instructions are soo confusing:roll:

[justine]

Bought flat packed chest of drawers from Lidl's with no instructions was the easiest thing to put together. :lol: Sometimes instructions are soo confusing:roll:

Instruction manuals and flatpacks....
"please take 10mins to read instructions carefully"

and then take 45 mins to make a mess..........

[Ricco]

I love 'em! I find the best approach is to unpack it and make sure nothing is missing; take it straight back if there is and insist that it is not the product that was advertised and that you want a replacement. Then, if everything is OK have a couple of stiff drinks, cross your eyes and it all goes together wonderfully. If it does start to go wrong I can always blame the wife for dragging me all the way over to IKEA and buying cheap stuff. ;):lol:

[Metalattakk]

I love flat-pack/self-assembly furniture.

I had problems with the first one I did - a basic bookcase that ended up like the Leaning Shelves of Pisa, which I finally got round to straightening up last year - but after that everything has gone great.

I look around the house now, and every room has stuff that I've self-assembled. The TV unit, this computer desk I'm sitting at now, the wife's computer desk, the bunk beds in the spare room, all four bookcases in the house, the bedside cabinets, the glass-shelved stereo unit, the chest of drawers in the spare room, etc., etc. Only the kitchen is free of my self-assembled wizardry.

And the best thing is, there's another chest of drawers needing put together this weekend!

Now for the annoying bit - Why do they all use fixtures and fittings that only work with a fiddly little allen key? The allen key is designed to be in contact with metal, not hands. [evil] Give me a cross-head screwdriver, any day.

[Julia]

My cordless drill fortunately has allen key bits, there is nothing worse than trying to use a fiddly little allen key that keeps dropping on the floor or won't easily fit in the nut. I put all my flat packs together using the cordless drill, it would take me forever manually.

[Metalattakk]

*knows what to ask for for next birthday*

;) Cheers!

[lady penelope]

I love making flatpacks. Many a night was spent by my OH and myself lovingly fitting together furniture for our first home.
I now prefer buying well made solid furniture, it lasts longer and doesn't fall apart when moved.:)

[Snarfer]

I've just built 3 wardrobes and two sets of drawers in my bedroom took 2 days and a couple of hair tearing moments but was chuffed when competed.

[catnip]

I've just built 3 wardrobes and two sets of drawers in my bedroom took 2 days and a couple of hair tearing moments but was chuffed when competed.



ahem ahem, think you forgot to mention that you did have some help Snarf !!

[Lolabelle]

I hate em[evil]
I always end up with some wobbly, wonky thing that only vaguely resembles the picture on the box.
But amazingly enough, when I got Charly (see pet section) the man at the shop only had flat pack cages, and I went "Whoa there! NO WAY" but he reassured me that anyone can do this. So I succumbed and got the flat pack 301. And whalaaaa, Jesse (9) and I had it together in about 20 minutes. Would have been less, but I couldn't find the destructins for the first 15 minutes. [lol]

[KCI]

I love flat packs!

They provide me with endless entertainment when I supervise my husband trying to make them up! According to him, flat pack instructions never come in English - always a different language, which is why he can't make them!! :lol::roll:

[Kevin Milkins]

I find that by the time you have completed the flat pack you have bought you want to be let loose on someone elses as you now have the know how.
Unfortunatly you will never see that set of instructinons ever again