Assembling Furniture - What You Need to Know

Purchasing ready-to-assemble furniture can be more economical than buying it already assembled. In addition, the satisfaction of seeing your completed piece is well worth the time and effort that is out into assembling furniture. Below we will discuss a few things that will make this project as rewarding as possible.

Having decided you want to attempt assembling furniture for your home, you buy a piece or two and, after making sure the boxes are undamaged to prevent damaged or missing pieces, you bring them home and are ready to start. The first step is finding a large flat area close to where the final piece will permanently sit. These pieces can be extremely heavy and you won’t want to move them too far or too often.

This done, carefully remove all pieces in the box and find the instructions. The instructions should list each piece within the box as well as any needed tools for assembling furniture piece. Normally, a screwdriver and hammer are all that is required, although you may want to have wood glue and a tiny bit of dish liquid handy. The glue will help make sure dowels are in tightly and the dipping screws in dish liquid will make them easier to screw in place.

Each piece should be labeled with a letter that will help you in putting the correct pieces together. First, read the entire instruction sheet clear through to get an idea of what you will be doing. Assembling furniture can be confusing if you are trying to do it without instruction; it is similar to assembling a jigsaw puzzle without a picture.

Once you have a general idea of what all is involved in assembling furniture piece and have verified all pieces are present, start with Step 1. It is not advisable to assemble the furniture out of order, as this may cause certain parts to be weaker than intended. Where dowels are called for, you may want to squirt a little wood glue into the hole before gently tapping the dowel into place. Don’t tighten screws completely at this point. Just make sure they are in tight enough to hold your pieces together.

By following the steps exactly as listed, you will soon see your piece of furniture taking shape. Once all the pieces are in place, go back to all the screws and tighten them. This will help insure your venture into assembling furniture is successful. Now, position your assembled piece in its home and enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing something yourself and, should the do-it-yourself bug now be in you, as it usually is once you have completed your first project, head out in search of more complicated projects, like installing your own dishwasher or renovating your bathroom!

Advice While Working....

Be sure to read all directions fully and carefully.
Try and prepare all equipment and supplies before starting the job.

<<Back House & Home Articles

<<Back DIYProjects Articles