The frustration of sofa buying

[Sara_H]

If you want your sofa given a good refurb and you live in the Leeds area, our @colly could be the man to consult! (I assume that you are still doing that for a living, colly?)





PS Send the cheque to the usual address!

Have you a link for this business? I'm in the market for replacement loose covers for my two sofa's.

 

[Mrs M]

Halo sofas get a good write up, available in John Lewis.

 

[ColinJ]

Talking of fragile seating ...

A friend of mine left a deck chair round here in the summer so she could sit in my back yard in the sunshine while I plied her with coffee and cake. I walked out with the drinks one time and there was a loud ripping noise as the canvas suddenly gave way. She ended up wedged in the remains of the deck chair with her knees stuck in her chest!

I was laughing so much that I spilt half the coffee. I was going to get my camera to take pictures of her in her undignified predicament, but she made it clear that I had better help her up ASAP or there would be "consequences" ...

PS She is 5' 10" tall but only weighs about 10 stone so the collapse was not due to her vast bulk; more a case of her sitting down too quickly, I reckon.

 

[ColinJ]

Have you a link for this business? I'm in the market for replacement loose covers for my two sofa's.

I don't know if colly has a website. He has been on a few of my rides and when riding along chatting to me he told me that he does upholstery. It looks like he has not been on the forum for about 6 weeks, but maybe he will get an alert from my tag next time he logs in.

 

[Stephenite]

I had to do a night-time emergency repair job on our sofa a while back. Involving drilling, cutting of threaded bar, and hammering and so on. Thank god it was hard wood, and not soft wood is all i can say.

Don't twist it!

 

[totallyfixed]

Halo sofas get a good write up, available in John Lewis.

More bad news there I am afraid, looked at Halo sofas at Oldrids near Grantham, we really liked them, got talking to the saleswoman and discovered that they are made in China. I am afraid that was the end of that. Having morals can be very expensive. Oh, and they are starting to appear everywhere, even in quite expensive retailers, some are charging over £2000 for a sofa, the mark up must be enormous.

 

[Poacher]

The mass produced stuff yes, however I went to a sofa place in Nottingham where I was able to see them being made on the premises and I was able to see and inspect the wood, look at finished frames and talk to the carpenter about the different properties of various timbers, something I know a fair bit about [job related]. I am going to have to disagree with you about using a roof as an analogy, the load per square foot is very light indeed even allowing for snow build up, in fact balsa wood could do the job, not quite the case with a sofa, especially with the average weight of an adult today.

So Rutland doesn't only lack a McDonalds, but also a reputable sofa-maker (and probably a JL and Habitat to boot)!
Dunno about Nottingham, but Long Eaton seems to be the centre for manufacturing round these parts; check out Steeds and Duresta (maybe you have?) - although they both seem to feature cloth rather than leather. Chez Poacher we take our ease on a pair of Steeds Kedleston sofas; Mrs Poacher negotiated a low price from Kings in Beeston - far below the best from e.g. Downtown. Have you considered local auction houses? Bargains in slightly distressed old Chesterfields have been known!

PS Re softwoods: I'm currently messing around with some western red cedar (thuja plicata) redesigning / rebuilding a lean-to greenhouse - let me know if you want any small offcuts to incorporate in your sofa to keep moths at bay! (Actually. it may be eastern red cedar that has the moth-repellent quality; not sure on that one).

 

[Poacher]

Cross-posted with you, TF - Oldrids near Grantham = Downtown. Definitely shop around; small independents can and do undercut them by a considerable margin.

 

[totallyfixed]

Has @dr_pink put her winter weight on then?

Yep, up to 51 kg now, positively bloated and she isn't happy. On a positive note training started again yesterday .

 

[Mrs M]

More bad news there I am afraid, looked at Halo sofas at Oldrids near Grantham, we really liked them, got talking to the saleswoman and discovered that they are made in China. I am afraid that was the end of that. Having morals can be very expensive. Oh, and they are starting to appear everywhere, even in quite expensive retailers, some are charging over £2000 for a sofa, the mark up must be enormous.

Ugh, that's Halo off my list for next sofa.
We got ours from Buick in Montrose. Got advice from salesman who steered us away from what we were admiring and directed us to our current sofa. It was expensive even on sale but a very soft, quality leather and still going strong 13 years later.

 

[Cuchilo]

The mass produced stuff yes, however I went to a sofa place in Nottingham where I was able to see them being made on the premises and I was able to see and inspect the wood, look at finished frames and talk to the carpenter about the different properties of various timbers, something I know a fair bit about [job related]. I am going to have to disagree with you about using a roof as an analogy, the load per square foot is very light indeed even allowing for snow build up, in fact balsa wood could do the job, not quite the case with a sofa, especially with the average weight of an adult today.

Its amazing who gets called a carpenter nowadays

 

[SpokeyDokey]

We are looking for a leather sofa, in the process I have become an expert on leather. However, finding one is another thing altogether without paying several thousand pounds, or discovering it was made in China or the frame is softwood or the leather is in fact bonded leather..........I could go on. Anyone had a similar experience? Any recommendations?

Yes - it is a nightmare. So many shops are full of over-priced tat.

Try to find a local-ish manufacturer that you can deal direct with and avoid the crazy mark-up of furniture shops.

Best to buy with a natural leather finish too - none of the shiny spray-painted stuff!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Its amazing who gets called a carpenter nowadays

Not as bad as those guys that 'service' office photocopiers, ie wipe it with a chemical soaked rag - they're engineers apparently.

 

[Aperitif]

Not as bad as those guys that 'service' office photocopiers, ie wipe it with a chemical soaked rag - they're engineers apparently.

Don't speak about photocopier engineers in that toner voice.

 

[luckyfox]

My reply will be most unhelpful.. Wandering past a second handique shop I popped in and found a perfect wide leather three seater with an oversided matching armchair. They are things of beauty and my most treasured housey item given I went halves with the then bf at the time so a £50 bargain. Not a mark on them and were in the current catalogue from the manufacturer.

Fix in your mind what you want and the couch gods will find a way of bringing it to you.