Drew and Panzer, man's best friend. (On a sad note, Panzer lost his fight with cancer 07-24-07.
He was 15 years old & will be missed by many.)
Drew and his power drill, the furniture assemblin' man's best friend.
Hello, My name is Drew Farmer, but you can call me Uncle Drew. I have assembled plenty of furniture in my day and would like to offer some advice for those of you planning on purchasing furniture from us.
A long time ago my Grandfather said to me “You don’t learn anything NEW the second time you get kicked in the head by a mule”. I am not really sure how that applies to assembling bedroom furniture, but I laugh every time I hear that saying. That being said, let me try to prevent you from making mistakes that even I, Uncle drew, made while working in the furniture business.
WHEN YOUR FURNITURE ARRIVES:
This next tip applies to TEENAGERS: Should you be the lucky one to sign for the delivery, and you just can’t wait until your parents get home…READ the instructions, remember that you are going to be the one that is sleeping on the bed.
Receiving your furniture shipment: If you are going to be the one that signs for the delivery, remember this... the shipping company will schedule a delivery window so that you will be home to accept the furniture. Invite a friend over for lunch or breakfast, depending on the delivery time, so that here are 2 of you to take the boxes into the house, if you do this you will thank Uncle Drew.
Tipping Truck Drivers…a great idea, it will make their day and in most cases they will go above and beyond to help get your order where you need it.
BEFORE BEGINNING ASSEMBLY:
Two people are ALWAYS better than one when assembling loft beds, as long as one of the two is there to assist. The team leader should be the one that is willing to read and follow the instructions.
The Dog is mans best friend…TRUE, but a cordless power drill with an Alan key adapter bit is a furniture mans best friend.
Assembly hardware is always hidden in the box marked “assembly hardware and instructions inside this box” or "open this box first".
Make sure that you eat before you begin assembly, this is NOT like swimming.
Nuts and Bolts: I like to separate them before I start building. Use Styrofoam cups and mark the part number on the cup, that way your partner can easily find the part you need without guessing…this time also can be subtracted from the overall set up race clock.
DURING ASSEMBLY:
When using a power drill make sure that you set the choke to 4 so as not to over tighten the bolts. The furniture does include an Alan Key, and the beds can be assembled by using this tool, but you will not enjoy the experience as much.
ALL IN ONE LOFT TIPS:
If you have the room, and a teen or adult helper, assemble the lower half of the bed first, then build the top bed unit and set it in place after the bottom is completely assembled.
Working alone, or if you lack the space in the room to set up the 2 beds pieces separately, you can put the top bed foot and headboards on the lower half of the bed and add the side rails 1 at a time.
Chest, Desk, and Ladder location: Decide in advance what side each piece will be on so you don’t have to take apart the bed and change it later, it is not hard to break the bed back down, but it will definitely add to your build time.
GENERAL TIPS & TRICKS:
ALL IN ONE LOFT Beds instruction states that assembly time should take 2 people 1 hour…this is only true if one of those people is Norm Abrams, and the other is Bob Villa. Assembly realistically will take 2 people 2+ hours to assemble. Most men will try to beat this record, but I suggest that you that you unpack ALL the boxes slowly and layout out the parts in groups and break down the cardboard so at the end of assembly you can subtract the unpacking and clean up from the total hours of work…also time spent reading instructions can also be subtracted from the overall time to insure that you beat the 2 hour average.
Case Goods, such as the dresser, chest, 3 & 6 drawer under bed storage units and night stands come fully assembled (less the knobs); these will take the least amount of time to set up J.
KEEP THE INSTRUCTIONS, if you move you are going to wish you had. The best place to keep them for those of us that are not organized, you might just want to put the instructions in an envelope under the mattress, and above the slat kit. You will forget that they are there but you will find them when you start your move, and be very happy that you listened to your Uncle Drew.
FOR MEN ONLY:
Bed location is important! Try to have your wife choose the EXACT location she wants the bed placed before you start the assembly process. You can use painter’s tape (the blue kind) to show your wife the exact footprint on the floor, so she can decide if that indeed will be the final resting place…in some cases it will be necessary to have her sign a paper agreeing to a specific bed location before assembly commences. Loft beds weigh over 600 pounds and moving them is not easy. This time should also be deducted from the overall time spent assembling the furniture.
This next tip applies only to MEN: When setting up 2 of the same beds. Make sure to ONLY open 1 set at a time. And even though you will want to NOT refer to the instructions when setting up the second bed, keep them handy, you can always pretend like you don’t need them…the downfall of not using instructions on the second bed could result in improper use of hardware, and you could compromise the integrity of the bed.
FOR WOMEN ONLY:
Women: if you DO NOT have a cordless power drill in the house, and you want your significant other to enjoy the assembly experience, please either buy or borrow one…and an Alan Key bit set…they will love you for it. ADDENDUM: As a woman, and as Drew's business partner, I want you to know that we girls are more than capable of assembling this furniture. In fact, many of our female customers have outdone the males in the "bed assembly" department. I'm sure it has everything to do with the fact that we read the instructions BEFORE beginning assembly. It's the simple things that make all the difference! :)
