If you visit IKEA in Bangalore, that section is near the billing area towards exit. Sometimes they have good things with torn label or some minor scratches at good price. Last time I bought a full tray of scented candles from that section, they were in that section because the candles were dusty and dirty.
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Ikea uses extremely piss poor quality of particleboard.
I know this will upset a lot of Ikea fanbois but this it what it is, that makes the furniture extremely light, ā¦ and extremely delicate. Every time you reposition or shift your furniture you run the risk of getting the boards unscrewed. Why? because the movement (floor dragging movement typically; hardly anyone lifts, carries and drops) unsettles the coupling of the boards, and the stress is borne by the screws and joints.
Since particle board is simply pressed shavings of wood, it doesnāt offer enough resistance to the screw thread and thus you end up with chipped off bits that can no longer hold the screws and nails in place!
Most people donāt know this but when youāre assembling flat pack furniture, itāll last much longer when you glue all the surfaces together before nailing/screwing.
I thought it was common knowledge but literally no one does this.
Just liberally slather on some fevicol and itāll last longer than your interest in keeping it, Iāve some Amazon bookcases that are almost a decade old and theyāve been solid.
The furniture we didnāt glue up? Thatās been crumbling away at the fasteners.
Another tip with flat pack furniture is to avoid using the screw on legs, just use an adjustable appliance stand instead to get it off the ground. If the aesthetics are ruined by not having those cute legs, then glue a piece of plywood at the bottom and screw the legs into that and the bottom of the furniture. Finish the edge of the plywood with a matching trim. Doing this barely adds a few hundred to the cost of the furniture.
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Iāve bought a couple furniture items (Cabinets, night stands, Gaming Desks, chairs etc) from IKEA . Had placed them in different rooms. The ones in my room is nearly pristine after 4 years of regular use (so much that I am searching for any reason to replace them after 5 years but they are solidly built). The ones in my brotherās room didnāt end up in a great shape (He has a kid and the furniture has seen some rough use - but still hasnāt fallen apart). If you can take care of your stuff, and staying in a rented house, IKEA will be cheaper and better. It will not survive a few moves though. Personally, have always felt the local guys craftmanship to be underwhelming. But it usually lasts a long time (and a lot heavier too), before you remove it for being an eye sore eventually.
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Try and see your local wood market if any. You will have much better control over the materials put in as opposed to ikea. Ikea is good for something quick and urgent. Nothing beats a good solid wood furniture. If made correctly, could last generations. I have all my furnitures, sofas, cabinets, wardrobes, dining table, coffee table, beds etc of solid wood.
Expensive sure, upfront but cost effective in the long run.
Some of the woods were repurposed from 100 year old furnitures. Still going strong.
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Seems like hobey comb paper furniture is overpriced as there is hardly any wood or very very little woodā¦
Mainly prices is paid for the design and asthetic lookā¦ rather than. Actual usage of furniture
Also I know mumbai monsoon makes. Even cement wall fill with water.. than donāt know how long the paper furniture will last.. last few years monsoon is getting long and dense and air is filled with moisture hence mat damage the ikea furnitureā¦
Still will do more research
TV unit , wardrobe ,kitchen cabinets you can try fibre cement boards . They are damp proof , waterproof , termite proof and cost half of plywood . You can paint , laminate or stick .
In South India we have ready made doors , windows and beds manufacturers who will do the design and be done in a couple of days . Getting an individual carpenter is a big NO . You can check those ready made doors suppliers and ask if they are willing to work on your design and you buy the wood and get it made from them .
For MDF there are modular kitchen cabinet manufacturers who do bulk work for apartments . If you provide them the dimensions they will manufacture it and you can choose from the catalogue of laminates or wrappings .
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What about fibre cement board?
IKEA products look good, but are pretty bad quality-wise. You will need to bargain with local carpenters and always try to source the raw materials yourself. Labour charge needs to be bargained. The final cost would be a bit higher than IKEAās but it would last for a much much longer time.
I went to IKEA worli
I liked the design of ikeaā¦ but it feels very fragile almost like paper
It feels it can easily break
So much bs in the thread and a lot of good points too. IKEA has various ranges. @rsaeon hit the nail on the head w.r.t. quality.
a. Check the material tab. Youāll know exactly what itās made of. (Avoid the paper filled stuff for anything you want to keep for over 5 years)
b. GLUE. Fevicol works wonders as long as you donāt intend on dismantling things to move.
You have to take out a day and spend it at Ikea to get an idea of what all they have to offer.
Fevicol will not work wonders if someone is trying to glue two pieces which are already laminated or finished. Fevicol must be applied to raw wood for optimal use. In India where labour is cheap, it is always a wise idea to get furniture items made(unless people are buying furniture for temporary use).
Usually hidden/mating surfaces of flat pack furniture is unfinished ā so that you can use glue. You can also use glue inside screw/dowel holes. The inside of holes is always unfinished.
Local carpenters have weird ideas these days on how to charge customers. When I asked for a wardrobe, more than one person quoted a cost-per-cubic-foot rate.
Not wood+hardware+consumables and labour, but a flat rate.
They wanted to charge based on how big the project was.
I told them, Iāll pay your daily rate and get my own stuff for you to work on. My choice of plywood and hardware. Even offered 2k per person per day! They declined.
That means theyāre earning far more with the flat rate.
Itās ridiculous.
IKEA furniture is for show only not utility in the long run.
Getting furniture made personally using teakwood is costly nowadays.
So going with sheesham wood to be made personally by a carpenter is the best alternatives.
According to @rsaeon nowadays all carpenters are asking flat rates than variable rates.
The larger the project the more money they can get. This is their mindset nowadays.
Even for a computer table and chair they are asking flat rates and if I say I want Sheesham wood to be used their rates gets increased.
Iterating again, MDF based furniture from ikea is better than what you get from local shops. proper MDF fibre/particleboard not the honeycomb ones.
local guys are charging flatrate due to constant changing demands from customers and design updates. plus they make a bit more than just charging labour and thatās fine if they give support/warranty from their side.
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Which city are you from ? Most cities have small readymade doors and windows production with workers from West Bengal and Bihar who make bulk door frames and stuff .
If you can identify some shop which does readymade , you give them dimensions they will give you the sizes of the wood pieces . If you get it , then they will make it for you .
For wardrobes I would suggest Cement fibre board than plywood . Plywood with good quality wood has become very expensive these days
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