6 ms·

I have moved many times with Ikea furniture and purchased it used with no problems. Ikea furniture is some of the most disassemble and reassemble-able furnitur

by naet 3y ago

I have moved many times with Ikea furniture and purchased it used with no problems. Ikea furniture is some of the most disassemble and reassemble-able furniture I've seen.

ng12 3y ago
Yeah, I live in New York and the professional movers have made an artform of quickly disassembling and reassembling IKEA furniture.
waboremo 3y ago
Would relate to this. Even with normal wear and tear, reassembly isn't a problem. Perhaps the difference stems from how rushed/impatient one was during initial assembly. I do know a couple pieces where that happened and it resulted in wonky furniture because this knob was jammed in or that bit was misaligned for months. Would make sense considering a lot of people feel excited after purchasing it that they don't take their time with assembly. This is mostly for the older pieces, I know a lot of them now you have to really mess up for it to affect future reassembly.
MSFT_Edging 3y ago
Taking it down and re-assembling it honestly makes it last longer. If you start moving a structure made of a bunch of non-ridged squares, you're going to widen every hole and loosen every screw.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
MisterTea 3y ago
The particle/flake board stuff doesn't do well during disassembly. The threads and bore holes for the various pegs that hold the boards develop cracks an begin to crumble. When you start applying force during disassembly the weakened particle board gives way and the pins pull out of the flake board. Spent half a day repairing a nice looking flake board Ikea book case a friend gave me when he moved. Half of the pins ripped out and two shelves split during disassembly. Wood glue and epoxy putty to the rescue.
jansan 3y ago
IKEA has different levels of "robustness" in their products. The Broder and Värde product lines (both no longer offered) are almost industrial strength and you can be sure that they will survive many relocations, while others, especially cabinest with flimsy backs that are tacked with nails may not survive moving even once.
- imp0cat 3y ago
  YMMV, but I have succesfully moved such a wardrobe (disassembled, obviously - I pulled all the nails out and removed the "flimsy" back, then removed and packed the rest of the frame). It survived just fine.
  - The_Colonel 3y ago
    What's the secret to pull those tiny nails?
    - post-it 3y ago
      Use a hammer (or shoe) to gently hit the backplate from the inside, as close to each nail as you can.
      - The_Colonel 3y ago
        Oh, that's right. I remember doing that, a couple of years ago. But looking at my Pax with ~40 nails, it looks like a decent amount of work.
TeMPOraL 3y ago
Everyone seems to chime in with comments confirming your experience, so let me add an opposite take: all IKEA furniture I ever dealt with were... at best, meh. Some may look almost durable when assembled, but they start to accumulate damage over months to years of regular use. Not careless use, but also not super-careful use as if it were a museum piece. Just regular use. Which is why I too claim that all IKEA furniture I dealt with can barely survive disassembly and reassembly - by the time I wanted them moved somewhere, they've accumulated too much structural damage. More recently - i.e. in the last 5-8 years - all the new IKEA furniture I dealt with felt... flimsy and dangerous out of the box. Now, a wobbly wardrobe or a bookshelf that looks like it'll break apart if you push it sideways is tolerable in an apartment with two sober, working adults - but the moment a child was to enter the picture, we made sure to screw all IKEA furniture to the wall, and ever since, we don't assemble wardrobes and other "fixed" furniture ourselves - we pay a handyman to do it, and to reinforce them structurally with metal elements and glue, and then screw them to the walls or otherwise do whatever is necessary to ensure nothing will collapse or topple when mishandled by a small child. In short: to me, IKEA furniture looks nice until you start using it, and is otherwise rather fragile. But it's cheap, and still miles better than any other flat-pack furniture vendor, so like everyone else, that's what we buy.
- Gare 3y ago
  > we made sure to screw all IKEA furniture to the wall That's what the instructions tell you to do
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    I'll check next time, because I've never noticed it, nor have I seen many people doing it.
    - radlad 3y ago
      It is in the instructions (which typically don't have words, IIRC.) Brackets have been included with all shelves we've purchased - even ones that seem short & sturdy enough to use it. IKEA also sells furniture of varying qualities - for example, KALLAX is a well-known line of shelves that many vinyl enthusiasts use to store records. Records are extremely heavy, but these stand the test of time. Another example is in the bedroom department: MALM vs KULLEN. The former is much thicker and sturdier, with drawers that have metal hardware. Kullen on the other hand is thinner, flimsy, and uses plastic hardware for the drawers, giving them an awful tactile feel.
wlesieutre 3y ago
My oldest Ikea piece is a 4x2 EXPEDIT shelf which has been moved three times now. Twice across town in a car (disassembled and reassembled), once across states (still assembled on a truck). It’s doing fine. My nightstand only went through the truck move though, and it has chunks missing on the bottom corners. The moving company warned us that it was common and they would refuse to move it unless we we willing to forgo any damage claims on those pieces. I think it has a lot to do with the design of each individual product, it’s hard to generalize about how durable they are. The bottom corners of HAUGA are a weak material and not well supported, if it gets hit there or maybe even catches on the floor while sliding sideways it’s going to crunch.
- dylan604 3y ago
  >The moving company warned us that it was common and they would refuse to move it unless we we willing to forgo any damage claims on those pieces. I mean, talking about having you over a barrel. They know precisely that you will not stop, and find another mover. All they need to do is stretch wrap the bejeebus out of the bottom to protect those exposed pressed wood chips, but they don't want to have to do that, so they have you give them a waiver and move on to not caring
  - wlesieutre 3y ago
    Honestly I'd rather have the damaged furniture than waste that much plastic trying to protect it. If it really bothered me I could patch it up with scrap wood and white paint that I already have sitting around.
  - Groxx 3y ago
    People do sell things when moving - there are options between "pay us to move it on our terms" and "you don't have any other choices". Sell on one side and replace on the other is entirely reasonable for risky-to-move items.
    - dylan604 3y ago
      Usually, it's moving day when these conversations are happening when the actual movers are there. Not much time to sell on the side if that's when you're being told
mook 3y ago
IKEA furniture varies a lot in quality (especially across years) so talking about them as a whole is difficult. I could never get the Bestå doors straight, but the Malms seem pretty sturdy. Lack things (especially the simple end table) looks like they wouldn't survive being assembled the first time, nevermind moving it… Some movers once mentioned that old IKEA stuff was in general great, then they were terrible, and then they were just okay. Since they resigned Billy about a year ago†, they're probably going to get cheaper again. † https://about.ikea.com/en/newsroom/2022/05/24/ikea-relaunches-its-icon-billy-with-new-timeless-colours-and-sustainability-improvements https://about.ikea.com/en/newsroom/2022/05/24/ikea-relaunche...
selcuka 3y ago
Wait until you try to disassemble the TUFFING bunk bed. Angle grinder seems like the best option.
gregmac 3y ago
I've also moved it, but rarely disassemble. Drawers out, sure, but otherwise just move intact. Can almost always Tetris stuff together so it doesn't really save any space. Adding wood glue to any places with dowels or even any joints is a pretty cheap, low-effort way to get a 2-3x life multiplier on that type of furniture. As long as you don't want to disassemble again, of course.

by naet 3y ago

I have moved many times with Ikea furniture and purchased it used with no problems. Ikea furniture is some of the most disassemble and reassemble-able furniture I've seen.

ng12 3y ago

Yeah, I live in New York and the professional movers have made an artform of quickly disassembling and reassembling IKEA furniture.

waboremo 3y ago

Would relate to this. Even with normal wear and tear, reassembly isn't a problem. Perhaps the difference stems from how rushed/impatient one was during initial assembly. I do know a couple pieces where that happened and it resulted in wonky furniture because this knob was jammed in or that bit was misaligned for months. Would make sense considering a lot of people feel excited after purchasing it that they don't take their time with assembly. This is mostly for the older pieces, I know a lot of them now you have to really mess up for it to affect future reassembly.

MSFT_Edging 3y ago

Taking it down and re-assembling it honestly makes it last longer. If you start moving a structure made of a bunch of non-ridged squares, you're going to widen every hole and loosen every screw.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

MisterTea 3y ago

The particle/flake board stuff doesn't do well during disassembly. The threads and bore holes for the various pegs that hold the boards develop cracks an begin to crumble. When you start applying force during disassembly the weakened particle board gives way and the pins pull out of the flake board. Spent half a day repairing a nice looking flake board Ikea book case a friend gave me when he moved. Half of the pins ripped out and two shelves split during disassembly. Wood glue and epoxy putty to the rescue.

jansan 3y ago

IKEA has different levels of "robustness" in their products. The Broder and Värde product lines (both no longer offered) are almost industrial strength and you can be sure that they will survive many relocations, while others, especially cabinest with flimsy backs that are tacked with nails may not survive moving even once.

imp0cat 3y ago
YMMV, but I have succesfully moved such a wardrobe (disassembled, obviously - I pulled all the nails out and removed the "flimsy" back, then removed and packed the rest of the frame). It survived just fine.
- The_Colonel 3y ago
  What's the secret to pull those tiny nails?
  - post-it 3y ago
    Use a hammer (or shoe) to gently hit the backplate from the inside, as close to each nail as you can.
    - The_Colonel 3y ago
      Oh, that's right. I remember doing that, a couple of years ago. But looking at my Pax with ~40 nails, it looks like a decent amount of work.

TeMPOraL 3y ago

Everyone seems to chime in with comments confirming your experience, so let me add an opposite take: all IKEA furniture I ever dealt with were... at best, meh. Some may look almost durable when assembled, but they start to accumulate damage over months to years of regular use. Not careless use, but also not super-careful use as if it were a museum piece. Just regular use. Which is why I too claim that all IKEA furniture I dealt with can barely survive disassembly and reassembly - by the time I wanted them moved somewhere, they've accumulated too much structural damage. More recently - i.e. in the last 5-8 years - all the new IKEA furniture I dealt with felt... flimsy and dangerous out of the box. Now, a wobbly wardrobe or a bookshelf that looks like it'll break apart if you push it sideways is tolerable in an apartment with two sober, working adults - but the moment a child was to enter the picture, we made sure to screw all IKEA furniture to the wall, and ever since, we don't assemble wardrobes and other "fixed" furniture ourselves - we pay a handyman to do it, and to reinforce them structurally with metal elements and glue, and then screw them to the walls or otherwise do whatever is necessary to ensure nothing will collapse or topple when mishandled by a small child. In short: to me, IKEA furniture looks nice until you start using it, and is otherwise rather fragile. But it's cheap, and still miles better than any other flat-pack furniture vendor, so like everyone else, that's what we buy.

Gare 3y ago
> we made sure to screw all IKEA furniture to the wall That's what the instructions tell you to do
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  I'll check next time, because I've never noticed it, nor have I seen many people doing it.
  - radlad 3y ago
    It is in the instructions (which typically don't have words, IIRC.) Brackets have been included with all shelves we've purchased - even ones that seem short & sturdy enough to use it. IKEA also sells furniture of varying qualities - for example, KALLAX is a well-known line of shelves that many vinyl enthusiasts use to store records. Records are extremely heavy, but these stand the test of time. Another example is in the bedroom department: MALM vs KULLEN. The former is much thicker and sturdier, with drawers that have metal hardware. Kullen on the other hand is thinner, flimsy, and uses plastic hardware for the drawers, giving them an awful tactile feel.

wlesieutre 3y ago

My oldest Ikea piece is a 4x2 EXPEDIT shelf which has been moved three times now. Twice across town in a car (disassembled and reassembled), once across states (still assembled on a truck). It’s doing fine. My nightstand only went through the truck move though, and it has chunks missing on the bottom corners. The moving company warned us that it was common and they would refuse to move it unless we we willing to forgo any damage claims on those pieces. I think it has a lot to do with the design of each individual product, it’s hard to generalize about how durable they are. The bottom corners of HAUGA are a weak material and not well supported, if it gets hit there or maybe even catches on the floor while sliding sideways it’s going to crunch.

dylan604 3y ago
>The moving company warned us that it was common and they would refuse to move it unless we we willing to forgo any damage claims on those pieces. I mean, talking about having you over a barrel. They know precisely that you will not stop, and find another mover. All they need to do is stretch wrap the bejeebus out of the bottom to protect those exposed pressed wood chips, but they don't want to have to do that, so they have you give them a waiver and move on to not caring
- wlesieutre 3y ago
  Honestly I'd rather have the damaged furniture than waste that much plastic trying to protect it. If it really bothered me I could patch it up with scrap wood and white paint that I already have sitting around.
- Groxx 3y ago
  People do sell things when moving - there are options between "pay us to move it on our terms" and "you don't have any other choices". Sell on one side and replace on the other is entirely reasonable for risky-to-move items.
  - dylan604 3y ago
    Usually, it's moving day when these conversations are happening when the actual movers are there. Not much time to sell on the side if that's when you're being told

mook 3y ago

IKEA furniture varies a lot in quality (especially across years) so talking about them as a whole is difficult. I could never get the Bestå doors straight, but the Malms seem pretty sturdy. Lack things (especially the simple end table) looks like they wouldn't survive being assembled the first time, nevermind moving it… Some movers once mentioned that old IKEA stuff was in general great, then they were terrible, and then they were just okay. Since they resigned Billy about a year ago†, they're probably going to get cheaper again. † https://about.ikea.com/en/newsroom/2022/05/24/ikea-relaunches-its-icon-billy-with-new-timeless-colours-and-sustainability-improvements https://about.ikea.com/en/newsroom/2022/05/24/ikea-relaunche...

selcuka 3y ago

Wait until you try to disassemble the TUFFING bunk bed. Angle grinder seems like the best option.

gregmac 3y ago

I've also moved it, but rarely disassemble. Drawers out, sure, but otherwise just move intact. Can almost always Tetris stuff together so it doesn't really save any space. Adding wood glue to any places with dowels or even any joints is a pretty cheap, low-effort way to get a 2-3x life multiplier on that type of furniture. As long as you don't want to disassemble again, of course.