The only product I have come across from
Nabru are their corner settees. Once they have been built they look great and for the price they are extremely good value for money, where else can you get a contemporary corner sofa for less than £500?
However these are the things that I have experienced, and so if you are planning to buy one of their sofas, please be aware of:
- I have built three of these sofas and on all three occasions the packs were delivered on a pallet and left at the foot of the drive. They appear to have their own delivery team operating in the South East which may not do this, but I am based in the North West and this is my experience. I would recommend that you check before ordering and have at least two people on hand to help you unload the pallet and deal with the delivery when it arrives.
- Contrary to the spiel on the website, the corner sofas are not easy to build either.
- The instructions are not clear. They even cross reference later sections and are really not easy to follow at all.
- The frame slots together like a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle, and are the most complex item I have even seen delivered as flat pack furniture.
You can watch this video at U-Tube of
how to build a Nabru sofa, which makes it look fairly straightforward, but it does not cover the difficult parts:-
- Identifying the parts in the first place and constructing the frame. Easy if you have done it before, not so easy for the first timer working in a confined space.
- Pushing the support boards into the seat and back cushions is quite tiring, since the upholstery has to be so tight. Since you will have at least six of these to do, this is not trivial.
This is the sort of product that will defeat many. When I first saw one it was the only time I have ever thought to myself, can I do this? Bear in mind, I have an extremely good mechanical mind, a lot of experience and quite a high IQ.
That said, they are in fact a masterful work of art, the structure for someone who appreciates such things is brilliant! They are just not easy to build unless you have done a good twenty or thirty I'd say.
On their website they offer a one off assembly charge in London and the South East of £40, and I reckon if you assembled these sofas day in day out you could probably get the assembly time down to an hour or two, as claimed.
I can build one of these in three to four hours, however I once sent two competent assemblers to build one, and between them it took 5 hours (10 man hours in total).
If you are going to build one you will need good spatial awareness, plenty of patience and plenty of time.
I hope I have been objective in this overview. The product when assembled is great and for the price you simply won't find better value, but with every thing there is a catch, as outlined above, delivery and assembly.
Flat Pack Blog
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
Whether it is a bunk bed or loft bed, it is important to heed the warnings on the instructions. If you do not attach the slats properly to the upper bunk your child can suffer serious injury. The following two things have been identified:-
- The slats must all be fastened down on the top or raised bunk. On a normal bed the slats are often strung together and fastened down at six anchor point. If the slats fall through the bed you only have 12 inches to fall so no issue. If you are on the top bunk, such a fall could cause a serious injury, especially considering the way the slats might move and trap an unlucky child.
- Slat must be placed right up to the head and foot boards on the upper bunk. Again an unlucky child could slip and get trapped in a seriously uncomfortable or fatal position.
The chances of these two things happening are increased during play and therefore it is imperative that bunk beds and loft beds are assembled correctly.
