So you just bought that new patio furniture you’ve had your eye on for several weeks and brought it home. If you’re like most people, you think, “I should have this thing put together in an hour or so.” You open the box to begin and stare in amazement. Could they have possibly made any more pieces then the five hundred that are in the box? This can seem like a daunting task, but I have several tips that will make your project go together a lot easier and with less stress.
For the purpose of this article, we will be assembling a swing with a canopy. Most of the major manufacturers of patio furniture package the furniture in similar ways so these tips will work for a majority of different types of furniture.
The first step and probably the most important step is to make sure you have plenty of room to assemble it. I like to put furniture together in the grass for two reasons. It doesn’t scratch the metal and it’s softer on your knees. (You will be on your knees) If you don’t have a large enough area of grass, say if you live in an apartment, assembling on your carpet is just as good.
Next, put down a blanket or sheet next to the box where you are going to be doing the assembling. I use a painter’s tarp but anything large enough will work. It’s very important that you use a light colored sheet so that you can see all your pieces easily without having to search for them.
Take all the pieces out of the box and lay them neatly on the sheet putting pieces that are the same together. Usually, the pieces are marked with a sticker that has a number or letter on them. Put the pieces with the sticker side up if possible for easy identification later on. Take this time to make sure all the parts were shipped.
This next step will save you the most time. It can also prevent many arguments with your spouse when they ask why it’s taking so long. Most patio furniture manufacturers put all the hardware on vacuum sealed cardboard like the one in the picture. DO NOT take all the screws out of the package and put them in a pile. Leave them in the
package for now.
The instruction manual will list all the screws and have a number next to them to identify them. For example, bolt m6* 45 is marked as number twenty eight. Take a marker and label all the screws in the package with its coordinating number on the package. You’ll thank me later for this one tip! As you need the screws, take a knife and make a slit to get them out without letting the rest of them fall out. Or you can put them in paper cups and mark the cups.
Sometimes you will have twenty or so bolts that are the same size and all have washers and nuts that go on them. I like to take them and put the washers on them and screw on the nut ahead of time so when I need the next one I can just grab the bolt and washers and nuts are all together.
The rest is just a matter of following the directions. If you forget a couple of steps, don’t get bent out of shape, even I have to back track sometimes on the ones I put together. When you’re done, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor and the satisfaction on knowing you put it together.
If you don’t have time or assembling furniture seems like something you don’t want to tackle yourself, hire a handyman to assemble it for you at a nominal fee. It’s usually worth paying them to save some of your sanity. This swing took about two hours to put together. Good Luck!
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