Learning to Recognized Quality Oak Furniture
With the explosion of the Internet and online retail outlets, it's now possible to buy just about anything you need cheaply from the web. That includes oak furniture. There are literally hundreds of furniture retailers with e-stores offering flat pack as well as fully assembled pieces. Not only that, but the proliferation of large DIY chains has given us countless choices of where to buy our furniture. The question is, how do you know if what you're buying is high quality furniture?
Veneer or Solid Wood
The first thing to look for when purchasing oak furniture is whether or not the piece is solid wood or veneer. A solid wood piece is made entirely of 100% oak with no other fillers added. Although you can't test this method online, you can tell a solid piece of oak furniture on the showroom floor simply by trying to move it. Solid wood furniture weighs a lot, as anyone who has such furniture already knows.
A veneer piece is made with particle board, plywood, or medium density fibre board (MDF) as the primary building material. Strips of genuine oak, called "veneers" will cover the less expensive woods and give the appearance of solid oak, even though it's not. Manufacturing furniture this way allows for cheaper prices and lower weights. Unfortunately, the quality of oak veneer is generally not as good as solid oak.
Look Inside
For pieces such as the chests of drawers, look inside to ensure the wood products match. Pull each drawer out and compare the weight and look of the wood used in the drawer to that used in the cabinet. Quality oak furniture will have the same wood for both drawer and cabinet. Sometimes, lower quality pieces may use less expensive woods on the back, bottom, and two sides, while using genuine oak for the front of the drawer.
Inspect all Joints
The most tell-tale sign of whether or not oak furniture is high quality is the tightness of the joints. Many of today's furniture manufacturers glue their joints but use no other fasteners. Some even forego the glue and simply staple joints together. The highest quality pieces will be joined with specialized cuts, glue, and some other sort of heavy-duty faster. Joints that are rigid and firm imply good quality, while joints that are not are good sign of poor workmanship.
In a situation where you're buying furniture online, contact the company and asked specific questions about veneers, additional types of wood, and joints. A company selling quality items will have no problem answering your questions in a straightforward manner. If you have trouble eliciting clear and concise answers, you might want to look at other options.