Lessons From A Delivery Guy: Callbacks for Finishing Problems

comments (0) April 12th, 2010 in blogs

John Broomall, Contributor

6 users recommend

Finish problems. They're the leading cause of refusal for furniture delivery and callbacks according to "delivery guy" John Broomall. He shares tips on how to avoid them in the text below.

Add Comment
Print

Part five in our series on how to build durable furniture that will stand the test of time... and the trip to the client's house: Lessons From A Delivery Guy.

The big furniture outfits will most likely tell you their number one problem is the refusal of damaged merchandise, followed by property damage caused during delivery. In my world, the leading cause of refusal and callbacks are finishing problems.

Beware of finishing fumes
When people get a new piece of furniture, they automatically open the doors or drawers. If the scent that hits them is “eau de pre-cat”, I know the odds of that piece being returned are about one in ten. Everyone wants to get work out of the shop as quickly as possible, but in this economy, more than one shop has gone under because of returns.

No matter how harmless it may be, people don’t want something that smells like it could be toxic in their home, and especially not near their children. The best outcome in these situations is that the customer will accept delivery at a later date, leaving the maker to either take it back into their shop or eat a storage charge.

Wax finishes or linseed oil finishes are fine at room temperatures, but after a piece is wrapped in blankets and placed in a hot truck, the finish can soften or leech out.

Finishing horror story
One gentleman spent long hours building a cradle for his first grandchild. He carefully wrapped the piece in blankets and left it in his driveway for me to pick up. I don’t know what kind of finish he used, but it was embedded with blue fuzz by the time I got there.

You can run into odor problems with waxes as well. Some waxes have no odor but others, such as beeswax in kerosene, can put people off when it arrives in their dining room.

More from this series

• Introduction: Lessons from a delivery guy
• Planning: It sounds silly, but will the piece fit in the client's home?
• Four perennial problem pieces
• Some problem areas
• How to avoid callbacks
• Coming soon: Falling furniture: 14,700 children injured yearly

Let the finish fully cure
The answer to all of this is that you should use whatever finish you think best suits your work, but allow for sufficient drying (or curing) time. If you are going to apply a final coat of wax, include it as part of your finishing schedule rather than something that happens when the piece is on the way out. Remember, you just don’t want your name and “off-gassing” used in the same sentence.

Next Time: Getting called back to fix your furniture