Unpacking and Instructions
Did you ever watch Home Improvement? The show where Tim Allen had a home improvement television show where he would throw away instructions to new power tools? When your futon frame arrives Don’t do that.
The first thing you should do is read the instructions all the way through before assembling the frame. This way you have a clear idea on how your frame is put together step-by-step. Then find a safe, clean and spacious area to work and assemble your frame.
Your frame should arrive with a hardware pack with everything you need to connect the frames and parts together, including an allen key and wrench to assemble your futon. Open your hardware pack and sort the bolts, washers, nuts, etc., so you have an easy way to reach what you are looking for. Compare the parts that your sorted with the parts list in your instructions.
Assembly
As you are putting things together, do not tighten all the bolts, nuts and screws completely. Tighten them just enough to keep the frame together safely. This helps especially with wood futon frames that need to be lined up perfectly for proper operation. When everything lines up perfectly, start tightening all the bolts.
Tightening bolts can be tricky. If you don’t tighten enough, your frame will be too loose and may damage the frame. Then again, if you tighten too much, you can damage the frame and disassembly may be difficult in the future.
Testing Your Futon Frame’s Operation
Wiggle your frame just a little bit. If you notice that there is an imbalance, find out where it is and tighten the bolts. Convert the frame from bed to sofa and back a few times. Look and feel for stiff areas or misalignment and fix them before continuing to operate.
I suggest scotch taping your allen key and wrench to the bottom of your futon frame. This allows you to know exactly where it is in case you need to do monthly tightening of bolts and nuts.
Adding the Futon Mattress and Cover
You futon mattress has either arrived vacuum packed in a plastic bag or shrunk down into a box. Open the packaging and let your your mattress air out for a few moments.
Stand your mattress up on the side and apply the futon cover. Don’t pull on the zipper if it doesn’t glide smoothly. Find where there is a snag in the cover, fix it and try the zipper again.
Add the mattress to your futon frame. Remember your futon is new and needs to be trained. It may be a little difficult for a mattress to bend the first few weeks, but after time it will learn to fold in the correct positions.
Don’t forget to flip and rotate your futon mattress every month or two. This helps spread the wear throughout the mattress. If your mattress contains cotton, more than likely it will compress and overtime become thinner and thinner. By flipping and rotating on a regular basis, you can reduce the wear and tare of your futon mattress and retain overall comfort.
Assembly Video
Futon Planet also has a video which goes through the steps of assembling a futon.
Posted on September 8th, 2008 by aaron
Filed under: Futon Frames, Futon News
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