Franklin Chair/Ladder

I cannot believe it is even legal to sell this thing. As others reported, holes are not drilled, or they don't line up, or the screws are not long enough to go through all required pieces of wood. Hubby is super handy, has all the tools one man could possibly want, has built multiple pieces of furniture, among other thing, so I was not worried about the thing getting built. Well, Hubby did build the chair. He had to drill additional holes, but the chair/ladder was built. I sat in it fine. I flipped it so that I could try out the ladder portion. Hubby warned: I wouldn't do that. But why else buy the thing? I stepped on the ladder, and the thing immediately broke. Wood chipped right off, and I went down. I weight 119 pounds. You would think this thing could support such weight, no? Hubby has since gone off to a hardware store to purchase additional bolts and longer screws. It's been days now, and this poor piece of an excuse of a chair is still not built. Even when done, I doubt I will ever use it for what I purchased it for: to reach the shelving in my 10' high master closet. As I will never feel comfortable enough to stand on this thing. Purchasing this thing has been a total waste of money and a total waste of time, plus it is unsafe. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for a library chair/ladder.

Just finished the assembly on this chair. So far, it seems like a nice sturdy piece. I've tried the ladder function and it holds my 220 lb weight without and problems. The assembly was pretty easy except that the seat part does not have pilot holes for the screws. The screws that come with the chair don't seem to hold well. I used a little Elmer's wood glue and larger screws to get the seat to fit right. The instructions for attaching the bottom ladder part need modification. If you follow the instructions, you won't be able to fit the bottom part. I attached one side and the step of the ladder part to the seat and then attached the the other side of the lower ladder. That worked fine. So far I am happy with the purchase.

It is lovely and just what I wanted and needed (I am The Book Lady, with about 2000 books,; I love to have floor to ceiling books but cannot reach all of them so this is a great help until maybe someday i can afford built-in bookcases with rolling ladder....) so I would have given it 5 stars except the assembly was so aggravating that I almost sent it back. Holes were not drilled where they needed to be, and I have no drill. Luckily, my son was home helping me out and he managed to assemble it by creating starter holes and screwing the screws into them, with sheer strength. So if you like and need this item, I would suggest having a drill or having someone with tools assemble it for you.

Started out okay, then holes missing, two on the wrong side of the wood, and screws provided don't provide closure (and two of the four that you use for the seat are useless since the holes were drilled on the wrong side, so the holes are too big), directions skip an obvious step or two - just really annoying in the end, and the seat's not fully fastened to one side - try a different option

Nice looking! Some what difficult to assemble in that assembly had to be modified (clamps used to hold seat in position to be able to pre drill wood screw holes for attaching seat). Also had to relocate hold down receiver plate. Instruction picture shows the the two offset (mine were not). Striker would not align into hole as initially installed. Drill depth determined by pulling screw in hole and measure protruding length. Tape drill bit to mark depth. Candle wax screw threads to assist threading. I used an extra long Phillips screw driver without any difficulty. Again, I clamped seat in place before premarking drill location by putting screw in hole and turn a couple of turns.

The product is attractive, the wood is nice looking and solid, assembly was easy (although the earlier comment about needing to have a short screwdriver was correct), as a chair, it's sturdy, and if I lived with just adults, it would probably be fine and meet our needs well. Unfortunately, I bought it because I have little kids and want them to easily be able to climb up the step-stool and get a cup from the cabinet or similar. Very first time my 7-year old used it, she flipped the wrong end of the chair over, the whole thing fell over (she wasn't on it yet, so was unhurt) and the screws ripped out of seat, damaging the wood so badly we can't repair it in any secure fashion, so that's $100 down the drain quickly.

Assembly was irritating because of two wood screws that required a VERY stubby screwdriver and had no pre-drilled holes. There's really not room to fit a drill in there to add your own either, nor to drive in the screws directly. It took two days (off and on) alternating between a stubby and a ratchet screwdriver before I could angry them in there securely, leaving my hands sore for days.Even then, the hook that's supposed to keep the chair together is not even close to positioned correctly. Luckily this doesn't make the chair unstable for sitting, but it does make it a little annoying to move from place to place. When I get around to it I'll be able to reposition the hook fairly easily, but I shouldn't have to.Also interesting to me that none of the item photos show the wood 'plugs' that cover the screw-holes in the actual item. They don't bother me personally, but why use misleading photos?Still, it's sturdy and handsome and just what I need in my library. I don't regret the purchase, just know that it's more of a project than any other piece of furniture I've ever assembled.

The materials and hardware are excellent. Workmanship cost it a star. One of the holes was off-center so I had to use a rasp to be able to get the bolt through. The wood is extremely hard and dense (maybe rubberwood?), so I have no idea how I was supposed to start the wood screws, especially in a restricted space inside one of the triangles that make up the sides, without pilot holes. Now that it is together, I can see some misalignment in the sides but no one driving down the road is going to see that. This very sturdy stepstool will be nice to have the next time that smoke alarm goes off!