Shopping for a Deep Seat Sectional

[drcollie]

Leather Groups spends a lot of time on its cushion, and that looks nice but only has a 1 year warranty. Cores never fail on 12 months..lol. And they use no-sag springs for construction. Pass.

Casco Bay is covered elsewhere in the forum, do a search.

If you want the REAL DEAL, made right and built to last.... the H&M Settlement sofa is the one.

Drcollie and anyone interested,

These are the two companies who have the leather sectional I'm talking about. Obviously this is a Restoration clone. The RH one is made in China and we want American made.

The first company is Leather Groups. They call it the Langston. On this page they show a short video that not only shows dimensions but more importantly some of the construction.
http://www.leathergroups.com/shop/La...onal-Sofa.html

The second company is Casco Bay. They call the same leather sectional the Manchester. On this page they not only show the specs but many many photos of the hardwood frame, 8 way hand tied construction, and more.

Here's the page http://cascobayfurniture.com/pages.p...ath=11&pID=131

If you scroll down the page you'll see in gray type:

Click here to see actual photos of our 8 way hand-tied construction. Amazing photos.

Lower down the page...

Click here to see actual photos of a sofa being made in our North Carolina factory.

Lower..

Click here to see actual photos of our hardwood frame.

The dilemma is that the Company is in Maine, or New Hampshire and this factory is in North Carolina. We want to see and sit on any couch before buying it. A gentleman from the company phoned me and was very reassuring (as any saleman or rep should be), and offered that if we weren't satisfied we could pay a 500.00 shipping fee to return it. (shipping is free from both companies.)

On the other had Leather Groups is a very big company and sells many lines of furniture. They say the frame is hardwood, but 'reinforced' and that they use heavy gauge spring suspension. I read that 8 way hand-tied is optional at no charge. On another thread on this website you said that wasn't possible, (conversation was about this exact company) and that they can't just do 8 way without retrofitting.

I've found several other companies who sell them but only one other American one. It's name is Comfortable Couch, what appears to be a small company. http://thecomfortablecouch.com/default.aspx

As far as the size goes we have a bit of room to move in all directions, but the deep seating is the most important aspect. We have a RH store in our town and my husband has been wanting that deep seated sofa forever!

Thank You for your help on this!

[kitkat]

Thanks Drcollie,

Funny you mentioned the Leather Groups cushions. I thought the channeled down and foam backs were a great option and I liked the way the seats were configured so you could remove the foam and replace over time. Agree with you about the fact that it's not advertised as 8 way hand-tied.

This is the same sofa that in another post on this board someone said Leather Groups offered to do 8 way hand tied at no extra cost. Am sure you remembered your response. It does not seem possible or reasonable to me either.

Casco Bay is 'made right' according to their photos and sales rep. The price is right. There isn't really much said on this forum about Casco Bay with the exception that some people are concerned that they're in Maine, yet the sofas are built in N.C. So I can't rule them out.

The Comfortable Couch store builds outside Hickory and has a small showroom/retail store. It's family owned. They have offered that we can come up and see and sit on a sofa like the sectional, because they do have a store. That's a plus. Still a long drive. They've offered to configure it in two pieces rather than three...I don't like that separate corner piece! http://thecomfortablecouch.com/default.aspx

The HM settlement sofa is beautiful but I don't see any pictures of the sectional? Do they make a sectional, and can you price it out for me please?

Also, does Bradington and Young have a sectional with this deep seat? I've been happy with our BY leather club chair!

Thank you for your insight. I think people 'know' that 8 way hand tied is always the way to go, but sometimes deceive themselves into thinking, 'well, it really won't be a problem for me'.

We have a sofa that was custom made for the house we live in (the sofa is 8 feet long). It was made during the 1960's...(came with the house), and I've had it recovered two times, and it's awesome. I've even slept on it many times and it's rock solid and beautiful.

So I'd be interested in finding out how much I'd be paying for the HM settlement sectional!

Btw..Understand you have a BMW motorcycle. In the early 1960's a German friend of my fathers went to Germany and bought what looked to me like a GIGANTIC BMW motorcycle. My dad ended up buying it from him and I loved the fact that he drove me to elementary school on it. Talk about cool! But that danged exhaust pipe on the right side burned the inside of my leg, seriously burned! more times than I can count. Fond memories of it though.

[drcollie]

I had to laugh at the video that Leather Groups did, where he says "This is the cheapest one we make". The first rule of retail sales is NEVAH-EVAH refer to any product you might want to sell to someone as 'the cheapest'. They look low-budget to me, and unprofessional, but perhaps they make a good product, drop-in spring grids don't hold my attention very long when you're talking quality units.

Casco Bay I have no hands-on experience with. I'll have to look them over next time at Market. I think you'll find comments about them pretty much all over the board.

Settlement is a sofa only, not done as a sectional, sorry. I don't think I have any sectionals that are deeper than 23", mostly because you can't sit upright in them when they get beyond that point and sectional buyers usually want to be able to do that rather then lounge.

heh. My BMW bike left for a new home last spring, replaced by a KTM (Austrian) and Moto Guzzi! (Italian) - but I've have plenty of experience with hot exhaust pipes over the years.....

[kitkat]

The Leather Groups is off the table for us...I know it's cheaply made, and that's all there is to it. Think they hold appeal in the Restoration Hardware clone group because they're a big company, well known and have competitive pricing.

I learned a lot more this morning about both The Comfortable Couch Store and Casco Bay...Honestly though, I did a search on this forum and don't find much about Casco Bay. One person didn't like the fact that they're made in Hickory and the sales rep/owner? is in Maine, and the address on the company listed is in Thomasville, N.C. Thomasville is where they ship from, and that's the number of the guys who ship. Does anyone reading have any experience with Casco Bay?

From everything I've been able to learn Casco Bay is the only one doing actual 8 way hand tied on the RH clone sectional.

I spoke to the owner of The Comfortable Couch today and he explained they use a 'soft lux pocketed coil system' and described it as superior to the 8 way hand-tied which he called 'old-timey'. Other than that, they do build a quality frame etc...All done in Hickory, and the owner is a super nice guy. I can't tell from the photos on his site if the tailoring is as precise as we would like it to be...What do you think? http://thecomfortablecouch.com/default.aspx

We looked at Classic leather pieces locally this week and the tailoring was beautiful. I really appreciate beautiful workmanship!

Many people have suggested we won't want a sectional that deep, (my husband and I don't weigh 275 between us!), but we have a big Restoration Hardware store in town, and my husband has wanted that deep seat since he first saw it. It's for a T.V. room and we are going to lounge on it! Plenty of other places to 'sit'.

This forum is awesome. I think all the stores are very aware of it, and it serves a great purpose. Thanks so much for creating and maintaining it!

If anyone has any thoughts about The Comfortable Couch store, http://thecomfortablecouch.com/default.aspx or Casco Bay, http://www.cascobayfurniture.com/ Please share your thoughts!

Not sure if you can private message on this board, but share that way if you want too.

Thanks again Drcollie! I'm laughing out loud at you looking at that video from Leather Groups, thinking...'Uh huh,...sure...' Proves you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.

[Matthew]

If you're interested, there's a discussion of the merits of the soft-luxe system vs 8-way here: http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...highlight=soft

[drcollie]

There are hundreds, if not thousands of makers of upholstery. If you were to go to Market, there are so many that it makes one's head spin. I'm often asked....'What do you think of this brand?' and the truth is ..... I have no idea in many cases. Why? Because I have to see the guts of a piece to see how its made, and that's not going to happen when its all upholstered. That's why the emphasis here on the forum is "How its Made" and "What to look for", rather than grading out by brand. And the only way you can see how something is made is to either go to the factories and observe, or have a very sharp eye if they do a video on how they make a piece. Other than that, I won't know how most brands are made as I'm in my store 6 days a week and on the 7th, I'm not in someone else's furniture store! Most makers will NOT show you a video of how they make something unless they're proud of it, so that's a clue....learn how its made and investigate the construction using the resources on what makes a good piece.

Everything looks good when its new. Even the biggest pile of junk looks and sits good when its fresh out of the box. Its how it looks and feels in five years that separates the wheat from the chafe. And only well made upholstery can do that.

[kitkat]

There are hundreds, if not thousands of makers of upholstery. If you were to go to Market, there are so many that it makes one's head spin. I'm often asked....'What do you think of this brand?' and the truth is ..... I have no idea in many cases. Why? Because I have to see the guts of a piece to see how its made, and that's not going to happen when its all upholstered. That's why the emphasis here on the forum is "How its Made" and "What to look for", rather than grading out by brand. And the only way you can see how something is made is to either go to the factories and observe, or have a very sharp eye if they do a video on how they make a piece. Other than that, I won't know how most brands are made as I'm in my store 6 days a week and on the 7th, I'm not in someone else's furniture store! Most makers will NOT show you a video of how they make something unless they're proud of it, so that's a clue....learn how its made and investigate the construction using the resources on what makes a good piece.

Everything looks good when its new. Even the biggest pile of junk looks and sits good when its fresh out of the box. Its how it looks and feels in five years that separates the wheat from the chafe. And only well made upholstery can do that.

Your comment about going to Market and it makes your head spin. I can only imagine!

We've been to Hickory several times to buy furniture and it was SO frustrating. Just walking around the original Boyle's and the other stores in that building was overwhelming. Hickory is a very tiny tot compared to High Point, N.C. We were warned by friends that High Point would be 'too much' and that it's geared for people in the industry...Designers and Furniture store showroom people.

So little Hickory gave us a headache. The exact sofa you want is not usually on the showroom floor and all the choices to select from..Arm styles, fabrics, pillow trim....When we picked the Century sectional we have now, we left feeling like we got the right thing. A very well made and certainly not inexpensive piece of furniture.

When it was delivered we were both shocked. We hadn't realized the seating depth would be 'average'...(there's the entire seat measurement that includes the part covered by the back cushions and the inside seat depth. What we now look at closely. ) We removed and tossed all six of the back cushions and bought 21" square throw pillows to increase the seat depth. NOT the way to treat a beautifully tailored piece of brand new furniture.

Anyway, I would LIKE to buy this new sectional from Classic Leather, H&M or Bradington Young. Just because I know it would be made right, and American made.

Shopping for a Restoration Hardware clone is not like shopping for a 'normal' sofa or sectional.

Matthew, I've been following your conversation about the soft lux coil system vs. 8 way hand-tied and I'm still not sure if the soft lux is a drop in or not?

Thank you for all your help!

[Matthew]

Matthew, I've been following your conversation about the soft lux coil system vs. 8 way hand-tied and I'm still not sure if the soft lux is a drop in or not?

The soft-luxe systems all are, as far as I'm aware. Main point of that thread, I think, is that soft-luxe systems shouldn't be automatically dismissed if everything else is what you're looking for. From a comfort and longevity standpoint, they seem to be a solid unit (I don't personally own a sofa with one, so that's just my understanding after read Jeff's description).

My question, if there are truly only two manufacturers doing true 8-way hand tie, is whether a system like the soft-luxe is better than a drop-in 8-way system.

[kitkat]

The soft-luxe systems all are, as far as I'm aware. Main point of that thread, I think, is that soft-luxe systems shouldn't be automatically dismissed if everything else is what you're looking for. From a comfort and longevity standpoint, they seem to be a solid unit (I don't personally own a sofa with one, so that's just my understanding after read Jeff's description).

My question, if there are truly only two manufacturers doing true 8-way hand tie, is whether a system like the soft-luxe is better than a drop-in 8-way system.

Matthew, Only two manufacturers doing 8 way hand-tied in the sofas I'm looking at, (actually it's down to one maker.) But most of the best furniture makers still do it. 8 way hand-tied is labor intensive, so using a drop-in would cut down on labor costs. To my understanding though 8 way hand tied is the gold standard. I've heard of a company (very, very expensive furniture company) that does 10 way hand-tied.

I've not discounted the soft-luxe system (yet)...I'd like to hear more opinions from people who know a lot more than me.

[Matthew]

Matthew, Only two manufacturers doing 8 way hand-tied in the sofas I'm looking at, (actually it's down to one maker.) But most of the best furniture makers still do it. 8 way hand-tied is labor intensive, so using a drop-in would cut down on labor costs. To my understanding though 8 way hand tied is the gold standard. I've heard of a company (very, very expensive furniture company) that does 10 way hand-tied

If you read the therad I linked, then according to Hancock and Moore, only 2 manufacturers still do true 8-way hand tie. I have no idea if that's true or not, but that's what they say (the others, presumably, would be drop in units, hand-looped, etc). Personally, that statement seems a little far-fetched to me, but I don't have any real reason to discount it.