Hi everyone. I just love the look of the pieces in the Paula Deen Home collection. It is manufactured by Universal Furniture. What is the quality of Universal? Is the upholstery comparable to Flexsteel or above/below? I assume the case goods aren't the best quality around, but I haven't had a chance to see any of it in person. I know some of the cost associated with the group is because of the name associated with it so I imagine that inflates the cost a bit but perhaps not the quality. Has anyone had a chance to see this line anywhere?
Link to the site? Construction details?
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Try this site. http://www.universalfurniture.com/
www.pauladeenhome.com
I can't find any real info on the construction details, but I could easily be overlooking it.
Without construction details, its anyones guess....all I see are pretty pictures.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Duane, is this a line you are familiar with? From your responses, I am guessing no - am I guessing right? Here is what I have seen about the construction - it is a bit vague and generalized to me, but you are the expert, not me! What do you think?
[url]http://www.universalfurniture.com/ConsumerCarePiece[R2].pdf[url]
The dealer locator has no one within 50 miles of me, so I would love for someone (if there is anyone) who has seen this to chime in.
Last edited by kls_spencer; 07-08-2010 at 08:57 PM. Reason: added website information
Since I can't seem to get that link to work, here is a pasted bit of that document. It almost sounds like a mattress-----
"When you sit on a sofa, loveseat or chair, you want to feel comfortable and well supported. Much of that support comes from the type and quantity of springs beneath the cushions. Universal Furniture uses one of the most technically advanced spring systems available today—the Soft Luxe™ encased coil seating system. This state-of-the-art system gives you up to 100 individually encased coils in every seat, or up to 300 coils per sofa. This ultra high coil density allows for greater conformity to body contours and incredible durability. Each coil is individually encased in a fiber sleeve so you never have rubbing or squeaking noises from your coils. An important benefit of the Soft Luxe system is that it provides so much of the weight and shift support that there is very little wear and tear on the furniture’s frame, extending the life of your piece.
Life • Home • Comfort
Ultra high coil density (300 per standard sofa) means more working surface wire per seat allowing greater conformity to body contours. Uniquely engineered inter-linked coil architecture provides uniform comfort and consistent support over the entire seating area. The floating encased coil provides a feeling of “weight-less” suspension - a perfect harmonic balance of support equalizing load pressure without adding stress to the sofa frame."
Here is another link to something I found when I googled it: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6692080.html
Evidently it is a pocketed coil system produced by Leggett & Platt. If I can get this link to work, it describes it in detail with little drawings and notes. Google has overloaded my brain with this one.
Last edited by kls_spencer; 07-08-2010 at 09:10 PM. Reason: additional link
Sounds like they are describing a Marshall Unit for the seat, but that's the cushion core, not the support spring system underneath. But looking at that unit you show in the patent, that's a form of 'drop-in' pre-assembled deck. Less expensive to do than traditional 8-way hand tied.
The closer to this construction, the better. This is how you really want your furniture built - the industry standard for basically no shortcuts:
http://www.taylorking.com/construction.php
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Here is a link to how Universal Furniture does it: http://www.universalfurniture.com/quality.asp
I believe Universal is made for the most part in China.