How to Buy a Recliner

[jay98014]

I am looking for a rocker-recliner for my office. I am a big guy (6', 300lbs) which has resulted in less-than-ideal longevity for past furniture in our house. I am looking for something leather, something plush, something semi-traditional-looking, for reading, watching TV, drinking beer, and for occasional napping. And I want it to last 20+ years, if not the rest of my life. I do not want one of the "wall hugger" designs. Oh yeah, this is going to sound silly but since it's my office I can have nail-head styling which my wife banned from the living room a long time ago .

So anyway, we went into a local mid-high retailer today - they sell BY and Flexsteel. Flexsteel has an interesting design approach (I thought) with their spring system, but my bottom was truly not impressed by it when I actually tried them out. Guess there's something to be said for that tried-and-true, 8-way-tied spring construction. The BY chairs felt really nice (not much selection though). The store also had some Barcaloungers but apparently they have recently gone out of business, and the saleslady said they were replacing BL with Comfort Design, but didn't have any in stock yet.

Then, as luck would have it, I found this site after I got home. After reading a lot of the posts, I am now taking a look at HM which I did not know about before. My only issue so far with HM is that they don't have much (any?) rocker-recliner combinations. Well, unless some of the cryptic "Also available as" designations cover that option - not sure, anyone know?

Terminology question: what's the difference between a recliner, a "tilt-back", and a "lounger"? I am guessing that the latter two don't have an extendable leg support, ie just the seat-back tilts back?

Also, does HM have the nice cushion-options that I see at the Leather Craft site? (See LC cushion info here.) I think I would like the top-most one (with the embedded springs - wow ), but would welcome advice on this.

Just to give an idea of what I'm liking so far: the HM 3032 Austin, or the LC 03 recliner.

I haven't started researching leather finish options yet.

If you actually read this far and have any advice to share thanks!

Jay
Carnation, WA

[jay98014]

ok...head is now full of opinions after reading another 30-40 posts.... I see that the HM Austin Highback Tilt Chair has been described as the "all time comfort champ" by Duane himself. In fact I see a lot of folks really liking their Austin chairs. Makes me wonder if I would really care about the "rocker" feature after all. Is a tilt-chair combined with an ottoman really just as comfortable as a traditional recliner with the leg extension? I need to go check out a local retailer and see if they have one of these in stock.

[drcollie]

Welcome to the forum, Jay.

At 300lb, you're going to blow out ANYONES swivel/rocker/glider mechanism, probably soon after its out of warranty! Those bases are four bolts into the frame, and run on a ring of loose-fitting ball bearings. So save your receipt so you can get the right replacement base from the maker when it goes (typically they are $ 100 to $ 140). They hold up well for folks in the 150 lb category, but I've found that as load increases over time, the bearings begin to grind and fail after about 5 years. But they go on quickly and $ 100 to spend every five years or so really isn't too bad.

Also, no recliner will have an 8-way hand-tied base, that kind of construction is not compatible with the recliner mechanism. However the Tilt Back chairs DO have that construction, so they actually are a superior sit to a recliner in terms of comfort.

A recliner and lounger are effectively the same thing. Technically a Lounger is a push-back to operate, and a recliner has a lever to activate....but as a practical matter they are one on the same, each relying on a shifting, metal infrastructure with counterbalanced springs to reposition the chair in various configurations.

The Tilt back is a stationary chair on the base, and runs the back to and from on a pneumatic gas strut. The trip lever releases a cable that lets the user stop the chair anywhere within the operating arc and 'freeze' the gas strut in place.

You can get more cushion options than you probably care to look at. In Recliners and Tilt backs, however, I recommend the standard cushion. No need to upgrade IMHO.

The Austin 3032 is too small for you. You could fit in it, but you won't enjoy it. 2038 NB Tilt Back with Ottoman is a FAR better choice and will hold up for you as well. Doesn't rock or swivel or glide, however. If you really want a recliner/swivel/glider I need to take you out of H&M and put you here in this chair for a man of your size, and its appropriately named 'The Commander'.

http://www.taylorking.com/details.ph...otype=RECLINER