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0 pointsHdS842y ago0 comments

At least in Germany quality has gone downhill.

I still own some Billies made in 1995 or so by Ikea. Literally massive wood and damn good book shelves. The ones bought by me in 2008 or so very noticeably less well build but still ok. The ones we bought in 2018 or so are shit, especially the shelves are so thin that they begin to sag.

In 2008 or so a friend of mine bought a "kallax" (another name then) and it was awesome, it's still in his basement and looks good. We bought one in 2023 and it's basically only paint, some "wood" and air. It's ok to store stuff in, but it's impossible to drill a screw into the wood. It's like trying to screw paper.

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atombender2y ago

KALLAX used to be EXPEDIT. Both were made from honeycombed cardboard (mostly air, as you say) covered with very thin sheets of painted MDF. Maybe there was a time EXPEDIT was more solid, but I had one in the 1990s, and it was just like this.

You can drill the thin wood in IKEA furniture like this, but you have to reinforce it.

IKEA has always had a mix of wobbly instacrap and solid stuff. I remember they made a short-lived modular shelf called BRODER [1], which was solid steel and came in wall-mounted or freestanding configurations, the kind of solid thing you want in a garage or storage space. I was shocked at how high-end it was. It was discontinued to cost and low sales.

[1] https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3209/3641557199_eb0860e9eb.jpg

AtlasBarfed2y ago

Kallax is cardboard? Those brilliant bastards.

Honestly those cubes at least the 4x4 are perfectly fine. And cardboard is a hell of a lot more sustainable than solid wood and probably particle board

maxglute2y ago

Kallax redesign thinned out outer walls of previous Expedite by 1cm so it looks closer to the thickness of the shelves and dividers. Also saves on a lot of material I imagine with the volumes involved. Also soften edges to be kid friendly and more scratch resistent finish. Cheaper, looks more aesthetically balanced IMO, and basically as statically strong holding stuff and doing furniture work. But thinner walls makes difficult/wobbly moving in larger 4x4, 5x5 variations.

I had to cinched a band of webbing around the outside of the shelf during move to prevent it from falling apart. Gluing all the dowels/joints/connection also helps with strength a lot, but who has time for that.

atombender2y ago

Structurally they're fine, and can hold a fair amount of weight. Just treat them well; don't cut/drill into them or let them near water (the cardboard gets soft), don't overload them, and don't move/lift them while they're filled with heavy objects. While they're cheaply made, they're not among IKEA's worst products, I think.

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HdS84OP2y ago

Thanks, that's fascinating. Ar least in my recollection, the expedit I knew was comparable to a Billy in wood density, but I might be mistaken - it's nearly twenty years.

Funnily, the most sturdy piece of furniture we own is from Ikea. Two massive desks build from solid steel frames and a plate made with wood furnishing. Totally indestructible, weighs a ton and was made by Ikea in the 99s or so. Funnily enough, we didn't even know that they where from Ikea. We inherited them from my father in law and were cursing their weight like "man I wish Ikea made this, than it would be easier to carry". After dismantling them for transport we discovered various Ikea stickers. Sadly we don't know the model, just that they where manufactured by Ikea.

The most endurable piece of furniture I know of is the kitchen of my mother in law. Made in the 70s or so it uses resopal finishing and the counters itself looks like new, despite years of heavy use and non stop smoking.

dahauns2y ago

I have a lot to complain about their decline in quality (at least with IVAR they realized they've gone too far and reintroduced metal rails) - but don't diss my boy EXPEDIT/KALLAX. :)

IMO, it's one of their most brilliantly engineered pieces of furniture. Sure, it's engineered to be cheap - but definitely not cheaply engineered. The whole geometry etc. is designed around what is possible with the materials.

They are really low-priced, versatile, easy to move, and TBH, for veneered cardboard it has no right to still be this sturdy, especially the 2x4 and smaller variants - and as another poster has said, even the large ones, as long as you don't try to move them around with heavy stuff inside. Just be dilligent when assembling and see that the screws are tightened really well.

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atombender2y ago

You can drill the thin wood in IKEA furniture like this, but you have to reinforce it.

[1] https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3209/3641557199_eb0860e9eb.jpg

AtlasBarfed2y ago

Kallax is cardboard? Those brilliant bastards.

Honestly those cubes at least the 4x4 are perfectly fine. And cardboard is a hell of a lot more sustainable than solid wood and probably particle board

maxglute2y ago

atombender2y ago

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HdS84OP2y ago

Thanks, that's fascinating. Ar least in my recollection, the expedit I knew was comparable to a Billy in wood density, but I might be mistaken - it's nearly twenty years.

dahauns2y ago

I have a lot to complain about their decline in quality (at least with IVAR they realized they've gone too far and reintroduced metal rails) - but don't diss my boy EXPEDIT/KALLAX. :)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse