How our furniture is built

This page is about construction. It is written from the figures in our own specifications, and where a figure is not published, it says so rather than filling the gap with a word like premium.

The panel, and what the label on the carton means

Most of the range is built from engineered wood panel: medium density fibreboard where a surface has to take a hard finish, particleboard where a panel is structural and hidden, and high density engineered board in the tall storage. Solid timber appears in slats, legs and pedestal bases, which are the parts that carry load in bending.

That mix is a deliberate engineering choice rather than a compromise. A wide solid board cups as its moisture content changes and a fibreboard panel does not, so a wardrobe side or a table top is more stable in engineered panel than in glued up timber. Where solid wood is better, in a leg or a slat, that is what is there.

What the TSCA Title VI line on the carton certifies

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administers formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products under Title VI of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The rule covers hardwood plywood, medium density fibreboard and particleboard, and the finished goods made from them, and it runs through a third party certification programme in which certifiers and laboratories are accredited and panel producers are subject to oversight. Since 22 March 2019 finished goods manufactured in or imported into the United States must be labelled as TSCA Title VI compliant, carrying the fabricator name and the production date as month and year. Finished goods are not themselves required to be tested; the requirement is that they are built from compliant panels.

This is general information about a federal standard rather than health advice for your situation.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products read 2026-08-09

Steel, and where it does the work

The metal frames use welded and bolted steel sections with the load paths running down legs to the floor rather than across an unsupported span. Two figures follow from that and both are published on the page: the total weight capacity, and the number of legs reaching the floor. Read together they tell you where the load actually goes, which a single capacity figure does not.

Slats on the steel frames are reinforced square section rather than flat strip, and they are spaced to hold a foam or hybrid mattress without ripples between them. Slat count is on every bed page for that reason.

Joints, and why they loosen

Almost every joint in flat pack furniture is a bolt into a threaded insert or a cam into a dowel. Both hold well and both settle over the first weeks as the panel compresses very slightly and the frame finds square. That is why our instructions ask for a retighten after a few weeks, and it is the single most skipped step in furniture ownership.

On beds, the second source of noise is not the joint but the slat bearing: bare wood resting on bare steel rubs under load. Foam strips or hook and loop fastening at every bearing point is what removes it, and where a frame has that, the page says so.

Load ratings, and how to read them

A weight capacity is a total, not a figure per person, and it is a proxy for how the piece is built rather than an invitation. A queen frame rated to 1,000 lb and one rated to 350 lb differ in section thickness and in leg count, and that difference shows up years later as a frame that is still square or one that racks slightly whenever somebody sits on the edge.

Where a piece has more than one relevant load, we state them separately. A dining set gives the table rating and the chair rating; a bench set gives the seat load. Averaging them into one number would hide the one you need.

What is in the box

Every part numbered, and the hardware bagged by step rather than loose.
The tools needed for assembly, so the box is self contained.
Anti-tip hardware with tall storage, and the instructions call for it to be fitted.
Spare fixings, because a stripped insert on step nine should not end the evening.

What is not in the box is a mattress, on any bed frame, and chairs, on any table sold as a table. Both are stated on the page rather than in the small print.

What gets checked before a batch ships

Inspection before shipping covers the things that are cheap to catch early and expensive to discover on a living room floor: that panel edges are sealed on all faces where a piece is meant for a damp room, that hinges and drawer runners operate through their full travel, that hole positions match the drilling template, that the hardware count in each bag matches the manual, and that the carton itself protects the corners, which is where transit damage lands.

Nothing in that list is exotic. It is the list that explains most of the difference between two pieces of furniture at the same price.

What no piece of furniture can promise

No freestanding piece can promise that it will not tip. Anti-tip hardware ships with the tall storage for that reason, the instructions call for it to be fitted, and Anchoring, Tip-Over and the Rules Behind Storage Furniture explains where and how.

What we will state is anything that appears in a specification, and we will state it in the same words on every page of the iPormis catalogue.