Home Styles Bali Hai Potting Bench, Shorea Wood

I read all the reviews before buying this bench, and based on all the problems people had with it, I would not have ordered it. But my mother loved the idea of having two shelves underneath, two drawers, casters that locked, etc, so I was forced into it. I was so concerned abut the drawer issue that I ended up discovering why some reviewers have drawers that stick while others have drawers that glide easily. Here's the tip: assemble the drawers first (this is on the last page of the instructions), and use the drawers to determine which side of the unit should be the front (as in somewhere during step 3 of the instructions). If you follow the instructions in order, you'll make an arbitrary decision about front and back in the way you attach the top surface and the casters, and then you'll put the drawers in at the very end. The reality is that the drawers only glide smoothly when inserted on a certain side - when inserted on the other side, they stick so badly that they absolutely deserve a 1 star review. Determining which side should be the front early on in the process will help you love this bench. Here's my second tip: scrutinize the drawings in the instructions as if they are a map to buried treasure. I failed to do this, and I wound up having to redo part of the first step. I did not notice that the tiny holes in the drawing for part "D" in step 1 were on the outside edge not the inside edge, so when I went to attach the top to the base in step 5, I was furious because the holes did not line up. Right before I began drilling a new set of holes, someone who is much better at this sort of thing than I am pointed out that all I needed to do was reverse the two pieces to make the holes line up. I had another issue with holes not lining up when I tried to attach the upper rack to the top surface. I used a rubber mallet to attach all of the horizontal joints of the upper rack (part "K") more firmly - once I did that, the holes in the rack lined up perfectly with the top. Here's my third tip: at the beginning of the project, sort all of the screws by size, match them back to the labels in the instructions, maybe even label each pile, and constantly reconfirm that you're using the right screws in each step. The different types and sizes of screws are very similar, and they're all packaged together in one big bag, so it would be easy to use the wrong size in a certain step and then be left with an inadequate screw in a later step. Here's my last tip: don't do this project alone. Have someone with you for moral support and to hold a flashlight into the crevices for you when you need to make sure the holes are lining up properly. Once you're done, you'll find that the bench is very sturdy, rolls smoothly on the casters and makes a fabulous addition to your outdoor area. Enjoy!

The quality of this product appears to be very good. But, I would NOT recommend purchasing it because of how poorly written the assembly instructions are. I realise that this sounds petty, but it's ridiculous that you pay this kind of money for something (even though it is a good value for the money) and the instructions are so poorly written.Plus, the unit is missing pilot holes for various assemblies, so it's very easy to misalign or mis-construct some components the first time--and YES I DID read the instructions first, and sort and identify the various hardware before I began assembly.It even had instructions, and the hardware, for the installation of hangers for both sides of the unit, yet pilot holes are provided in only one side piece, not both.And, this really is petty of me, admittedly, but I have a personal vendetta against companies that package their products in that ultra-cheap Styrofoam that cracks and breaks up into little static-laden beads that GET ALL OVER THE D*MN PLACE when you unpack the product!Again, it's a good value for the money, but I personally wouldn't buy another one.

FORM *****: This potting bench is quite beautiful when completed. It would make a nice addition to any patio or deck, IMO.FUNCTION ***: As a potting bench, it leaves something to be desired. But it could also be a good bar or serving bench for parties. The top shelves are nearly useless because they’re so low hardly anything will fit under them except maybe short glassware. Even the lower shelves have only about 10 inches of clearance and even medium size pots won’t fit there. I bought 3 small lidded plastic tubs that just fit across one shelf to store potting mix, with the other shelf for smaller pots.FOLLOW-UP *: There are a number of thoughtful reviews for this potting bench that point out various problems with assembly and instructions—notably, one from Anne—and none of these appear to have been followed up on by the maker (or Amazon), even as an addendum to the existing instructions. That’s quite unconscionable! Although I dislike customers having to back-fill lazy or incompetent suppliers’ duty, I will offer my own comments. First, the “drawer problem” is likely due to the poor illustrations and absence of any written description of procedure. (I refer to the instructions and their labels, which will only be meaningful to someone actually assembling this item.) Step 1: Part F (Middle Frame) is shown as symmetrical, but it is not. The drawer guides are closer to the front end, (although it isn’t obvious at this point that these are, in fact, drawer guides). If this isn’t noted when Step 1 is performed, one could end up with Part F being backwards and not noticing until the very end. Also in Step 1, Part D (Stretchers) both are clearly shown with the row of holes at the front—this is totally misleading because it’s wrong! The rear stretcher should have its holes to the back, otherwise the top won’t align in Step 5. In Step 2, Parts G and H (Side Frames) have left and right versions, again distinguished by the position of the drawer guides, which need to be at the front, matching the Middle Frame F. It wouldn’t have killed the instruction writers to have noted out that Frame G is the left one and Frame H the right one (as shown in the illustration). Finally, the Rack K could definitely use some additional notes on orienting the K1, K2 and K3 parts so that they are correct for the final assembly; one needs to note carefully that there are sets of holes on the ends of these pieces that need to be correct when finished—only K1 and K3 have mounting holes on the bottom edge. In closing I will note that the tools provided lack strength so use with care not to let them slip during use or they will become quickly useless. Also, a good power driver is quite useful here.