What is the price of the Century sofa?

The sofa is about $1800 from NC, $2500 at my local retailers

This goes back to my earlier point about Century not being a good value. That's a lot of money for a plywood frame. I seem to recall that Century had the exact frame you wanted. Have you looked at the following: Massoud, Jetton, Vanguard, Michael Thomas and Taylor King?

To answer your direct question, the plywood frame would probably hold up okay but not as durable as a solid 5/4 frame. Plywood lacks the tensile strength of real wood which is important in frame construction.

Can you please post a link to the Century sofa you like?

Well, that Century sofa is such a common frame: three cushions, semi-attached back, rolled arms. straight pleats, etc. You should be able to find about any quality brand with the same styling features. Of course, the key for you is how it sits. I may have said this before but my wife and I are the exact same height as you and your husband.

I think Calico Corners is a good option. Their prices are not bad for the quality. Michael Thomas is excellent stuff. Incredible frames. The key is to find the right type of cushions that fit both of you. Maybe other retailers in your area?

I am heading to Calico Corners this weekend. We have a lot of furniture stores near us but they are all specific brands (thomasville, ea, stickley) or they are low end furniture stores. I'll check out the manufacturer websites above and plug in my zip code to see what stores near me carry their stuff. Thanks for all your helpful advice. My husband and I will find the perfect sofa yet!

Perhaps I can help. I'm a degreed Engineer in the furniture industry with 32 years of experience, primarily in the upholstery industry. One of my projects was to come up with a way to produce frames on demand. At that point we had 250,000 parts in bins to support the immediate assembly of any frame purchased by the customer. This is very high quality furniture and competes with Century, Lee, Ethan Allen, etc. That was 1990 and the investment amounted to 1 million plus. As computers and software $ came down, we now could get the equipment but not the raw material. Furniture grade plywood had not yet been made...understand tat it is very different from construction grade with much greater strength and consistancy. Over a period of several years, companies came up with laminated hardwood panels that proved to be much stronger than hardwood frames.....unfortunately called plywood. Purdue, North Carolina State, and Mississippi State have all tested the strenght vs hardwood and agree it can be superior. Notice CAN BE. Many manufacturers use lower grade plywood which will not withstand the test of time. The same is true of manufacturers using hardwood....some don't even kiln dry the lumber but it's still hardwood! As with anything, research. Most companies will gladly answer any questions now that you know what to ask.
I have seen the Century frame and "plywood" material that is specially produced to Century's standards. Century has always been associated with high quality and they have not changed. I can assure you, it will last a lifetime.

Thanks Jim. That is excellent information and it's good to know. I ended up having a bad experience at Calico Corners (salespeople ignored me and then had an attitude) and went forward with purchasing Lee. However, I still have more furniture to buy so I may look at Century again.

Lee is using engineered plywood frames, on at least on 65% of their line. Engineered plywood construction offers some advantages, such as interlocking joints and precision CNC computerized machining that are superior to standard frame construction. They are slowly gaining acceptance in the industry. Although "double doweled, solid hardwood, eight-way hand tied" is a tough buzzword to overcome. It would seem to me that a mortise & tenon joint has much more gluing and bearing surface and would be much stronger than 2 dowels.

Here is a link to the American Plywood Association and several case studies of plywood frames, including that of Lee Industries.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plywood frame case studies

Thanks Furnone- I read the article you referenced and feel like I made a good choice.

It would be easy to write a book on the recent tide of upholstery manufacturers switching over to mostly plywood frames from stick built frames. Per board foot furniture grade plywood is more expensive that hardwood (poplar or alder) but the savings are in other areas as what the articles from the APA articles points out. And jimh2861 is correct about the quality of plywood some are using and if they are using only staples and no glue. Also its really not mortise and tenon joinery but interlocking slots. The quality of plywood and how well engineered the frame is can make a big difference. Plywood frames have not been around long enough to say they will stand the test of time. Double-doweled hardwood frames have and would always be my recommendation if given the choice.

Plywood is extremely stong and dimensionally stable. It won't crack or split the way solid lumber can, especially in a dry home. The availability of quality solid lumber continues to decline. The ability of engineers to improve engineered wood continues to improve.

In most every aspect of our lives we EXPECT the manufacturer to use modern materials and techniques. Domestic furniture makers are under tremendous pressures and know that to sell enough sofas each year they have to keep costs under control. This is one way to do it. Maybe the sofa won't last 40 years. Maybe it will, or maybe it will last 15 years. Should a sofa have to last 40 years? I don't think so.

A quality company spends a lot of time figuring out how to make these things work. Don't worry about it. Good luck!

jimh2861,

Do you agree that tensile strength is important in sofa frame design and construction?

If so, do you agree that solid hardwood offers more tensile strength than plywood?

Thanks.

From an industrial engineer's perspective, the proper questions would be:

1) How much strength do we want or need?

2) What materials will give us that level of strength?

3) What are the relative costs of using such materials?

Actually the availability of quality furniture grade plywood is declining more than poplar or alder. In the US the majority of this plywood is supplied by one company. Now many manufacturers are either using a lower grade domestic plywood or importing inferior grade plywood or manufacturing overseas. Once a manufacturer decides to switch to plywood frames its a major investment and difficult to go back. Switching to plywood instead of kiln-dried popular or alder has little to do with making a better quality frame. The engineering of either frame is very different. If you go into any factory and ask the upholstery person on the production floor which frame he would prefer to build and and also put in his home: 9 times out of 10 he will tell you a kiln-dried hardwood stick built frame. I believe most consumers prefer a product that is of the highest standard, not the bare minimum standard.