concrete low dresser
3.3
5
17
18
Assembly
I received this item today from CB2, and I put it together in about an hour and a half. I was a little nervous about buying it, but customer service said the company that manufactures these had made some changes meant to improve the quality of the final product.
Here are some notes...your mileage may vary.
The good: The look of the finish is nice, but like one reviewer said, it's got some purplish hue to the gray. It's a lacquered finish, and it looks like a wood grain (not so much like concrete). Assembly was really easy, just pay attention to the orientation of the pieces in the assembly drawings, as the instructions are not necessarily perfectly labeled. [Do you really need two people to put it together, as the instructions say? No - not if you have patience. My wife did help me install the drawers, as they are wide, but only because she was in the room with me. If she wasn't, I could have handled it.]
It's very low, which fits nicely juxtaposed with our platform bed, so pay attention to the dimensions when ordering.
The bad: This is made of engineered wood, which is pressed wood chips. Solid wood would be much more expensive, so herein lies the trade-off - value vs. price. You can't expect every screw to get a great bite into engineered wood. I got lucky, as only one screw stripped, but it was on one of the drawers and the resulting assembly still left me with a sturdy drawer, as there are 7 other screws holding the drawer together. Along with the wooden dowels that hold the pieces of the drawer together and that come pre-installed, I don't think the stripped screw will offer any trouble.
As I was installing the bottom panel, it wouldn't fit like it should, and I noticed that under a strip of wood installed at the manufacturer's on the top panel, a screw that was too tightly wound caused the engineered wood to split and protrude a bit, causing the back panel of the cabinet to not recede into its channel correctly. Rather than forcing the piece to fit like it should naturally do, I looked for the problem and that's when I noticed the factory flaw. I took the piece of wood out that was splitting off, and I grabbed a longer screw I had laying around to bite into the wood deeper than where the factory screw was meant to be, and because there was still "meat" to bite into, it worked out fine. I could imagine though that someone else putting this together might have wanted to send the whole piece back because of this. It wasn't a big deal since I was able to understand how it could be fixed on site, but this could definitely cause concern for someone less familiar with basic construction.
The drawers are not exactly square once placed into the cabinet, and one of them is about an 1/8th of an inch longer than the one below it, which, when viewed closely, could be problematic for a sensitive buyer. Again, chalk this up to "value" and take it for what it's worth. I'm not planning on passing this down as an heirloom.
Conclusion: This is a good looking piece, very modern, and for what I paid I am happy. It fits our bedroom's Japanese motif, and the drawers are nice an large. I could probably fit a medium-sized comforter in one of the drawers. The drawers do not slide in and out very smoothly (again, mass production will produce flaws like this), but maybe a little WD-40 might help a bit.
When assembling, the instructions call for laying the long panels on a clean surface, maybe on a rug or sheet so that you don't scratch the finish. Hint: Just use the inside of the large box cover that it's shipped in. When flipping the piece over, since you build it upside down, per the instructions, it may be necessary to have someone help you. If you are building on a wood or hard-surface floor, when flipping it over, put a towel each under two of the legs that will be the first to make contact with the floor, so as not to mar your floor with the hard edges of the cabinet legs. Once you have it turned over, just remove the towels. The legs have plastic feet embedded inside, which turn to offer height adjustment. Screw them out just enough so that they protrude beyond the metal of the leg - again, this will prevent you from marring a hard floor surface like wood. Recommedation: Build this on carpet, or use the box top as I stated above.
Good luck.
04/18/2013
Great design, issues with drawers
We like the design of this dresser, but it was a nightmare assembling it. The main issue is with the drawers when you have to put them into the frames. We have to return it and got a new one (with drawers working this time...).
I have to say that CB2 took care of it and the customer service was superb.
04/13/2013
Big Disappointment
I was skeptical of a dresser that required so much assembly, as they're usually not very well made, and the 'wood' tends to be particle board. But my wife and I really liked the look of the piece, and it also fit the space we had. So we decided to roll the dice, and hope it would be a solid step up from the poorly made pieces of our college days.
We unpacked the boxes, and carefully followed the directions, knowing that a tiny misstep can lead to big headaches down the road. The dresser's frame took very little time to build, and we were really pleased so far. It looked great. We then put the drawers together - again watching the directions quite closely - making sure everything would line up easily.
Then, came the nightmare.
The drawers simply did not fit. We tried coaxing them every which way. Gently. A firm shove. Angle it high. Angle it low. We even disassembled the first two, again checking that we had everything correct. We did. But after an hour, we could only get one drawer installed. And that drawer did not even slide smoothly.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the bearings on the other drawers then started falling all over the place. One of the drawers was completely stuck. We triple checked the directions. We even called CB2 and spoke with one of the folks in the store who assembles the products. She backstopped us, and yes, we'd followed everything correctly.
I will say, the Customer Service team could not have been nicer. It also seemed like they had heard this story - about this particular piece - many times before.
So now we're waiting for them to come collect the remnants, while the boxes fill our living room and our clothes remain unpacked. Guess in the end this was actually a step DOWN from our old college furniture. A real shame.
05/14/2013
love the look
the look of the drawers are great - it's a nice piece and a great height in the room.
there definitely is a paint smell that lingers - I've had it for over a month and clothes from the bottom of the drawer still have the smell when I pull them out first thing. and the runners aren't too smooth - it's more work than it should be to get them open.
but, for the price, it's still worth the purchase. I think it has more style and a cooler look than anything else out there that will be comparable quality-wise.
02/28/2013
drawer issues
I too had issues with the gliders for the drawers. Putting in the last drawer, the ball bearings burst out and sprayed everywhere.
I called CB2's customer service and related what had just happened. She did at first infer that it might have happened because I was putting in the drawer by myself (It is a one-person job to slide in a drawer; another set of hands would not be all that helpful). However, I mentioned that another reviewer also had the same issue. She then conceded to my request to return the two concrete dresser and replace them with my second choice, the high-gloss dressers.
The CB2 rep was at all times gracious and helpful. The exchange went without a hitch. I should also add that I love my high-gloss dressers. They, along with the shop dresser and the Chill media console, assembled easily--unlike the concrete dresser.
01/18/2013
low quality
I have purchased several pieces from cb2, but this one by far has the lowest quality, they had to change mine 3 times because the color seemed to be off (not grey, it looked more like purple). After the third time I decided to return the item and just buy the low junction dresser, i have been two months without a dresser due to the fact that the color of the concrete dresser is off. Now I have to pay 100 dollars more of shipping and wait until may for the delivery of the low junction dresser (it is backordered). Overall terrible experience!!! Avoid this dresser!
02/27/2013
Looks great, but it had issues
I love my dresser, but it doesn't love me. I placed my order for the dresser at the store. Assembly was a breeze. When it came time to put the drawers in the bearings in the drawer slides blew out and went everywhere, after some tugging I finally got the drawer out, but the slide was ruined.
I called CB2 who promptly sent out another one to be delivered. My drawers on my replacement don't quite line up, but nothing I can't live with.
It looks great in my place, so all in all I'm a happy camper.
12/12/2012
Very disappointed
"Bought nightstand and dresser, and they look like doll house furniture. Although I used the meassurements to envision the size, both are much smaller than they looked. Also, the finish is not at all what I expected either, the pictures all look as if it is a solid color. As in other reviews, there is a stench in the material that smells of motoroil. Also, one of the gliders for the drawers had all of the balls in the track fall out and I had to have another dresser delivered. Very overpriced for furniture that has to be put together yourself."
12/12/2012
Do yourself a favor and don't buy this ...
I have a house full of CB2 furniture, and this is by far the lowest quality piece of furniture I have ever purchased from CB2. When I received the dresser I was surprised to find that two of the drawers didn't fit correctly and the sliders simply broke apart when I inserted them into the dresser. I called customer service, and after helpfully implying that the issue with the drawers might be my fault if I didn't have the recommended two people to put together the dresser, they agreed to send out a replacement unit. When I received the replacement, it came with 5 left drawer sides and only 3 right drawer sides! After fixing that problem the drawers still don't fit correctly and two of them are very tight to the point where they're almost unusable.
Other reviews on here describe a similar problem with the drawers not aligning and I am surprised that CB2 continues to sell this obviously shoddy piece of furniture.
12/29/2012
Satisfied
Really like the way the dresser looks and assembly was easy. Only issue is the factory smell of the dresser which has remained now for a few weeks.
09/10/2012
Admirable design and phenomenal quality
We purchased this dresser in need for more storage space for the coming baby. Of course, one of our more exacting requirements is good design in addition to functionality and affordability without expense to quality. Upon our first inspection on the floor model, it was instant gratification.... only if it was in stock. When we finally received the unit, it was easily assembled. Many of the intricate fasteners are already pre-installed and only require major parts to be screwed and jointed together. Assembling the unit may be labor you did not buy into, but putting it together will give you a better judgement of its quality and craftsmanship. The unit did come with the smell of out-gassing finish, so I recommend to let it air out for a few days.
For the simple and sleek modern minimalistic design, MASH Studios did a great job with the simple lines and grey washed finish. Simply beautiful!
09/01/2012
handsome
I love the shade of the wood and the legs. Sturdy construction too.
03/10/2012
Wish this line had more pieces.
I inspected this piece in the store. Quality looked good for a veneered engineered wood piece, drawers opened and closed smoothly. My qualms are that the dresser is pretty small in width and in height. Had there been a chest in this line, I would have purchased the entire set.
A media console in this line would be a great addition, @ Mash Studio and CB2!
03/10/2012
love the look
We bought the dresser and nightstands as an alternative to wood and with something that would be adaptable as trends, seasons, and colors change. Although we would have liked to avoid the assembly process, we found it very easy to put the piece together, although it's best to have a partner in the process. Overall, we love the look, the quality is good for the price, and we enjoy the neutral palette we have to work with now and in the future.
02/21/2012
concrete low dresser
easy to assemble, looks great , one of five items ordered to furnish a bedroom in our contempory home. Very please with items.
02/02/2012
satisfied - but pricey
My husband and I are very happy with this product. It is exactly what we expected (great product description). We had also purchased 2 of the concrete night stands to tie our bedroom together - and our room looks lovely (wish I could add a photograph!). My only contention is that, although very nice and of seemingly high quality, it still seems rather pricey for a self-assembled product (hence 4 instead of 5). But we have no regrets as the end result was worth it!
01/20/2012
beautiful!
Fresh look, clean lines. Modern without being austere.
12/31/2011
