How Long Should Commercial Furniture Last
For most companies, updating, moving or refreshing their physical workspace can be a significant investment. The cost, resources and process required means that prudent decision makers seek to determine the total return on their investment. Understanding the ‘lifespan’ of commercial grade furniture is valuable knowledge to ensure creating a long-standing impact to your company.
What Is Commercial Furniture?
Commercial furniture is furniture that’s manufactured at a better quality than retail furniture, as they are meant for long and repetitive periods of use. Some of the largest American office furniture manufacturers, such as Haworth, cater to making products that are at a completely different standard than what you’d find at retail stores. Industrial designers go through multiple stages of research, development, and production to craft items as simple as desk chairs and tables to be suitable for sale. This type of furniture is built to accommodate people of different sizes, weights, and preferences and for extended periods within a business.
Traits Of Commercial Furniture
Commercial furniture is built to last, as they are made of higher quality and more durable materials, such as tougher fabrics and stronger finishes. Most consumer products are made from cheaper forms of wood for example, like rubberwood. Commercial wooden products instead rely on higher quality wood, such as ash or beechwood.
Commercial grade products also allow for easy maintenance and cleaning, which helps keep their form and function for a longer period of use. With this in mind, many companies aim to have commercial grade furniture that can outlast the competition in terms of durability and longevity.
Avoiding the cheaper import alternatives to furniture can help your business greatly. Most of the time these options lack the coverage for proper repairs or maintenance, and since it is used, may not be the most aesthetically and morally appealing option for your business. As a result, commercial grade furniture typically costs more than regular import furniture.
How Long Should Commercial Furniture Last?
When researching new furniture for your commercial space, it’s important to consider your overall budget, aesthetic vision, and use case. For commercial furniture manufacturers, the warranty presents the most important (and more costly) value proposition offered to clients and consumers.
Aim to inquire about warranties early on in your furniture research and compare them with what manufacturers list their product’s life expectancy to be in order get a better picture at how long their furniture really lasts.
For example, Haworth products carry a warranty for wooden products and manufactured seating for 12 years, and is listed on their product pages to withstand that expected amount of time. Lifetime warranty is also available for all other Haworth products that aren’t listed in their previous criteria.
Also, Haworth warranty is unique in that it includes labor – which can be a significant factor… especially in Union situations.
Most commercial furnishings are designed to be replaced every decade, and while there is never a guarantee to what you need protection against, warranty periods from most other manufacturers can range from anywhere between 3 years to 10 years depending on the product.
