Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased two of these rockers for our front porch to replace wooden rockers that had faded and mildewed, and worse, we had one of the wooden rocker blades on our old chairs collapse under the weight of a rather robust friend. We decided to go with synthetic materials for durability and strength when we replaced the wooden chairs. I was not disappointed! These chairs are extremely well constructed, much heavier than the wooden ones we used to have. I read all the reviews and especially problems with assembly hardware, but went with them anyway. The hardware was fine and assembly was relatively simple, but the instructions are very sketchy. I will attempt to supplement them with what worked well for me. Please note this is not the same sequence as the instructions that come with it, however there is virtually no way it would go together if you took their instructions literally and read them in the sequence provided. In my opinion, the problems are not with the hardware but with the instructions. The screws are in fact made of aluminum which is soft and the screw heads can be stripped easily if not careful. However, aluminum won't rust like steel screws would do. The only other rustproof option would be stainless steel screws which are much more expensive. The aluminum screws work fine (and the heads are painted white to match the chair) as long as you follow these instructions. 1. Get out your cordless drill and make sure the battery is charged. It will save a lot of wrist twisting. 2. Sort the screws into four shorter screws and 12 long ones. You don't want to use any of them in the wrong places or you won't have enough of the correct size later. 3. Put the supplied hex-wrench bit in the drill. When using it, always stop when the screws are not all the way in - leave about 1/4" or more to hand-tighten with the supplied T-wrench. This will prevent stripping the screw heads out by torquing too hard with the drill bit. Also, make sure the drill bit is tight in the screw heads before you start the drill or you will strip the aluminum heads. 4. Attach the seat to one of the two side-frames, using two short screws. Use the drill bit but stop when there is still about 1/4" to go. 5. Attach the back frame to that side-frame, using long screws. Use the drill bit, stopping with 1/4" left to go. 6. Attach the other side frame to the seat and back frame. Use the two remaining short screws for the seat and long screws everywhere else. Again, use the drill but stop leaving about 1/4" to go. 7. Put the curved head bar in between the two side-frames. There are no screws, it squeezes into the two slots provided. 8. Attach the two straight braces between the legs. Long brace between the two front legs, short brace between the back legs. Use the drill bit but keep a grip on the braces with one hand as you activate the drill or they will just spin. Leave about 1/4" to go with the drill bit. 9. Using the supplied T-wrench, go back and hand-tighten all screws. Be careful to turn the leg braces so the widest side faces out. 10. Flipping the chair upside down, attach the rocker blades with the longest end facing the rear of the chair. Again, use the drill but leave about 1/4" and then hand-tighten the remaining 1/4" with the T-wrench. 11. Turn the chair right-side up, lay down your tools, sit in the chair and relax. Contemplate its comfortable curved seat bottom, nice wide arms, and sturdy seat back. As you rock back and forth, take a moment to savor the satisfaction of making a wise purchase decision, and assembling it yourself. Job well done! Of the two chairs I just assembled, everything fit perfectly on the first chair, but the second one took a little help from my wife to get the seat to fit into the slots provided - one of the slots was cut slightly askew in the side frame. I got it to go together with a little pushing and pulling, but if it hadn't quite fit I would have just shaved a little of the slot with a knife or drill to make it work - it wasn't more than about 1/16" off square with the frame. The chairs are very comfortable, quite heavy, extremely sturdy, have a 20-year warranty, and should last longer than my lifetime. I highly recommend these chairs and would buy more if I needed them.