Sofas and Chairs for Big and Tall People

All of our sofas, loveseats and chairs, including sectional sofas, are very solidly constructed and are well suited for large and heavy people. Details that will substantiate the solidness of construction of our furniture are accessible below. For information about the unusually high sofas and chairs that we can make to order, go to www.comfy1.com/high_sofas_chairs.htm .

Shown: 64" Florida-model loveseat (becoming 68" with the optional padded arm rests), 85" sofa, and 34" chair (shown partially), together with an 18" x 48" coffee table, with our firmer cushions and with one of our extra-heavy-duty fabrics. This furniture is comfortable for heavy people but also for smaller and taller people, and it's well suited to withstand stresses such as typical furniture is normally not suited for. The sizes shown are only a few of the many possible sizes in which we offer these sofas and chairs.

The seating shown is in our standard height and standard depth, and the adults shown are 5'6" and 5'7". For details about the dimensions of our furniture, go to www.comfy1.com/dimensions.htm .

This couple's home is in Northern Virginia, relatively close to our workshop/showroom, so they were able to come in to see and try out our furniture before ordering. For those who can't come to our showroom conveniently, see below for an option of a sample seat that can be sent to you at no cost to you. But we also sell regularly to people who just order without either trying our sample chair or coming to our showroom. And over the past 12 years we've heard from only two customers who weren't satisfied with the comfort: one for whom it wasn't firm enough (we weren't yet offering firmer options as of that time) and from two customers for whom it was too firm (we now offer a webbing suspension as an option for those who want it softer than it is with just our padded wood base below the high-quality cushioning).

For more information about the sturdiness of our furniture and about some of the many heavy-use organizations that have bought it with that in mind, go to www.comfy1.com/heavy-duty_furniture.htm .

Please note that our FineFit model, even though it is by far our least expensive model, is nevertheless very sturdy. In order to be able to sell this model to the federal government, we had it tested by an independent testing service (Federal Testing Laboratories of Warrenton, VA, doing the "Upholstered Furniture Performance Test", FNAE 80-214A). Our Fine Fit sofa received an outstanding report as follows: On five of the six sections of the test, our sofa passed the standard for heavy duty. On our request, the "seat test" (arguably the most important of the six tests) was extended far beyond the level needed to qualify as heavy duty. An additional 300,000 cycles applying 412 pounds of pressure per seat per cycle were applied without failure, after that same sofa had already received enough punishment to qualify as heavy duty on that part of the test. On the only section of the test in which this model didn't pass the heavy duty standard (in which outward thrusts against the insides of the arms were applied), this sofa still performed very respectably; it passed the standard for medium duty plus an additional 3300 cycles with 175 pounds of outward force per thrust on the arm, before failing.

We have not had our other models subjected to such tests, partly because of the major expense, and partly because we already have a very extensive history of durability of the other models under extremely heavy use

For very tall or long-legged sitters: Note that our standard seat depth and back height are comfortable for the vast majority of customers, although we often sell the 2"-higher back even to people of normal size. Bear in mind that (for the tall and long-legged) we also offer 4"-higher and 6"-higher backs, as well as a 3"-deeper seat (but the deeper seat is not normally offered on sectional sofas).

Since being able to recline on a sofa is important to many people, note that our three standard sofa lengths provide between-the-arm lengths of 71 ¾", 80-3/4", and 89-3/4".

If any intended sitters are over 250 pounds, our semi-firm or extra-firm cushion options would be advisable (add $2 per inch of sofa/chair length for either seats or backs)

If any intended occupants weigh over 350 pounds, we should do some extra reinforcement below the seats; add $30 for that reinforcement for a sofa, $25 for a loveseat, or $18 for a chair. One of our firmer cushioning options would also be advisable.

Difficulty getting up? Many people with such difficulties say that our standard seat, with medium-firm cushioning on top of a non-sagging, padded wood base, is much easier to get up from than normal furniture. But we also offer
(1) firmer cushion options, and
(2) we can also make the whole piece of furniture higher than normal, to a special height that can be specified, for a moderate surcharge. Also notice that the arm tops of our California and Florida models have overhanging edges, making them easy to grasp by somebody who needs a good grip when getting up. We can also make the seats level, canceling out the typical ¾” backward slope in the seat.

A sample seat is available that we can send to you to try sitting on if it's important to you to test how our furniture feels. It would normally come by Fedex ground, there would be no charge, and we pay the shipping both ways; but we ask for a $50 deposit. It will feel the same to sit on as our regular sofas and chairs that have the wood support below the cushions, although it won't look normal. It will be open at the sides, so a very wide person could fit on it even if he's wider than the chair. And we can include some blocks to raise it up, and/or samples of our firmer cushions so you can feel what it would be like if we made a sofa higher or firmer than standard.

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