What negative consensus view are you talking about? I don’t remember any of the responders saying that they had any personal direct issues with that company, and certainly none of them directly know of any issues that company might be having other than what you posted, nor do they know of any quality problems with the product. Basically they are criticising you for not following their after the fact advice. Sort of kicking you when you’re down.
You have to use your own judgement on what course of action to take. If you really believe in the product, then maybe you want to be patient to the extreme. If they charge your credit card and don’t ship the product, then that’s fraud and an entirely different matter.
I would agree that both Sievers and Mianne are expensive, and although I haven’t priced it out myself, I’m not convinced it is “over priced”. There is a big difference in the cost of good quality wood that has been furthermore sanded or finished as nicely as these products are vs just buying some construction grade lumber at the local Home Depot or Lowes. In my original post, I explained that in my case it wasn’t sufficient for the product to just be functional. I do in fact want it to look nice. It is going in my home and for that reason alone means it needs to be wife friendly if nothing else. I don’t have a dedicated room for it. It will go in the game room along with the big screen TV etc. I don’t expect furniture quality, but construction lumber isn’t getting in the door here. Of course once the fascia board is up and all, it probably won’t be noticeable either way, but at the pace I am likely to be able to proceed, that is all going to take time. Also, I’m at a phase of my life where money is much more plentiful than time (i.e., I’m not retired yet). I don’t consider the cost to be an obstacle here at all. But I do want to work with a reputable company that I can go back to later.
Anyway, I am digressing considerably from the purpose of this thread.
My choices are pretty simple: either continue to wait and hope or go with Sievers. I guess I have made up my mind in that I will give Mianne a chance to do what they said again this week they will do, but this is their last chance and they won’t get another if they don’t keep their word this time. I am willing to do this because there are too many positive reviews in this forum regarding this company. Something just doesn’t add up. This thread certainly won’t help their business and so now I feel a certain responsibility to make sure they don’t get screwed by my having posted this. If they come through for me I will make sure that data is pos
It USED to be my favorite segment on Monday night… now, my poor Raiders are on it every week. It’s a lot more fun when they feature teams I don’t like!
I have no familiarity with Sievers whatsoever. However, from a quick tour of their web site, there is no assurance that the lumber they use is any better than lumber purchased at Home Depot or Lowes or, for that matter, your local lumber yard.
The web site indicates that they use unfinished 3/4" x 3 1/2" No. 2 pine lumber, accurately cut and sanded. That is what is commonly referred to as a “1 by 4” board. It is construction grade. If you want the top grade of 1 by 4 pine, you would select a No. 1 grade which is a grade higher than No. 2 grade. Furthermore, there are grade characteristics that define finishes suitable for construction, cabinetry, painting, staining, etc. Sievers doesn’t specify the finish grade.
Now, I am not contending that Sievers uses lower quality lumber, but I am suggesting that you may be overestimating the quality of the lumber used to construct the framework.
I am not familiar with either product, however I just checked out both Mianne and Siever’s wesites for product and specs. As mentioned, the Siever’s is nothing more than precut #2 pine (big deal- wiring holes and predrilled countersink assy).
I can see why you do really like the Mianne product. It is hardwood. Legs are 2x2 w/ supplied adjusters. The Joists or I beam is fabricated truss of hardwood/ masonite web. The doweling and camlock feature is rather strong as well as quick. No one her seems to have any experience w/ the product or company. It is quite a decent looking system (this is coming from a quick look and desciption off website) I am a professional woodworker.
It is a real shame that you are having so much trouble with getting your order. There is absolutely no comparison between the quality of these 2 products.
If you really do need to go w/ something else, especially since (I assume you have the 1/2" birch precut), just have a carpenter or someone with tools/ decent woodworking skills cut and assemble the pine structure for you. That extreme cost for #2 pine plus shipping and possible loss of not being able to use the $200 woth of birch, may actually end up costing the same.
This is actually the first time ever really looking at prefabed benchwork of any kind. Why would I? I am an experience finish carpenter/ general contractor. I hope that the Mianne will come through for you.
A few years ago I had a guy burn me for 300 bucks. The dude lived in Texas amd I live in Ontario Canada. Well after 3 months of emails and phone calls I just about gave up. A buddy of mine scored 4 tickets to the Nascar race in Texas so we flew down and I decided to see how far he was from the race track. He was only a half hour away so me and my 3 buddies payed him a visit. You should have saw the dudes face when I told him who I was, lol. I got my money back.[8o|]
I just got a shipping notice. My Mianne benchwork is on its way. A big thank you to the anonymous hand that helped pry things loose for me. I am looking forward to receiving this.
Keith
P.S. I think this confirms again my suspicion that people are almost always fundamentally honest and will do the right thing eventually. Sometimes they just need a little extra “encouragement” to pay attention and do what they said they were going to do…
I can only speak to what I received: the wood is at least #2-very close to #1-and precisely cut and drilled and sanded. Also, straight and true. I painted it because that is the finish I want; however, it would have been quite suitable for stain or even a clear finish if that is what one prefers. The hardware is as good as you can find anywhere. I saw Mianne benchwork at a show some time ago and was favorably impressed, but Sievers seemed to be a more rugged assembly (and it has proved to be so).
I would agree that both Sievers and Mianne are expensive, and although I haven’t priced it out myself, I’m not convinced it is “over priced”. There is a big difference in the cost of good quality wood that has been furthermore sanded or finished as nicely as these products are vs just buying some construction grade lumber at the local Home Depot or Lowes. In my original post, I explained that in my case it wasn’t sufficient for the product to just be functional. I do in fact want it to look nice. It is going in my home and for that reason alone means it needs to be wife friendly if nothing else. I don’t have a dedicated room for it. It will go in the game room along with the big screen TV etc. I don’t expect furniture quality, but construction lumber isn’t getting in the door here. Of course once the fascia board is up and all, it probably won’t be noticeable either way, but at the pace I am likely to be able to proceed, that is all going to take time. Also, I’m at a phase of my life where money is much more plentiful than time (i.e., I’m not retired yet). I don’t consider the cost to be an obstacle here at all. But I do want to work with a reputable company that I can go back to later.
Anyway, I am digressing considerably from the purpose of this thread.
My choices are pretty simple: either continue to wait and hope or go with Sievers. I guess I have made up my mind in that I will give Mianne a chance to do what they said again this week they will do, but this is their last chance and they won’t get another if they don’t keep their word this time. I am willing to do this because there are too many positive reviews in this forum regarding this company. Something just doesn’t add up. This thread certainly won’t help their business and so now I feel a certain responsibility to make sure they don’t get screwed by my having posted this. If they come through for me I
K.Holt, to answer your question as to what to do, I say cancel your order and trash their name and reputation on as many venues/forums as possible. Just make sure what you post is the facts and truth as to how you feel about it.
I have had bad dealings with companies I ordered from on the internet. I had no problem stating the true, negative facts about the company and how I feel about their poor customer service. {Moderated for Language}
One person with positive things to say about a company can bring in 10 new customers. But that same person with something bad to say about a company can cost that company 100 customers.
Glad you are getting what you have ordered. Never heard of Mianne benchwork; you gave them extreme benefit of the doubt.
I guess I understand the market niche for products like Sievers and Mianne, but never underestimate the generosity of your fellow modelers. I have cut wood for modules on my table saw for others, know others in my club who have done the same. That is one of the neat things about the hobby, people love to help, if asked.
Hi, Keith. Congrats. I made an order a few weeks ago from Mianne as well and he estimated 1st week of January for shipping. I’m glad he came through for you - it almost sounds like a one-man operation but I could be wrong. I will post my order’s status as I get it.
I would agree that both Sievers and Mianne are expensive, and although I haven’t priced it out myself, I’m not convinced it is “over priced”. There is a big difference in the cost of good quality wood that has been furthermore sanded or finished as nicely as these products are vs just buying some construction grade lumber at the local Home Depot or Lowes. In my original post, I explained that in my case it wasn’t sufficient for the product to just be functional. I do in fact want it to look nice. It is going in my home and for that reason alone means it needs to be wife friendly if nothing else. I don’t have a dedicated room for it. It will go in the game room along with the big screen TV etc. I don’t expect furniture quality, but construction lumber isn’t getting in the door here.
I have no familiarity with Sievers whatsoever. However, from a quick tour of their web site, there is no assurance that the lumber they use is any better than lumber purchased at Home Depot or Lowes or, for that matter, your local lumber yard.
The web site indicates that they use unfinished 3/4" x 3 1/2" No. 2 pine lumber, accurately cut and sanded. That is what is commonly referred to as a “1 by 4” board. It is construction grade. If you want the top grade of 1 by 4 pine, you would select a No. 1 grade which is a grade higher than No. 2 grade. Furthermore, there are grade characteristics that define finishes suitable for construction, cabinetry, painting, staining, etc. Sievers doesn’t specify the finish grade.
Now, I am not contending that Sievers uses lower quality lumber, but I am suggesting that you may be overestimating the quality of the lumber used to construct the framework.
I would agree that both Sievers and Mianne are expensive, and although I haven’t priced it out myself, I’m not convinced it is “over priced”. There is a big difference in the cost of good quality wood that has been furthermore sanded or finished as nicely as these products are vs just buying some construction grade lumber at the local Home Depot or Lowes. In my original post, I explained that in my case it wasn’t sufficient for the product to just be functional. I do in fact want it to look nice. It is going in my home and for that reason alone means it needs to be wife friendly if nothing else. I don’t have a dedicated room for it. It will go in the game room along with the big screen TV etc. I don’t expect furniture quality, but construction lumber isn’t getting in the door here.
I have no familiarity with Sievers whatsoever. However, from a quick tour of their web site, there is no assurance that the lumber they use is any better than lumber purchased at Home Depot or Lowes or, for that matter, your local lumber yard.
The web site indicates that they use unfinished 3/4" x 3 1/2" No. 2 pine lumber, accurately cut and sanded. That is what is commonly referred to as a “1 by 4” board. It is construction grade. If you want the top grade of 1 by 4 pine, you would select a No. 1 grade which is a grade higher than No. 2 grade. Furthermore, there are grade characteristics that define finishes suitable for construction, cabinetry, painting, staining, etc. Sievers doesn’t specify the finish grade.
Now, I am not contending that Sievers uses lower quality lumber, but I am suggesting that you ma
Where you live is also going to help determine the quality of the wood. I found this out by buying alot of #2 pine 1x4s in Virginia for about a dollar each board, sometimes a $1.50. This wood was clean and straight for the most part and finding good pieces in the lot was pretty easy. Now I live in WA state and going to my local HD leaves me cringing The #2 boards are $2.+ and look like the low grade from VA, and what they call premium here in WA was the #2 grade I bought in VA and here it is almost $4 per 8’ board.
In VA I built a stand for my 90 Gallon fishtank out of a combo of premium and #2 grade 1x4s for less than $60 including hardware. The stand is about 30" tall. When i moved to WA I dismantled a layout made of 1x4s (moved it from VA) and used some of that wood to build a canopy for said 90G tank. The canopy is the same exact design as the stand only smaller and uses far less wood but the cost was more than the stand was, and I even used old wood that did not figure into the actual cost of the canopy. Oh and the lights are also not counted in the cost.
So your area is going to determine the quality and cost of the wood you buy as well.
Yes, its all set up and I like it very much. Will order more as soon as I figure out how I am going to fill the rest of the room.
Once I got the plywood on top it became very sturdy. It supports a lot of weight by itself but it needs the plywood sheet to give it more lateral stability which it does nicely. I used 1/2" Baltic birch. They recommended 1/2" luan but that was hard to find in that thickness so I substituted Baltic birch instead which I think is better quality than is really necessary.