i always ask here before i google it, who makes the best recliners

recliners.....I know its boring but you guys always know. don't say lazy boy.

La-Z-Boy

No recliners allowed in my house. Lay on floor, couch or bed.

Stickley.

La Z boy have got lazy, they are not so good anymore from my experience

maybe the average life of a Lazy Boy $2500 sofa with only 2 average size adults sitting on it is only 3 years.............Stickley, I have heard of and will check them out.

Broyhill, or my favourite , Stressless.

The wrote: maybe the average life of a Lazy Boy $2500 sofa with only 2 average size adults sitting on it is only 3 years.............Stickley, I have heard of and will check them out.

VERY expensive, but worth it. You'll get tired of it long before it wears out or breaks.

Our La-Z-Boy sofa and loveseat are about 10 years old now. They've done what they were supposed to do. The sleeper sofa is probably the most comfortable I've ever been on. They've held up well, in spite of the kids.

I have nothing to contribute on the matter of recliners.

Whenever I see an Eames chair in a shop window, I have to take a sit. Few better places to rest your bones.

Super pricey, but they seem to hold value. I'll buy one on craigslist one of these days.

I'm sitting in a LA-Z-BOY recliner that's broken next to a LA-Z-BOY reclining sofa that's broken. Both well less than 10 years old, both have been treated well. Would not buy again.

My father-in-law and I have almost 80 years experience - he buys the lower cost versions that don't last - I like to get the Lazy Boy ones.

My throne, my chair, if I sit in it most nights? It's worth the money.

I'm a LaZBoy fan. My dad had one and as soon as I became independent I knew I'd get one. I got one ten years ago and it's just as comfortable as the day we brought it home.

whatever i can get for free when i need one..

The Mrs. researched this to death.  The short answer was if any of them last more than 5 years, you're doing well.  I guess the days when "dad's chair" had been in the living room for a couple decades are past us.  I'd be happy to be wrong, because "my chair" is starting to look a bit ratty.  

It's about 5 years old . . . 

kazoospec said:

The Mrs. researched this to death.  The short answer was if any of them last more than 5 years, you're doing well.  I guess the days when "dad's chair" had been in the living room for a couple decades are past us.  I'd be happy to be wrong, because "my chair" is starting to look a bit ratty.  

It's about 5 years old . . . 

This is an old thread, likely a zombie canoe revival, but this is truly a situation of buy once cry once (or once every 20-30 years).

We bought our Hancock and Moore recliners used at an estate sale 5 years ago. Good as the day we bought them. My parents have two Stickley's that are nearing 7 years old, look brand new as well. 

Here is a tremendous forum about furniture: http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/. It is run by a guy who owns a furniture store in Virginia; obviously he is biased, but a tremendous resource. Some things I've learned from there in terms of manufacturers: 

• Hancock and Moore is probably the best until you get into custom bespoke stuff. My parents H&M Sofa is probably 40 years old and while it certainly doesn’t look brand new, it still looks nice and is comfortable to sit in.
• Stickley is probably just as good as H&M for cloth, and 1/4 step down for leather.
• Next, there is Bradington and Young, Classic Leather, American Leather... probably some others. They’re after the H&M or Stickley customer that just can’t stomach the price. Some corners are cut, workforce isn’t paid as much, plywood frame instead of solid maple. Still probably a BIFL product for 99% of consumers, still made in USA, company will stand behind it.
• Then you get into the Flexsteel, Bernhardt, Palliser. Now we're still USA, but a lot of corners are cut. If it is reclining, the Mechanisms are imported, workmanship is done for speed - not quality, frames are plywood and stapled instead of jointed, foam quality is a notch down. If leather, you start getting into vinyl or bonded leather secondary surfaces, large gaps in joints and the like. Stitching isn’t as tight, etc.
• Then there is La-Z-Boy. They’re not what I’d call junk, but not what I’d call good either. It’s the lowest I personally would consider, but furniture snobs would call them bottom of the barrel. I’d call them just above that.
• Bottom of the barrel will be Ashley, Natuzzi, some other department store brands. Faux leathers, thin flexing frames, light duty mechanisms, cheap cores, cardboard over the armcap. You can sit in it in the store and it will just feel cheap and not durable. Imagine an old person who has to basically fall into a chair to sit down, or a fat person, or a drunk person, or a kid jumping in. It won’t last.
• Then your outliers: the Chinese imports. Some of it is really good, like Hooker. Probably about as good as a Bradington Young (same ownership), maybe the finish isn’t quite the same, but the structure probably is - just made using $2/hour Chinese labor. Some is horrible (what you’ll find in Costco or Walmart, and I’m a Costco fanboi and I say that).
• IKEA is probably in the Chinese category-some is good, some isn’t.

Also, the mechanisms are basically all the same - Leggett and Platt - but they have some that are built better than others; buying a reputable brand will get you a good one. All of the salesmen and manufacturers I have talked to say that the manual ones get returned for warranty work at about 10x the rate of the powered ones, probably because instead of a potentially jerky movement, it is done by a motor and easier on all of the components. 

Saving this one for later. I'm currently sitting on a decade old Craigslist couch where the springs in the middle are noticeably weaker than the edges but they're attached to the fabric in a way where I can't just go rearranging them like the last one

We have had good luck at one of the local Restore stores that gets in returned lazy boys and sells them for $300-500. Not the best available sofa but in 5-10 years if my wife wants to change styles. The price won't kill my mental state that we just spend 3-5000 on a couch that we need to change in 5 years anyways. 

Can't believe I got suckered by the zombie.  On the other hand, by the time we're done with the puppy we're housebreaking, we might be in the furniture market again.