DIY GUIDE · HOME REPAIRS & HANDYMAN

How to assemble a bed, table, desk or sofa yourself
An hour for a desk or a table, two for a bed with drawers. £10–£40 in tools and felt pads.

Lay out the hardware, build the frame finger-tight, true it on a flat floor, then tighten in a cross pattern — for beds, tables, desks and sofas.

DIFFICULTY
Easy
no licence needed
TIME
An hour or two
half an hour to unpack and lay out the hardware, the rest building, truing and tightening
MATERIALS
£10–£40
a screwdriver set, hex keys, a mallet and felt pads
A PRO CHARGES
£40–£120
typically £70
  • Every step, start to finish
  • Checked October 2026 — sources at the end
  • Honest about when to call a pro

FIRST, THE HONEST ANSWER

Do it yourself, or get a handymen?

Do it yourself if…

  • The frame members are a weight two people can lift and hold in place
  • You can build it in the room where it will stand
  • The floor is flat enough to stand the frame on and check it for rock
  • The piece is free-standing, or you can fix it to the wall if the instructions say so

Get a pro if…

  • An ottoman or storage bed with gas struts, which spring with force when released
  • A large corner sofa or a heavy solid-wood bed with no second person to hold the frame
  • Electric recliners, rise-and-recline chairs or adjustable beds with motors and wiring
  • A bunk bed or high sleeper for a child that must be built and anchored exactly to its instructions

Safety first

  • Anchor any tall or tippable piece with the strap supplied. The makers warn that children have died from furniture tipping over, and the government's product safety advice says tall, heavy pieces belong fixed to a wall.
  • Lift heavy frame members and finished pieces with a second person, close to the body. HSE's lifting filter gives 25 kg for men and 16 kg for women as the guide figure for a close lift.
  • Gas struts and recliner mechanisms carry stored force. Fit them only at the step shown and keep hands and faces out of their path.
  • Find cables and pipes with a detector before drilling for an anti-tip strap.
  • Keep small hardware away from young children; barrel nuts and washers are a choking size.

MATERIALCOVERAGEFOR THIS JOB
Felt padsSelf-adhesive, under feet and legsOne per foot
Wood glueOnly where the instructions show itA small bottle
Wall fixingsFor any anti-tip strap, matched to the wallTwo per strap

Is the frame square?

Measure the frame corner to corner both ways. Equal diagonals mean square. A bed frame measuring 2,320 mm on one diagonal and 2,300 mm on the other is out by 20 mm; push the long diagonal's corners towards each other until both read 2,310 mm, then tighten the bolts.

True the frame on the floor where it will stand; an uneven floor can make a square frame rock.

Know the joint before you tighten it

Most frame furniture uses a long bolt through one rail into a barrel nut set across the other — a small steel cylinder with a slot on its end and a threaded hole through its side. The slot must line up with the bolt, or the bolt cross-threads. Other pieces use threaded inserts set in the wood, or bolts with T-nuts. Find which yours has on the parts page.

The tightening order

Fit every bolt in a frame finger-tight first, so the parts can still move. Stand the frame on a flat floor, true it, then tighten the bolts in turn, a little at a time, working across the frame like the wheel nuts on a car. Fully tightening one corner at a time is what twists a frame.

Hand tools and a gentle driver

Use the hex key in the kit or a better one, and a screwdriver that fits the screw head. A small cordless screwdriver on a low clutch setting saves time on the dozens of slat screws in a bed. A powered drill on full power strips inserts out of softwood and snaps small bolts.

Pieces that must be anchored

Tall bookcases, wardrobes, dressers, and high sleepers all tip if they are pulled or climbed. One maker's instructions warn that children have died from furniture tipping over and say always to fit the anti-tip device. The government's product safety advice says tall, heavy pieces belong fixed to a wall. If your piece came with a strap, fit it.

Gas struts, springs and mechanisms

Storage beds lift on gas struts that push hard as soon as they are free. Recliners and sofa beds have spring-loaded mechanisms. Follow the drawings exactly for these: fit the strut only at the step shown, with the base held shut, and never stand in the path of a mechanism under tension.

Keep the instructions and the spare hardware in a bag taped under the frame. You will want them to take the bed apart when you move.
Check the parts against the list before you start, and ask the seller for anything missing rather than improvising a bolt.

THE PART THAT DECIDES THE FINISH

Before you start — the kit and the space

Find the kind of piece you are building and set up for it. These are the starting checks; the bolting itself is the quick part.

A bed frame

Headboard, footboard, side rails, a centre rail and slats.

  1. Build it in the bedroom; a finished double bed rarely fits through a door
  2. Lay the side rails out on the floor in the positions they will take
  3. Find the centre support legs; they stop the slats sagging and the bed creaking
  4. Count the slats and their fixings — there are a lot of them
A dining table and chairs

Legs bolted to an apron or straight to the top.

  1. Lay the top face down on a blanket on a clean floor
  2. Identify the leg bolts and any corner brackets
  3. Check the chairs one at a time, keeping each chair's hardware separate
  4. Check the floor is flat where the table will stand
A desk

A top on a frame, sometimes with a cable tray or drawers.

  1. Decide which side the drawers or cable tray go before you start
  2. Find the cross-bracing; it is what stops the sway
  3. Build on its back or top as the drawings show
  4. Plan where the cables will run once it stands
A sofa or armchair

Arms and back bolted or hooked to the seat base; feet screwed in.

  1. Unwrap it in the room where it goes, and keep the plastic until you know nothing is damaged
  2. Find the hooks or brackets that join the arms and back to the base
  3. Lay the base on its back on a blanket to fit the feet
  4. Look for the mechanism warning labels on a sofa bed or recliner
Garden furniture

Timber or metal, often with stainless or zinc-plated bolts.

  1. Build it on a flat patio or lawn, not on gravel
  2. Leave the bolts slightly loose until the whole piece is together
  3. Check the hardware is for outdoor use; plain steel rusts and stains timber
  4. Plan to oil or treat timber pieces before they go out
A tall or tippable piece

Dresser, tall bookcase, high sleeper, wardrobe.

  1. Check whether the instructions include an anti-tip strap
  2. Look at the wall where it will stand: masonry, studs or plasterboard
  3. Find cables and pipes with a detector where the strap will be fixed
  4. Buy the fixings for that wall; the kit does not include them

THE JOB

How to assemble a bed, table, desk or sofa, in order

  1. Set up and lay out the hardware

    20 min

    Clear the floor in the room where the piece will stand and lay down a blanket or the flattened box. Unpack everything and lay the frame parts out roughly where they will go. Tip each bag of hardware into its own cup and lay one of each bolt, barrel nut and washer on the parts list page. Read the starting checks above for your piece, then read the instructions through once.

    • Sort bolts by length; two lengths that look the same cause most mistakes
    • Keep a magnetic tray or a bowl for anything that rolls
    • Leave the packaging in one corner until the build is done

    Mistake to avoid: Starting with the hardware in one heap. A short bolt ends up where a long one should be and the joint has half the thread it needs.

  2. Fit inserts and fixed parts while everything is flat

    20 min

    Before any frame goes together, fit the parts the drawings show going on flat: threaded inserts screwed into their holes, corner brackets, slat holders on the side rails, drawer runners, cable trays. Drive inserts in straight with the hex key until they sit flush. Tap any dowels home with the mallet. It is far easier to do this now than with a frame standing up.

    • Start an insert by hand and keep it square; one that goes in crooked will never take its bolt straight
    • Check left and right parts before fixing them; they mirror each other
    • Hand-tighten screws into softwood and stop as soon as they are snug

    Mistake to avoid: Driving a threaded insert in at an angle. The bolt then cross-threads in it, and the joint can never be pulled tight.

  3. Join the frame finger-tight

    30 min

    Bring the main frame members together as the drawings show — a bed's headboard and side rails, a table's legs and apron, a desk's sides and cross-brace. Drop each barrel nut into its hole with the slot lined up with the bolt hole, then push the bolt through the rail and turn it until it catches the nut. Fit every bolt in the frame like this, finger-tight only, so the frame can still be nudged square.

    • Use the slot on the barrel nut to turn it with a flat screwdriver until it lines up
    • If a bolt will not start, back it out and realign the nut; never force it
    • Have a helper hold the uprights while you start the bolts

    Mistake to avoid: Tightening each bolt fully as you fit it. The first corners lock the frame slightly twisted, and the last bolt never lines up.

  4. True it on a flat floor

    15 min

    Stand the frame on a flat part of the floor. Measure its diagonals and push it square until they match. Check that the top of a table or the rails of a bed are level with the spirit level, and that all the feet touch the floor; press on each corner in turn and watch for rock. Only when it is square and all feet are down do you start the final tightening.

    • Check diagonals on the base of a bed, the apron of a table, the frame of a desk
    • If one foot will not touch with the frame square, the floor is the problem; deal with it at the end
    • Look along the rails from one end for any twist

    Mistake to avoid: Truing the frame on a carpet or a sloping floor. It looks right there and rocks as soon as it is moved.

  5. Tighten in a cross pattern

    15 min

    Tighten the bolts in turn, a little at a time, across the frame rather than round it: one corner, then the opposite corner, then the other two. Give each bolt a part turn per round until all are firm. Check the diagonals once more halfway through. Stop when they are firm; overtightening a bolt into softwood crushes the fibres and the joint loosens sooner.

    • Use washers wherever the parts list shows them; they stop the bolt head biting into the timber
    • Check the barrel nuts have not turned in their holes as you tighten
    • A creak later almost always means one joint missed its final round

    Mistake to avoid: Tightening one corner fully before moving on. It pulls the frame out of square again just as you had it true.

  6. Fit slats, tops and the remaining parts

    30 min

    On a bed, fit the centre rail and its legs, adjust the legs down until they touch the floor, then fit the slats into their holders, evenly spaced. On a table, fit the top to the frame with the screws or brackets shown, working from the centre outwards. On a sofa, hook or bolt the arms and back onto the base, then turn it onto its back to screw in the feet. On a desk, fit the top, drawers and cable tray.

    • Set the centre legs of a bed to just touch the floor; too short and the slats sag, too long and the frame lifts
    • Use short screws for a table top so they cannot come through the surface
    • Screw sofa feet in by hand until they seat; they cross-thread easily

    Mistake to avoid: Leaving a bed's centre support legs short of the floor. The slats sag in the middle and the frame creaks every time someone turns over.

  7. Deal with gas struts and mechanisms

    20 min

    On a storage bed, fit the gas struts only at the step the drawings show, usually with the lifting base held shut and the strut fitted at one end first. Keep your hands and head out of the path of the base. On a sofa bed or recliner, follow the drawings for the mechanism and never put a hand inside it while it is moving or under load. If a strut or mechanism is damaged, stop and get a replacement from the seller.

    • Read the strut's label: the cylinder end and the rod end usually fit one way only
    • Have a helper hold a lifting base shut while you fit the struts
    • Test a mechanism slowly through its full range before use

    Mistake to avoid: Fitting a gas strut with the base open and unsupported. When the second end goes on, the base springs up with real force.

  8. Level, protect the floor and anchor if needed

    20 min

    Move the piece to its final place, then check it with the level and press each corner for rock. Pack under a short foot with a felt pad or a proper leveller rather than folded card. Fit felt pads under all the feet on a hard floor. If the instructions include an anti-tip strap, fix it now: detector first, the right fixing for the wall, and away from the bands above and beside sockets and switches.

    • Lift furniture to move it; dragging it loosens the joints you have just tightened
    • Fit pads to chair legs too
    • Fit the anti-tip strap before you load any shelves or drawers

    Mistake to avoid: Leaving a tall dresser or high sleeper standing free because it feels solid. A child climbing it, or a drawer pulled out, can tip it.

  9. Retighten after a week

    15 min

    New timber settles, and bolts into softwood ease as it does. A week after you build it, go round every bolt with the hex key, in the same cross pattern, and give each a gentle extra turn. On a bed, check the slats are still in their holders and the centre legs touch the floor. Put the instructions and the spare hardware in a bag taped under the frame.

    • A squeak from a bed is usually a joint that needs a turn, or a slat rubbing its neighbour
    • Garden furniture needs this again after the first spell of rain and sun
    • Write the hex key size on the bag

    Mistake to avoid: Never checking the bolts again. A joint that has eased wears its hole oval, and then it will never stay tight.

The mistakes that make furniture creak and wobble

  • Tightening each bolt fully as the frame goes together
  • Truing a frame on a sloping floor or a carpet
  • Leaving bed centre legs short of the floor
  • Fitting gas struts with the base unsupported
  • Never retightening after the first week

Stop here and get a furniture assembler

  • A storage bed's gas struts or a recliner's mechanism are damaged or will not fit as shown
  • An electric recliner or adjustable bed needs its motors and wiring connected
  • A heavy frame needs two people and you are alone
  • A child's bunk bed or high sleeper will not build exactly to its instructions
How to hire a furniture assembler →

Bed frame creakingA loose joint, a slat rubbing, or the centre legs off the floor. Retighten in a cross pattern, adjust the legs to touch, and put a strip of felt between rubbing slats.
Table wobbles on one legFrame tightened out of square, or an uneven floor. Loosen, true it on a flat floor, retighten; then level a foot with a pad.
Bolt will not go into the barrel nutThe nut's slot is not lined up. Turn the nut with a flat screwdriver until its hole faces the bolt, and start the bolt by hand.
Threaded insert pulled out of the woodOvertightened or driven crooked. Glue in a new insert or a hardwood dowel, let it set, and refit by hand.
Desk sways side to sideCross-brace missing or loose. Fit and tighten the bracing; a desk without it racks however tight the legs are.
Sofa arm looseHook or bracket not fully seated, or a bolt missing. Lift the arm off, reseat it, and fit every bolt shown.
Storage bed base will not stay up or slams downA gas strut fitted the wrong way round or failed. Support the base, refit the strut as shown, or replace it.
Garden bench bolts rustingPlain steel hardware outside. Replace with stainless or galvanised bolts of the same size.

WHAT YOU SAVE

What it costs to do it yourself

Hex key set£4–£8
Screwdriver set£14–£22
Rubber mallet£6–£8
Wood glue, small bottle£5–£7
Total, tools and pads£10–£40
DIY total£10–£40
A furniture assembler charges per item
LOW
£40
TYPICAL
£70
HIGH
£120
Furniture Assembly price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

Once you own the tools, the next piece costs nothing but time. An assembler's price is for speed, the second pair of hands and the awkward mechanisms.

RATHER NOT?

Furniture assemblers near you, with prices shown

The ones who cover your area, nearest first, with one score from every review. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

Retighten after a week

Go round every bolt in a cross pattern a week after building, and again after a few months.

Keep the instructions and spares

Tape them in a bag under the frame or inside a drawer, with the hex key size written on it.

Dispose of the packaging and the old furniture

Flatten cardboard for your council recycling. Large polystyrene and plastic go to the household waste recycling centre. An old bed or sofa can go to the council's bulky waste collection, or to a reuse charity if it is in good condition; upholstered seating may need to be kept whole for special disposal.

Look after garden pieces

Oil or treat timber garden furniture before it goes out, and check the bolts after the first weeks of weather.

Assembling a bed, table, desk or sofa: questions people ask

Usually a joint that missed its final tightening, the centre legs short of the floor, or slats rubbing. Retighten every bolt in a cross pattern and adjust the legs.

A barrel nut sits across a hole in the rail with a threaded hole through its side. Line its slot up with the bolt, then the bolt screws straight into it and pulls the two rails together.

Fit them all finger-tight, square the frame on a flat floor, then tighten them a little at a time in a cross pattern.

True and tighten the frame on a flat floor first. If it still rocks, the floor is uneven; level the short foot with a pad or an adjustable foot.

Yes, if it is tall or has drawers a child could climb. Fit the anti-tip strap supplied, with fixings that suit your wall.

On the Locufy UK price guide furniture assembly costs £40–£120 per item, typically £70. Beds with storage and large sofas sit at the top.

MORE GUIDES

More DIY guides

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All 90 DIY guides →How to hire a furniture assembler →Furniture Assembly price guide →Furniture assemblers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. IKEA — chest of drawers assembly instructions: tip-over warning and anti-tip device
  2. Rawlplug — SPO spring toggle for plasterboard, product data
  3. HSE — manual handling at work, a brief guide (INDG143): the lifting risk filter
  4. GOV.UK — consumer products: staying safe (heavy furniture attached to the wall)
  5. GOV.UK — dispose of household waste: furniture and the recycling centre
  6. GOV.UK — managing waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs
  7. Wickes — hex key sets, price check October 2026
  8. Wickes — screwdriver sets, price check October 2026
  9. Wickes — rubber mallets, price check October 2026
  10. Wickes — wood glue, price check October 2026