Sauder Heritage Hill Lateral File, in Classic Cherry finish

All things being equal, this cabinet is well-built and sturdy within its price category. It will serve to separate my personal from household files. I received it yesterday afternoon and the setup was completed today. To say that it was easy, no, it was not--mainly because of its weight plus it would require two people to assemble it, particularly when adding the drawers. I have put other cabinets together before so I know the drill. But since there were some reviews about the instructions, etc. I would like to clarify the process and issues. The first thing I did was to account for each part; thus, I counted up to the last screw. Then, I looked at the pictorial manual to see what was in store for me and there was nothing i had not encountered before. However, I had been warned so this time I had to read and re-read before I proceeded with each step. And it worked! I must warn others that the glue is not sufficient for the required use; luckily, I had plenty. There was a review about the adequacy of the drawers' bottom board but I believe the particle board slat running under it, in the middle, will provide the necessary strength to hold the weight. Also, assuming the sturdy plastic rods that hold the hanging folders will bear most of the weight, then the bottom will easily support the shared weight. PLACING THE DRAWERS INSIDE THE CABINET... I placed a stool to hold the bottom drawer level with the sliding bars and, though it was a painful process for me alone, I was able to engage both sides. After some machination, I can open and close the drawer smoothly. For the top drawer, I used the box it came in, again, to bring the drawer level with the sliders. It worked too just because I did not give up. I could not wait for anyone and the job had to be finished quickly to clean up the mess created (huge box and protecting material; tools, etc.) USING A BED TO ASSEMBLE THE CABINET AND THE DRAWERS. As I always do, I placed a heavy upholstery material on the bed and the big box on top. This way, with the cabinet on top for each stage of assembly, I did not have to bend plus the item was protected. One thing, the driver overlooked that the porch door had been kept ajar for the item to be left inside but he preferred to leave it resting on the privacy wall, exposed to the elements, separate from the house/porch. I still do not know how I was able to bring the box inside the house... It is heavy at 92.4 pounds. Even though the item has not passed the test of time, it is what I expected it to be, and the drawers open/close perfectly... just because I did not rush out the project. I am satisfied with the purchase.

This surprised me as to how well built this product was for compressed wood, VERY solid. It was shipped and the top piece was damaged, I went online and was sent a replacement that arrived very quickly, Sauder was great to deal with in that respect. It does require COMPLETE assembly but the instructions are very clear and all of the pieces fit together. They only give the exact number of parts and one screw was broken so it is one short but suffers nothing where I decided not to use one. Plan on using extra glue. The instructions said to wipe excess off, I put one drop in each hole, did not have to wipe any off and still ran out. Regular household wood glue worked just fine. I would purchase another product from Sauder!

I just finished assembling mine. It looks good. The package weighs 94 lbs. and comes completely disassembled. Open the box and carry the pieces to where you will assemble it. You get what you pay for. The unit has paper-thin laminate, an unfinished back and underside, all particle board and plastic folder rails. Though the drawers roll very nicely. The lock is to keep out the honest. The instructions are very clear and the pictures are detailed. It requires a hammer and Phillips screwdriver. It came with the exact correct number of parts. I could have used 10% more glue but I had just enough. Some brackets are plastic, but the rest of the fasteners are metal or wooden dowels. It seems sturdy though. When assembling read the instructions carefully and note which holes are shown in the pictures. There are a lot of parts so planning assembly by laying out all the hardware bags and components first will save time and frustration. Don’t lose pieces. Keep the as yet unused fasteners in their labeled bag—there are several similar screws so I’m glad I didn’t just dump them out. Don’t rush. The parts are all well labeled. The holes are well aligned and pre-drilled. The instructions are well written (with a little humor). Of the furniture kits I’ve assembled, this is among the most involved (glue, screws, nails), but also the best explained and well aligned. There was nothing tricky or hard. Some of the pins damage the laminate when installing them but the damage is inside a joint, so completely invisible. A no-frustration assembly.

When it arrived it weighed about 110 lbs. I thought to myself it must be stout, “wrong”. All the Particle Board pieces were thick and heavy made it really hard to hold together while trying to assemble. The whole thing was Particle-Board so don’t let it fool you into thinking you bought a quality piece of furniture it’s not. All the hardware was probably the cheapest I have ever seen, especially trying to hold the large boards together while assembling. It took forever to assemble not because I didn’t know what I was doing; it was because the hardware would keep falling apart while trying to get the operation done. The instructions were pretty clear so that wasn’t a problem, getting the unsteady thing to stay together long enough to assemble the last pieces together was the problem. The last couple of boards are what is holding it together, I mean keep it from falling apart. The hardware is so cheap the thing will never be sturdy, especially when it weighs 110 lbs. The hardware must have been purchased in China at the discount store. It is absolutely the most unsteady piece of furniture I have ever purchased. I would have returned it, but I waited too long to start the assembly process to return it. The box sat around a month or so before I had the time to assemble it. I did think about, what if I had to return it, but I was confident that for the price it must be a good piece of furniture and didn’t worry about it, which was a huge mistake. The filing cabinet is truly the most unsteady cheap piece of furniture I have ever purchased.

El mueble viene tal como está anunciado: no es madera 100% pero es sólido y tiene un buen acabado. Incluye la tornillería y herrajes y las instrucciones para armar en tres idiomas, pero los diagramas sólo se muestran en el apartado del idioma inglés, lo que representa una dificultad para los que no son angloparlantes. Lo malo: 1) No todas las piezas llegaron debidamente rotuladas. 2) Muy mal empacado, la caja llegó rota y algunas piezas se rasparon. Se pudieron rescatar, pero no debería haber sucedido de haberlo empacado adecuadamente. 3) Otra pieza llegó con una reparación ya hecha en fábrica. Aún así decidí conservarlo, aunque después encontré el mismo mueble a casi la mitad de precio en una tienda local.

Very sturdy and goes together nicely

Scratches on door panels.

Looks ok but it took a lot of work to put together. After a couple of hours and a trip to the hardware store to get screws that were missing in looked like in the picture - but the corners were not flush. Good enough I thought. I put my files in it. Once loaded with files it also would not function an kept sticking. Two days later i went to open the top file drawer and the entire panel pulled away from the wood slot holding it the the drawer. I was left holding the handles with no drawer attached. I wrote to the company and they promptly replied and said to send it back. To do so would take several hours to disassemble box up and then try and ship. I have decided to eat the refund and have learned a lesson about the quality here.

good looking but to much money for what it is