Franklin Chair/Ladder

This was purchased as a birthday gift for my daughter. She assembled it before we went out to dinner, and was delighted with the ease of assembly and how well it fit into the decor of their new house. It's multi-purpose, since it doubles as a sturdy step stool and extra seating. If my own kitchen step stool ever needs replacing, I'll definitely consider purchasing this for myself.

I was extremely surprised how beautiful this piece of furniture is. My wife is 4'10" and it will come in handy to reach the upper cabinets in our house.

Based on reviews I expected difficulties with assembly and I had a couple. First the lower step was too wide to fit between chair legs; I had to remove about 3/32” on the table saw. Second the seat did not have pilot holes so I had to drill myself. Otherwise assembly was easy and seems to be sturdy. I weigh 220 lbs and it was solid when I used as step stool.

Solid chair. Read the reviews for better instructions. The best advice was to use a short handled screwdriver when screwing/drilling the seat. There is no space to drill your own pilot holes and none are provded.

I cannot believe it is even legal to sell this thing. As others reported, holes are not drilled, or they don't line up, or the screws are not long enough to go through all required pieces of wood. Hubby is super handy, has all the tools one man could possibly want, has built multiple pieces of furniture, among other thing, so I was not worried about the thing getting built. Well, Hubby did build the chair. He had to drill additional holes, but the chair/ladder was built. I sat in it fine. I flipped it so that I could try out the ladder portion. Hubby warned: I wouldn't do that. But why else buy the thing? I stepped on the ladder, and the thing immediately broke. Wood chipped right off, and I went down. I weight 119 pounds. You would think this thing could support such weight, no? Hubby has since gone off to a hardware store to purchase additional bolts and longer screws. It's been days now, and this poor piece of an excuse of a chair is still not built. Even when done, I doubt I will ever use it for what I purchased it for: to reach the shelving in my 10' high master closet. As I will never feel comfortable enough to stand on this thing. Purchasing this thing has been a total waste of money and a total waste of time, plus it is unsafe. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for a library chair/ladder.

Just finished the assembly on this chair. So far, it seems like a nice sturdy piece. I've tried the ladder function and it holds my 220 lb weight without and problems. The assembly was pretty easy except that the seat part does not have pilot holes for the screws. The screws that come with the chair don't seem to hold well. I used a little Elmer's wood glue and larger screws to get the seat to fit right. The instructions for attaching the bottom ladder part need modification. If you follow the instructions, you won't be able to fit the bottom part. I attached one side and the step of the ladder part to the seat and then attached the the other side of the lower ladder. That worked fine. So far I am happy with the purchase.

Love it. Looks like a regular chair but dubs as a step ladder. Super convenient for the height challenged. I would not call this too heavy, but I also would not call it light. It is slightly heavier than a solid wood chair.

Similar problems to others with holes not drilled correctly making assembly difficult at best. The hook to hold the chair in place is not even close to correct and is thin metal that breaks easily if you try to bend it to fit the latch. A shame because it is a potentially good looking and functional piece of furniture that would be useful if more carefully designed. .