Curbside finder gave me a reality check about what's actually worth grabbing

I used to grab every piece of wood furniture I saw on the curb, thinking I'd refinish and flip it. A guy who runs a vintage shop near me told me to stop wasting my time on particle board stuff and focus on solid wood with dovetail joints. Now I only pick up pieces where I can check the drawer construction before hauling them home. Has anyone else gotten good advice from a seller or flipper that changed your dive strategy?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithg261mo ago

Dovetail joints are a good sign but they aren't a guarantee of solid wood. A lot of older high end particle board stuff actually used dovetail joints on the drawers too. You gotta check the actual drawer bottom and sides to see if it's real wood or just a veneer over particle board. I learned that the hard way after hauling home a huge dresser that looked great but weighed about 80 pounds extra because of all the particle board hiding under the veneer. Get a magnet too, that will tell you real quick if it's solid wood or not since woods don't attract magnets but metal staples and nails in particle board do.

olivia_webb1mo ago

My friend dragged home this massive wooden cabinet that turned out to be held together with staples and glue, not a single dovetail joint in sight. @faithg26, that magnet trick would have saved him hours of work before he even got it in his truck.