Hugely overweight people and regular furniture!

Factual Questions
1

A few weeks ago, there was one of those “1,000 Pound Man” shows on the Learning Channel; I watched a few minutes of it before finding something else more interesting to watch. Last night, as I was getting into bed, for some reason I started thinking about the show, and I began to ponder about how sturdy beds and other furniture (chairs, couches, etc.) have to be in order to support all that extra weight. How heavy do you have to be before you need specially-reinforced furniture? Does “specially-reinforced” furniture actually exist? With the growing numbers of extremely overweight people in America, perhaps an “extra-sturdy furniture” store might be a good idea! I guess you would also want an “extra-sturdy” house to go along with that!

So – do these people crush ordinary chairs, couches, beds, etc. on a regular basis? Or am I underestimating the strength of ordinary furniture? Any information would be appreciated.

2

If you’re 1000 lbs or thereabouts is there really any fruniture you’re going to using other than a bed?

3

My brother in law was a huge man, well over 600 lbs. (his death certificate said 600+ because they did not have scales that went higher.) He used to break our furniture on a regular basis.

4

My roomie is about 400 lbs and you can definately tell which chair he regularly uses at the dinner table. It’s wobbly and loose whereas all the others are still tight and solid.

And yes, it seems like “Big” furniture would be a handy thing for those big & tall stores to carry.

5

There’s heavy-duty toilets designed for the obese. You can also get oversized caskets.

Flame me if you want, but I think it’s a sad state of affairs that there’s now a sizeable market (no pun intended) for such products.

6

The guy who used to own my dad’s company and his brother (the guy’s, not my dad’s) were both over 500 pounds, and the furniture they used on a day to day basis were specially bought. The brother broke the hell out of my parents’ couch one day just by sitting on it normally, without extra force or anything.

7

Actually, I think that they look comfortable, and having bum knees the extra bit of tallness would be welcome on a bad body day. I like the extra stability of added lockdown bolts, and teh added ‘fins’ to keep the seat from sliding off to one side or another if you have to lean quickly [like trying to save the damned cat from falling into the bath tub :rolleyes: ]

8

I’m about the same size as your roomie, and have a similar effect on some chairs.

I’m not so sure it’s entirely a weight thing, though - I’ve been having the same effect since I was under 200, which, while large, is by no means particularly unusual. (I also haven’t busted a BED since I was about 180lbs.) I just MOVE too much for the furniture. Not that my weight probably doesn’t make it worse, but…

I would love to have a nicely reenforced desk chair - even if I manage to lose weight.