Herman Miller office chairs are classic and ergonomically designed to be comfortable for those long days attending Zoom meetings and answering emails. But what’s a good chair if it comes in a million pieces to assemble?
Luckily, most Herman Miller office chairs come fully assembled, which isn’t always the case with furniture. It can be quite expensive and complicated to ship giant completely assembled furniture pieces, but it is usually much easier than fumbling around with a bunch of loose screws and spare parts.
With Herman Miller, you can pop the chairs right out of their container and start using them immediately. However, there are a few exceptions to the rule.
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Here are the five Herman Miller chairs that require assembly:
- Magis Déjà vu Chair
- Magis Déjà vu Stool
- Magis Steelwood Chair
- Magis Steelwood Stool
- Nelson Platform Bench
None of these are office chairs, and most of them simply require their legs to be fastened into the chair’s seat with screws. The two Déjà vu products are slightly more involved, but shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.
There are detailed instructions on the Herman Miller website but assembly is quite straightforward for all of the products. If you’ve ever put together something from IKEA, assembling any of these chairs will feel like child’s play!
The Most Important Part of Assembly
While there is no actual assembly required for most Herman Miller chairs, containing the chair box can be quite heavy. Unlike an unboxed office chair, there are no wheels to help push it into space.
Having a friend, family member, or coworker help you bring the heavy shipping box into the house will make the experience much more pleasant. The good news is that you won’t need to lift the chair out of the packaging. The boxes open up from the side; then the chair can be wheeled out on the floor.
Be prepared to spend a few minutes adjusting the chair to fit your ergonomic requirements. If you plan on sitting at a computer all day, the chair should be anywhere from 16 to 21 inches off the ground and the arms should be 5 to 8 inches from the seat of the chair.
The Aeron Chair
It’s impossible to talk about Herman Miller without mentioning their Aeron chair. It’s their most popular ergonomic office chair. It comes in three sizes and has fully adjustable arms to ensure every user feels comfortable sitting in it.
When purchasing a new Aeron chair, expect it to arrive fully assembled. However, if you’re buying it refurbished, you may have to put a few pieces together upon delivery.
The back will need to be secured with four screws and the PostureFit Lumbar will need to be installed. A hand screw or a power drill is required to complete these steps — be careful not to over-tighten the screws.
The chair back needs to be positioned first with its screws gently securing it. It should slip right into its designated space and the four screw holes should be aligned.
Then, the PostureFit Lumbar cable can be threaded through the chair and pushed through the lumbar support hole. The other end of the PostureFit Lumbar should be aligned with the screw hole in the chair.
Once all of this is completed, this PostureFit Lumbar and the five screws can be tightened.
Repeating these steps backward would be a perfect way to disassemble the chair to transport, if you have limited shipping space.
Replacement Parts
We often think of assembly as something we need to do when buying a brand new product, but that’s not always the case. Here’s what you need to know if you’re replacing a part of your chair or reassembling it.
Assembly is required for replacement parts of the Aeron chair. By switching out parts of your chair when needed, you’ll extend its life significantly. This can also be applied to other Herman Miller office chairs.
The gas lift cylinder is an essential part of many Herman Miller chairs. A cylinder replacement can extend an Aeron chair’s life by 6 six years, further increasing the value of your purchase. There are specific tools made to make this process easier and the whole process shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.
When it comes to the wheels (or casters) of an ergonomic chair, they tend to get a lot of wear and tear. It’s a good idea to replace them when you begin to notice them becoming a little rough.
Knowing how to insert and take off the wheels of these chairs will also be helpful if you’ve ordered the chair second hand and it arrived a little more disassembled than you originally anticipated.
To remove the wheels, lay the chair on its side and jiggle and pull them out. We recommend using gloves or wrapping the wheel a cloth to avoid getting grease on your skin or clothes.
Putting new wheels on the chair is just as easy. Push the metal rod into the hole. It should go all the way in and be nice and secure.
Arm pads can look worn out and faded after a few years. Luckily, these can also be replaced. Unscrew the pad and replace it with the new one. If you’ve purchased your Herman Miller chair second hand and it looks like it’s seen better days, giving it a fresh pair of pads is an easy way to rejuvenate it.
In Conclusion
Herman Miller makes their purchase experience as convenient as possible with their fully assembled office chairs. You may encounter a few times in your chair-owning life where you have to deal with some light assembly but it should be relatively quick and simple. Be sure to reference the linked videos with the article if you need help.
If you need more help assembling any Herman Miller product, you can give them a call at 888 798 0202.
My name is Vance, and I am the owner of To Ergonomics. Our mission is to improve your workflow by helping you create a supportive and welcoming environment. We hope that you’ll find what you’re looking for while you’re here.