DIY upholstered furniture repair

Even the most beautiful, reliable and high-quality upholstered furniture can break or lose its presentation. You can cope with the problems that have arisen by contacting specialists or buying new furniture designs. However, many people decide to repair and refurbish damaged products themselves. In today's article, we'll look at how to do it right.

Any repair and restoration work in relation to upholstered furniture consists of many stages. However, in all cases, the first step will be the mandatory preparation of all the required tools and materials that will be useful during the restoration procedures. It is worth getting to work armed with the following items:

• drill (it is advisable to select a tool supplemented with special drills designed for working with wood);
• chisels (it is recommended to stock up on several elements from 4 to 40 mm at once);
• a plane for the end parts of the furniture structure;
• mallet;
• clamps;
• hammer;
• nail puller;
• flat and Phillips screwdrivers;
• jigsaw (both a standard manual and a more convenient electric one will do);
• square and ruler;
• the level with which it will be possible to get the most accurate measurements;
• knife;
• a hacksaw for metal - with its help it will be possible to carry out work on wood;
• special assembly knife;
• multi-size pliers;
• special stapler for furniture with staples ranging from 20 to 30 mm;
• file;
• rasp;
• a block of wood for fixing a sheet of sandpaper;
• scissors;
• polished.

If you plan to replace the upholstery, you need to choose the right material for the waist. Several options are relevant.

• Leather. With the help of this chic material, you can give upholstered furniture a special chic and high cost. However, it has a high cost. Experts do not recommend using a material that is more than 3 mm thick - it will not be elastic.

• Artificial leather. Artificial material will cost less, and it can look just as good as natural material. Leatherette is durable, but does not like temperature extremes and can rub off over time. It is easier to work with him - he is malleable.

• Woven materials. For the constriction of upholstered furniture, people often choose not leather, but fabric. The selection of the ideal option largely depends on the wishes and tastes of users. The texture, structure, color and other external parameters of materials can be any.

The design of different upholstered furniture may also vary. This also applies to the mechanisms provided in such products. Most modern sofas, for example, are equipped with special convertible systems., thanks to which they can be used as an extra bed in the house.

Today on sale you can find many models of upholstered furniture equipped with mechanisms such as "dolphin", "pantograph", "accordion" or "click-gag". If this important component of the furniture breaks down, then it will be difficult to carry out an independent repair correctly, especially if the home craftsman does not have the proper experience.We'll have to resort to either replacing one of the broken parts, or completely replacing the entire "injured" mechanism. The immediate repair process for such systems depends on their type.

• "Book". Here, there are frequent problems with deformed rivets located along the guide bar. To repair them, you need to disassemble the furniture, fix the mechanism with clamps and drill a rivet. Then you need to insert a new part. If there are a lot of breakdowns, then you will have to completely change the bar.

• "Accordion". There are many small parts in this mechanism, so it is difficult to repair it. Most often, rollers or polyurethane wheel bases require replacement. Fasteners that install the lamella may break. The rivets must be drilled out, and in their place, suitable parts must be selected and put.

• "Click-gag". This mechanism often deforms the body in the seat area. This breaks the transformation lock. It must be replaced with a new element. Springs often break or cease to be working, rivets are subject to wear. Repair here should consist in the replacement of defective components.

• Roll-out. This mechanism often suffers from broken rollers made from low quality materials. Most often this happens with plastic parts, which quickly break. To repair the roll-out system, you will need to drill a bushing that secures the wheel. Then it is replaced with a new one. Rivets should also be replaced by drilling if they are damaged.

Frames of upholstered furniture are often damaged. If certain elements are susceptible to breakage, then it is necessary to replace the bars in the existing furniture structure. It is desirable to further strengthen them for reliability. If rotten parts appear, then they must also be replaced.

To properly repair the frame base of upholstered furniture, you will need to resort to several stages of work.

• The furniture structure must be disassembled, removing both the upholstery material and the filler.
• It is necessary to very carefully examine the condition of the furniture frame. It often breaks due to various kinds of blows. If the frame parts are cracked or broken, you should definitely prepare bars of the same size and structure, and then install them in their places.
• A cracked beam is allowed to be fixed by fixing a metal corner or screws. Fasteners should be prepared as much as possible in order to achieve the most reliable and high-quality adhesion of parts.
• Sometimes it becomes necessary to replace the plywood part of the furniture structure. Here, damage can appear due to the fact that the springs simply pushed through a thin sheet of plywood.

In the course of using upholstered furniture, the spring block often breaks down. This design consists of twisted metal parts connected at the top or bottom. The main "symptom" of a breakdown of such a part is an unpleasant creak that comes when you try to sit on the upholstered furniture.

Let's consider step by step how to properly change the spring block.

• The first step is to carefully remove the upholstery material, and with it the entire soft part. In this case, you must use a special tool - a staple remover.
• Next, it is determined what the essence of the breakdown is. If the metal parts are detached from each other, they can be secured with wire. In this case, the sharp parts are bent inward.
• If the entire spring block is out of order, there is no point in repairing and restoring it. Even if all the work is successful, after a while the springs will still begin to creak, so it is easier to buy and install a new spring block here.
• It is permissible to connect broken springs to each other using either a wire or a spring. Some craftsmen use a dowel.
• If, during the use of upholstered furniture, a creak appears only in one place, then you can resort to strengthening the gasket between the metal parts. This measure will be temporary, so do not forget about replacing the spring block.

If you use upholstered furniture for a long time, the upholstery on its surface risks getting serious damage.

Having chosen a suitable upholstery material instead of the old one, it is necessary to proceed with the restoration.

• Remove the old upholstery.
• The condition of the packing material is carefully examined. Often it is necessary to replace it too.
• It is recommended to use the removed upholstery as a pattern in order to get the most suitable details of the updated upholstery.
• Cut out fresh material. Leave a margin for the seam allowance. Sew the details.
• Replace filling if necessary.
• Attach the upholstery to the corresponding areas of the furniture structure, fix with a stapler. The brackets must be driven in, maintaining a distance of 2 cm.
• When carrying out work on the restoration of the upholstery, it is important to ensure that the material does not wrinkle, does not gather in folds.

While repairing and restoring upholstered furniture, many craftsmen face a number of common mistakes. It is better to know about them in advance.

• Inaccurate cutting. For this reason, it is recommended to cut using the old upholstery material. If you do not have it, then you need to take all the necessary measurements from the furniture structure as carefully and carefully as possible.
• Lack of processing of wood parts. If you change the wooden parts related to the frame block, they must first be thoroughly dried, and then smeared with a special antiseptic compound. Otherwise, after a while, these elements will inevitably begin to rot.
• Lack of additional mounts. All fixed elements made of wood must be reinforced with metal corners.
• The gap between the staples is too large. The upholstery must be fastened with staples every 20 mm.

If you decide to carry out the restoration of upholstered furniture at home with your own hands, you should take on board a few useful recommendations from experts.

• Before starting the restoration of upholstery of upholstered furniture, you should decide in what style it will be performed. The choice of suitable materials will depend on this.
• When restoring any piece of upholstered furniture, there is no need to rush. It is important to act consistently and carefully so as not to further damage the furniture structure.
• It is recommended to buy fasteners with a margin, so that during the repair you do not encounter a shortage of them.
• Dismantling of upholstered furniture covers can be done with pliers. With their help, it is necessary to pull out the fastening brackets as carefully and carefully as possible. At the same time, sharp movements cannot be done. Otherwise, the upholstery may be damaged.
• Wooden parts of upholstered furniture should be sanded using sandpaper. Next, you can resort to cleaning the material with a wet cloth. The damp cloth will absorb the available small particles, due to which the varnish or paint will lay as evenly as possible and hold out on the wooden structure much longer.
• If you are afraid to spoil the upholstered furniture or aggravate the current situation with incorrect actions, you do not need to risk it - entrust the repair of the structure or upholstery to specialists. Of course, this is an extra expense, but usually a new sofa or chair is much more expensive, especially if it is made of good materials.

How to make upholstered furniture upholstered, see below.