Six Chairs Get New Seat

Chair After

Chair Before

This was one of a set of six oak chairs. The chairs were a bit wobbly, but overall in good condition. At one time these chairs had caned seats, but the caning was long gone and replaced with a thin board and covered with vinyl. That was also a long time ago and the vinyl then needed to be replaced. In addition to replacing the seat, we tightened up the loose joints and gave each chair a good cleaning. The customer chose a dark brown vinyl, which was much like the old covering. She’d wanted to keep the same look.

Sometimes jobs are tough and other times they’re fairly simple. This was was a combination of both. The tightening of loose joints can be time consuming because in addition to gluing up the joints, the correct way to repair them is to glue and clamp them, usually overnight. It’s essential to use the right glue (you’d be surprised how many chairs we get with the wrong glue!) Wood glue is preferred, but you can use other glue, as long as it can be used for wood in addition to other surfaces.

This is called a “ladder back” chair. It has curvy horizontal back support with simple spindles on the bottom four sides. These chairs are one of many styles we have worked on over the years. We try to keep each chair as original as possible, when it’s what the customer wants.