The basic rules for the repair of upholstered furniture at home
High-quality upholstered furniture has a high cost, such items require a substantial investment of money. Therefore, it is optimal for many people to be able to repair old structures. Instead of broken mechanisms, workers are acquired, the upholstery is replaced with a new one. You can also use different techniques to update any piece of furniture. Repair of upholstered furniture can be done with your own hands, if you carefully understand the process and its features.
Content
Necessary facilities and tools
For the repair of upholstered furniture, certain tools and materials should be prepared. Elements are standardly required:
- Drill equipped with special drills designed for working with wood;
- Chisels, and it is desirable to prepare several elements from 4 to 40 mm;
- Planer for furniture ends;
- Mallet;
- Clamps;
- Hammer;
- Nail clipper;
- Screwdrivers flat and cross;
- Jigsaw, moreover, it can be manual or electric;
- A ruler and a square, as well as a level that allows you to make perfectly accurate measurements;
- Knife;
- Hacksaw for metal, allowing manual cutting of wood;
- Mounting knife;
- Pliers of different sizes;
- Furniture stapler equipped with brackets, the size of which should vary from 20 to 30 mm;
- File;
- Rasp;
- Wooden block for attaching sandpaper;
- Scissors;
- It was a racket.
The number of tools can be different, it depends on what defects are upholstered furniture, as well as what work is planned to be carried out.
Upholstery restoration
Most often, repair involves replacing the upholstery, which, due to the long service life, loses its attractiveness. In this case, you can choose materials for repair that will be identical to the existing upholstery, as well as any other fabrics or leather. Restoring upholstery of upholstered furniture usually involves its constriction. Before starting work, you should decide which upholstery will be used. To do this, fit:
- Genuine leather, which allows you to get really attractive furniture that looks prestigious and expensive. However, it is not recommended to purchase thick skin whose thickness exceeds 3 mm, since it will not be sufficiently elastic;
- Imitation leather with low cost, interesting appearance, ease of use and long life;
- Textiles, and you can choose different special upholstery fabrics that differ in structure, density, appearance and other parameters.
A photo of the result of the repair of upholstered furniture, which consists in hauling, can be seen below. The attractiveness of the interior item depends on the choice of upholstery. If leather furniture is being repaired, leather is also selected for upholstery. The process of restoration of the upholstery, involving the replacement of the upholstery material, is divided into successive stages:
- The old upholstery is dismantled;
- The condition of the packing material is checked. Often there is a need to replace it, since it can lose its elasticity;
- It is advisable to use the removed upholstery as a pattern, which will make it possible to obtain ideally suitable elements for the new lining;
- Cut new material. It is advisable to give more stock for stock;
- If necessary, the stuffing material is replaced;
- The upholstery is applied to the sections of the structure, after which it is fixed with a stapler, the brackets are driven in with a distance of 2 cm;
- During operation, it is important to ensure that the upholstery does not wrinkle or shift.
A DIY repair workshop for upholstered furniture is considered quite simple, so with the proper approach to this issue, there will be no difficulties and you will get a high-quality result. In addition to hauling, related work can be performed.
| Design part | Repair Specifics |
| Filling the sofa | This part is represented by a material located between the frame and the upholstery. The durability of the sofa, as well as its convenience, depends on its type and quality. Usually this part is replaced with the upholstery. |
| Feet and armrests | They are auxiliary elements that provide comfortable sitting on upholstered furniture. Can be created from different materials. The armrests have a large load throughout the entire life of the unit, so their restoration is periodically required. If the legs break, then their complete replacement is necessary. |
| Spring unit | Modern springs in sofas and armchairs are connected to each other with a special spiral. If there are not too many damaged elements, then the spiral fastening opens from one edge, and on the other hand it is twisted out like a regular screw. On both sides, the spiral is pulled out and a new element is bought, after which it is twisted to the right place. If a lot of such damage is detected, then the purchase of a new unit is considered more relevant. |
Before direct work, the cause of the breakdown is determined so that in the future there will not be the same problems with new parts.
Mechanism repair
Upholstered furniture may vary in design, so the number of mechanisms in it may vary. Most sofas and armchairs are equipped with special transformation mechanisms, due to which they can be used as a berth. Failure of various parts requires appropriate repair of upholstered furniture.
The frame acts as the main supporting pillar of all furniture. It is usually made of wood or chipboard, but there are elements of metal or combining several materials. The durability of the entire product depends on their quality.
If some parts break, then it is necessary to replace the bars in upholstered furniture, and their reinforcement may also be required. If rotting elements appear, they are also replaced. New bars are well reliably fixed with high-quality fasteners. Most often you have to deal with the repair of the frame. To do this, you need to disassemble the design, and then determine the degree and cause of damage to the elements.
Most types of sofas and armchairs are equipped with special transformation mechanisms. They allow you to use the design as a place to sleep. The sofa can be equipped with a "dolphin", "click-gag", "book", "pantograph", "accordion" or other system. If this element breaks, then it will be difficult to repair the furniture with your own hands, since you will have to change either the entire system or its significant parts. The process of repairing upholstered furniture at home depends on the existing transformation mechanism.
| Transformation mechanism | Repair Specifics |
| Book | Typically, the breakdown is associated with the deformation of the rivet located on the guide bar. For repair, the sofa is disassembled, the mechanism is fixed with clamps and a rivet is drilled. Next, a new element is inserted. If there is a lot of damage, then the entire bar is fixed, fixed with a bolt and nut. |
| Accordion | It contains a large number of small elements, so repairs are considered difficult. It is usually necessary to replace the casters or the wheel base of polyurethane. The lamella fixing brackets also break. Rivets are drilled, and in their place the elements necessary for the sizes are selected. |
| Click gag | Problems are often associated with the deformation of the body in the seats, which leads to breakage of the transformation lock. It is replaced by a new element. The spring also often breaks or bursts and rivets wear out. Repair consists in replacing damaged parts. |
| Roll-out | Rollers created from not very high-quality materials are considered problematic. This is especially true for plastic products, which, due to significant exposure, quickly become unusable. For repair, it is required to drill a wheel retaining sleeve, after which it is replaced by a new element. Also, rivets change when they fail. |
Often during the repair process, it is found that the reinforcement has retained its reliability, so for repairs it is only necessary to develop the components of the mechanism or replace the spring. Often the spring is significantly stretched, so it should be shortened. If a breakdown of the transformation mechanism is detected, which can burst or deform due to frequent use or excessive load, you will have to purchase the necessary spare parts, which replace the broken elements.
If during the study of the design it is discovered that there are broken parts or cracks, then they must be dismantled. Next, you need to measure their dimensions, and it is also desirable to draw a diagram. After that, the necessary parts are cut in the carpentry workshop. A new part is attached or glued to the desired area of the frame.
How to update
Warranty conditions for servicing upholstered furniture are indicated in the accompanying documentation for any model. They are determined directly by the manufacturer, therefore, to increase the service life of the product, it is desirable to follow them exactly. For this, the furniture is used in optimal conditions. It is not allowed to influence significant loads and other factors.
Even under proper operating conditions, it is likely that the structure will quickly lose attractiveness. In addition, after repairs in the apartment, it may simply not fit into the new interior. In such a situation, each owner of a dwelling can independently upgrade upholstered furniture. For this, various methods of decorating a sofa or chair can be used.
The most commonly used methods for updating furniture are:
- Sewing covers – if there is no opportunity and desire to replace the upholstery, then to change the style in which the interior is made, you can use unique covers. They can be created from different fabrics, in different colors and styles, thanks to which it is possible to instantly change the appearance of any product. Covers can be strict and monophonic. Some are equipped with numerous ruffles, assemblies or other decorative elements. The advantages of covers include high practicality, since when dirt appears, they are easily removed and washed. Covers can be sewn with your own hands, for which the optimum material is acquired, the style is selected, measurements are taken. Covers are convenient, which are fixed with an elastic band on the sofa;
- Create applique – it should ideally fit the furnishings and go well with its upholstery.Using it hides any flaws in the furniture. The furniture looks updated and very stylish. Applications are usually sewn directly on the upholstery, but they can also be glued to it;
- Replacing Upholstery Fragments – This type of restoration is considered the most relevant. The furniture design remains unchanged, but its appearance is completely changing. The old upholstery is removed, worn out fragments are cut out, and new ones are stitched in their place. You can choose different types of fabrics or leather to decorate the lining, although working with it is quite difficult.
Before restoration work, you should decide in which style you need to make furniture. It depends on what materials should be used to correspond to current trends - classic style, modern, high-tech or minimalism.
If hard-to-clean impurities are found on the upholstery, and there is no urgent need to replace it, then it is advisable to return the furniture for dry cleaning.
Common mistakes
During the repair of upholstered furniture with your own hands, you must be extremely careful with all the structural elements. Inaccurate actions will cause a violation of the integrity of the products, as a result of which they will cease to be suitable for further use. The most common errors are:
- Inaccuracies in cutting fabric. During the hauling, you need to use the old upholstery fabric, on which the patterns are formed, otherwise you can cut out inappropriate parts of the upholstery and spoil a piece of material;
- Lack of protection against destruction. If the structural elements are replaced by wooden parts, then they are pre-treated with antiseptics that protect them from rotting or damage by insects and water;
- Neglect of durability. New wooden bars are surely firmly fixed and reinforced with metal plates. Serious loads will affect them and they should cope with them without any problems;
- A big step between the brackets. During the hauling, a new upholstery must be fastened with the help of a stapler, and the brackets are located at the same distance from each other, approximately every 2 cm;
- Selection of parts. The transformation mechanism is considered the most difficult to repair, so if you need to replace any of its parts, it is advisable to remove them first, and then find identical elements in the sample.
Thus, home repair of upholstered furniture can be carried out by everyone. This process can consist in performing various actions, which depend on what kind of breakdown you have to deal with. During this process, the main recommendations are taken into account to avoid numerous serious errors. Extending the life of your favorite furniture is easy with just a little effort.
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