Want to recover a chair

[MrsPete]

I own the world's most comfortable recliner, but the fabric is well beyond worn-out! I want to have it recovered, but I'm having trouble finding someone to do the work. Is this something that's not done anymore?

Assuming I can find someone to recover my chair, how much should I expect to pay? Anything I ought to know?

Thanks!

 

[TaraPA]

Expect to pay a lot more than you think! I have 2 older formal wingback chairs - one mauve & one mustard (blech) - and well worn. They are not antiques & do not need any work on the actual wood or hardware. I assumed I could get them redone with new fabric (not even new padding) for maybe $75 each, that was my budget. HA! The chepaest I found was $225 per chair, one place even wanted $1100 for both. The last place said $700 for both. They are now permanent fixtures in the basement amongst the "leftover" furniture! I'm tempted to go to JoAnn fabric & get a book on how to do it myself!

 

[tar heel]

I've always assumed you live near me since you've posted about the tourist attraction mall and Carowinds. If you don't, ignore this advice . . .

Call Ralph's Upholstery in Kannapolis and get an appointment. He does great work at reasonable prices, and will pick up and deliver if you need him to. Expect it to be a couple of months before it's your turn. He's done a sofa and three chairs for me, and I'm planning to have the sofa done again this fall.

Then go at opening to the All Saints Old Country Faire later this month. You should be able to find fabric you can live with for $2-$4 a yard! This event only happens in odd years, so you have to get it while you can.

 

[JanB]

Labor pricing for custom work such as upholstery, slipcovers, and window treatments can vary greatly regionally. And, even within a region, it can vary a lot from town to town.

That being said --- In my area (metro Atlanta) -- labor to reupholster a wing-back chair would probably be in the $350 to $500 range. There will be some to do it for less -- some will charge more. The prices that TaraPA mentions sound about right. I would guess that the labor for a recliner would be in the same ballpark.

Of course, then, you will need to purchase fabric. Some upholsterers will sell you the fabric, some don't sell fabric, some might discount the labor if you buy fabric from them. I highly recommend that you settle on who's going to do this for you before you purchase your fabric -- unless you're willing to purchase WAY more fabric than you know that you'll need. You do not want to risk purchasing fabric, and then the upholsterer tells you that you need more yardage than what you have.

If you continue to find that people don't want the job, just ask them if there's a reason why people don't want to do a recliner. If I had to guess -- I'd say that possibly they consider it risky to dismantle the mechanism in order to reupholster properly. I do not know for a fact that it needs to be dismantled. But if it does -- and the job is typically going to be on an older chair -- then they may not be able to guarantee that it will operate well after it is re-assembled. If that happens -- then the customer won't be happy -- but the upholsterer will still need to be paid.

I'm not an upholsterer -- I have a custom drapery workroom. Drapery workrooms have many business practices that are similar to upholstery workrooms. Sometimes you run across jobs that aren't worth the risk to take on.

 

[JanB]

Here's some insight into how upholsterers answer the question about whether to re-upholster a recliner. This is a 2004 thread from a discussion board:


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To upholster or NOT!!! I'm a drapery gal, but I have a recliner that needs to be reupholstered. It has those puffy attached arms, back and seat cushions that I'm sure you all just love, but the thing is so comfortable. It's a Sealy so it's pretty good furniture and it is structurally still in such good shape. The question is...in ya'lls professional opinion, should I have it reupholstered OR should we just buy a new recliner? It is currently leather, but we didn't want to spend the money to have the sides and back in leather when we bought it. The vinyl is tearing where it is stitched to the leather which is the reason it looks so tacky. Thanks for the advice.

My first question would be how does the mechanism work?
Most recliners are cheaply made but I've seen some that are definitly worth reupholstering. If the mechanism works good, yes it sounds like worth redoing. Older ones are certainly worth more than the newer ones from my experiences.

Next question would be, are you going to do it yourself or are you going to hire somebody to do it?
There are upholsterers and there are those who call themselves upholsterers. In my opinion, if you're not going to do it yourself, find a quality upholsterer, somebody who's trustworthy and does good work, quality costs, it may cost you what you paid for it or more, but you'll have something better in the end (maybe even leather back and sides).


But in answer to your question, new or recover? Labor in the $500.00 range and 165-180 sq. ft. of leather or nine to ten yards of fabric needed.* You do the math.
Have all seams (if using leather) top stitched and specify HR seat foam.
Not too many factories will be able to match that quality and the workmanship of a good custom upholsterer.

When people call me about recliners, my line is Lazyboy is probably having a sale. One of the big things with reupholstering recliners are to be very careful not to torc the workings. If they get bent or off kilter, they never work the same. The other thing is to be very careful of hand placement when working on them. One of my employees caught her hand in the workings and it was scarey getting it out. She ended up with a nice bruise.

the best way to discribe reupholstering a recliner is a giant puzzle.

If it's a scissor mechanism, my rule is to not reupholster. Too many things can get wacky. (Especially on the big boy recliner like you describe.) Lazy Boy is almost always worth recovering, and won't slap you with any mechanical surprises or glitches. I just looked at one the other day that was a Flexsteel, but it was a dainty model, like a petite wingback, those usually go ok.

Which confirms my suspicion that it's probably the whole mechanism thing that makes them turn the job down. But if you're willing to pay -- and possibly if you're willing to accept the fact that the mechanism might not be the same after re-upholstering -- then they might take the job.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

OP do you have the inclination to do it yourself? We were "blessed" with all of the family castoff furniture so I bought a book and taught myself how to upholster!

I've done two recliners and they are definitely more difficult than any other chair.

 

[Mickey527]

I had a love seat many years ago that I loved. (no pun intended)
It desperately needed to be re covered but I couldn't afford to pay someone. So I looked at all the towns in the area and took an adult ed course on reapholstery. I took the course in Hamden, about 45 minutes away. I went to a fabric outlet and bought a great fabric and did it myself. I even learned how to cover the cushions and make those covered rope edges. I had to bring the loveseat to the school and I left it there the entire 8 weeks. But I had the teacher with me all the time and never had to worry about making a mistake by trying to do it on my own.
I don't have that loveseat anymore, the hubby got it in the divorce, but I think if I ever had to I could cover another piece of furniture without the teacher looking over my shoulder.
Look into adult ed, you might find the right class.
Since then I have taken two stained glass classes and numerous other arts and crafts courses for the cost of supplies and between $35 and $75 per class.

 

[beautifulquickly]

Nowadays, many recliner manufactures are developing different types of recliner like Two Position Recliner, Rocker / Glider, Push Back recliner, Power Lift /Riser Recliner, and many more. You can order recliners easily online without leaving the comfort of their homes.