Furniture Refinishing in West Hartford CT: Re-upholstery and Chairs

Furniture refinishing in West Hartford, Connecticut can save some of the furnishings in your home that would otherwise have to be replaced. For example, chairs with cane seats that have been damaged are useless without a skilled re-upholstery specialist that has the knowledge and skill set to weave a new seat. And even upholstered chairs that have saggy, broken down cushions become uncomfortable, unsightly and hard to justify keeping in your home. However, any of these problems can be fixed by a specialty restoration company that has the experience and knowledge to be able to make the necessary repairs and restore your piece. Here are some tidbits of information about the different types of seats and what can be done to repair them…read on!

Traditional Caning

Thin, but sturdy strips of veneer-like wood are woven together for a traditional caned chair. These types of seats are durable, but not indestructible and, after time, may need some repair work to continue using the chair. With this particular type of seat, once even a small section gets damaged, the integrity of the entire chair weakens and will, at times, rip entirely away from the frame. A furniture repair specialist that is well acquainted with cane weaving techniques will be able to completely restore this type of seat so that it is as good as new when it comes back to you from the re-upholstery company.

Other Woven Seats

Besides the traditional, honeycomb style of most caned chair seats, three other weaving patterns are common. Rush, Shaker and Danish Cord are all styles of woven seats that are found in older chairs. Over time, cords and wood can become worn, loosening the points of contact with the frame and causing damage. Discolorations are also common since all of the materials used for these woven seats are very porous and cannot be effectively sealed with a stain resistant coating. For any of these problems, calling around to the local re-upholstery shops and asking about furniture refinishing services for woven chairs is your best choice. And before you make any commitment to bring in your piece, be sure to ask if the restoration specialists on hand are able to weave the particular pattern of your chair.

Complete Re-upholstery

When you have a chair with an upholstered foam pad for a seat and it begins to droop, the reason is that the cushion inside the material has been too compressed from years of usage. Restorative processes for this type of chair is to carefully remove the upholstery fabric to replace the foam insert. A furniture refinishing specialist can match up the cushion exactly and reuse the original fabric if it isn’t damaged. And if the fabric is too soiled, ripped or otherwise damaged, complete re-upholstery with special pattern matching techniques will restore your chair to better than new.

For more information about furniture refinishing in West Hartford CT and re-upholstery of damaged chairs, call 860-232-2277 or click on the provided link. 

Furniture Refinishing in West Hartford CT: DIY vs. Professional Re-upholstery Services

Furniture refinishing in West Hartford, Connecticut is a great way to revitalize some great pieces throughout your home and save antiques for future generations. With the new surge of interest in DIY projects fueled by popular web applications such as Pinterest, many homeowners are evaluating whether or not they want to take on their refurbishing project on their own. There are some great ideas and sets of instructions widely available today; however, the undertaking might not be as simple as it looks in pictures pinned on your favorite boards. Here are a few things to think about before tearing apart an old sofa or recliner and following step by step instructions from online resources…read on!

The Time Factor

One of the main factors that is usually omitted from these popular DIY tutorials is how much time you will have to invest in your project. This is done for many reasons. The most obvious is that a person’s skill level with manipulating fabrics, sewing, wood crafting and other furniture refinishing techniques has a great deal to do with how long a project will take overall. And even the ones that do have time estimates cannot account for your particular level of experience, so the time investment given is typically inaccurate. Unfortunately, many potential DIYers get started on such a project only to find that they do not have the appropriate amount of time to invest to complete such a large undertaking as re-upholstery and will get frustrated or abandon the project midway through. This ruins antiques and actually makes completing the project more difficult for a professional if they are sought afterwards to finish the job.

Tools

Many of the tools used for furniture refinishing are normal household items; however, with re-upholstery in particular, specific tools are necessary to complete the job correctly. Most of these tools are not readily available to a DIYer and the investment in these pieces makes doing the project yourself cost prohibitive. While you may think you will be saving money to recover a chair or sofa yourself, you may end up with more of an investment between time and the cost of the tools than you had anticipated, making the project a negative prospect for you. Seeking the services of a professional can eliminate this problem.

Retaining Value

Another main thing to consider is whether or not the antique you are looking to refurbish has a current value (which most do in today’s market) and making sure that your project will add to or retain the current value. A professional furniture restoration service can ensure that your piece has the same or better resale value once the re-upholstery job is complete. The DIY projects cannot guarantee that your piece will retain its value. Additionally, if you have paperwork from a professional restoration company to show, this can add to the value should you try to sell the piece down the road.

For more information about furniture refinishing in West Hartford CT and the ins and outs of DIY re-upholstery, call 860-232-2277 or click on the provided link.