DIY Network

Upholstery Repair: How to Reupholster a Chair From "Weekend Handyman" episode WKH-105

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In this week's episode of Weekend Handyman, host Paul Ryan demonstrates how to reupholster an old wobbly wooden dining chair (seen here) and turn it into ... a brand new, stable and reupholstered chair (seen here). Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D Figure E Figure F Figure G Figure H

Note: Click here for a materials list and complete instructions without images.

Time: 14 hours over 2 days.

Difficulty Rating: It's rated a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Materials for Complete Project:

Dowel pins in a variety of sizes
Carpenter's glue
Stain stick to match the finish of the chair
Rubber mallet
Bar clamps
Strap clamps
Medium sandpaper
Wood scraper
Good set of chisels
Workbench
Medium grit sandpaper
Drill
Coping saw
Rags
High quality upholstery fabric
Plywood for the new seat
Upholstery grade foam rubber for cushion
Cotton or bonded dacron wadding to cover foam
Dust cover cloth for bottom chair pad
Polyproplylene webbing
Staple puller (upholsterer's staple remover)
Webbing stretcher
Tack hammer
Slip joint pliers
Staple gun
Spray adhesive
Curved upholstery needle
Heavy-duty nylon thread
Scissors
Button replacement tool
Heavy nylon twine


Reuphoster Seat Pad

1. Gather upholstery tools and materials.

2. Take fabric off chair by pulling out staples with a staple puller (upholsterer's staple remover -- figure A). Be sure to remove all staples and tacks.

   Tip: Never place new fabric over the old material. If you do, when you go to clean the new fabric, the stains from the old cover could come through.

3. Take old webbing (figure B) and padding off the chair.

4. Put on new polypropylene webbing in a basket-weave pattern by doing the following:
   • Start in middle, fold over end and staple in place (figure C).

   • Use a bar clamp to hold work down.

   • Gently rock webbing stretcher (figure D) until webbing is tight.

   • Staple the end into place.

   • Cut webbing leaving an extra inch to fold over and staple down.

   • Repeat process for other strips from front to back.

   • To add horizontal webbing, repeat above steps and weave strapping under and over, alternate weave (figure E) in remaining strips.

5. Lay pad onto oversized 1" high foam (available at most fabric stores).

6. Trace outline of pad on foam and leave 1/4" all way around.

7. Put foam on top of webbing with spray adhesive.

8. Lay 1/2" thick bonded dacron on top of foam.

9. Trim dacron 1/4" bigger than pad (figure F). Note: The dacron will give the seat a nice crown affect.

10. Cut the upholstery fabric. For four chairs it will take approximately one yard of fabric and 1-1/2 yards of fabric for six chairs. Be sure to leave at least an excess of three inches of fabric all the way around the chair seat.

11. To attach fabric do the following:
    • Find center front width of pad and back, and mark. Do the same on the back and make a center mark.

    • Find the center of the fabric.

    • Fold fabric along center line and cut small notch (figure G) for both front and back.

    • Starting from the back, fold the fabric over and line up the notch with the center mark.

    • When fabric is straight, start attaching staples, leaving the corners alone.

    • Repeat above step to attach the front and then the sides. Use your spare non-stapling hand to smooth and straighten the fabric as you're stapling.

      Tip: Don't stretch the fabric so tight that the lines (if you're using striped fabric) are distorted.

    • Trim extra fabric away.

    • At the corners, fold fabric over and pull down and away and staple in place (figure H).

    • Rotate the seat pad and repeat the process for each corner.

12. Staple on dust cover material to hide staples and ends of fabric.

GUESTS :

David Ross
Upholsterer
David's Upholstery 3 Bridgeview Dr.
Superior, WI 54880
Phone: 715-392-9475
E-mail: tackhammer52@yahoo.com

Robert H. Ross
Upholsterer
David's Upholstery (see contact info, above)

John Sewell
Furniture Expert
David's Upholstery (see contact info, above)