Q: I recently purchased this amazing mid century rocker from a yard sale for a steal. Unfortunately when I got it home and sat in it one of the springs stretched under the seat supporting the cushion broke loose. When I took a look I noticed that there are metal brackets holding the springs in place, and that one of the brackets broke in half. I'm sure it was just weak with age, but I have no idea how to re-secure the spring:
I got some estimates from furniture repair places and it would work out to over 10 times what I paid for the chair just to have the spring bracket replaced because the brackets are sandwiched between the frame and the cushion and are not easily accessed.
Does anyone have any good ideas on how to secure the spring without taking the chair apart or paying someone else to do it? Also any good tips on cleaning the upholstery on this awesome chair?
Sent by Christopher
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I had this happen once and had no clue how to replace it. My chair however had a removeable bottom seat cushion so I put a board on it (important... a board! Do not attempt to repair by putting a bird on it)
Good post for the 8-way hand-tied advocates :)
I wonder if contacting an upholsterer would get you a kit like this but for chairs?
http://mercedessource.com/node/7109
I'm an upholsterer and you could actually use the board idea posted by runswithscissors. When you get in there, you may find that you have to remove the springs so the wood lays flat against the frame. It just won't be an especially comfy seat unless you re-do the cushion, too.
Another way to just (barely) get by is to use very wide rubber bands and band the remaining good springs together.
If you take it to a professional, they'll want to do it the correct way, however.
Great chair! I found a very similar one with upholstered arms on the street the other day. This is kind of a ghetto solution, but could you use a long zip tie and secure it from the end of the broken piece to the spring?
I had the exact same thing happen to my MCM lounger. I haven't yet taken it anywhere for a quote to fix it because i assumed there was a simple solution to DIY a fix. However, after about a year, I still haven't fixed it and it sits, sadly, in my basement. I'll check back to see what great solutions AT reader come up with! Thank you for posting this!!!
Every MCM upholstered piece I've bought had to have new everything. From the smushy seat to the smells, I couldn't live with them until I took them apart and re-did everything. Seriously, foam this old is *disgusting* and even if you take the seat out and do the board thing, you will probably have to get new foam because the old one will disintegrate. Messy, but necessary. Good luck.
I fixed a MCM daybed that had this problem. I bought some wire at the hardware store with a gauge thick enough to be strong but thin enough to twist. I wove wire between the broken parts and it has held up fine.
I'd recommend taking it to May Kadoodie's shop in Brooklyn.. She's great with mid-century stuff and not overpriced.
If you paid close to nothing for it, just start taking it apart and see where it takes you...you'd be surprised at how simple most of these thing come apart and come back together.
Agree with other posters, you'll probably want to replace foam while you're in there. I hate that yellow dust that comes out of things this old....
Thanks for all the awesome comments and ideas! I ended up trying the zip tie idea (i found metal ones at home depot) but it didn't work because the I couldn't get around the wood frame. I ended up figuring it out though- used some metal clips that I found in the plumbing section- not even sure what their intended purpose was...