While cleaning your dacha/house, you found your favorite wooden chair. Of course it’s sad that it’s old and all cracked, but its condition is still excellent. You don’t want to throw it away (and there are a lot of memories associated with it), so you decide to repair it and use it again. How will it look like?
Option number 1 . A trip to a carpenter's shop to make repairs (not necessarily a good one).
Option number 2 . The most common one is “I want it reliably and for a long time, so I’ll do it myself.” Yes, repairing old furniture with your own hands is the most successful in terms of saving costs on restoration and the opportunity to feel like a Master (that’s right, with a capital “M”). Without much praise, we suggest moving on to the restoration repair of a wooden chair with your own hands.
What you need to know
It is important to understand that restoration does not simply mean decoration, that is, repainting a chair or covering it with a layer of varnish. Here you will need to disassemble the structure, replace worn elements, change the upholstery, etc.
There are several main options for recovery or restoration.
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- Complete restoration. Relevant for a chair or stool that has cracks on the legs or back, the upholstery is worn out, the fastenings are loose, the seat has almost collapsed. Here you have to do some pretty difficult work;
- Restoration of appearance. If there is no mechanical damage, the chair is strong, but outwardly it does not look very good, then work is carried out to restore the appearance of the structure. Usually complete disassembly is not necessary;
- Replacement of upholstery. The simplest option, where you just need to replace the upholstery. We have already talked about reupholstering chairs.
Start from what you see in front of you.
Assess to what extent the condition of the old rickety chair allows for its restoration. After all, sometimes they are so worn out that literally everything needs to be replaced. It's easier to just buy a new chair.
Rare models may have a base with springs and even a soft layer of sea grass. It's difficult to find similar springs. Therefore, it is often recommended to replace them with ordinary foam rubber.
I also want to give some tips regarding wood restoration depending on the damage.
- If these are shallow and small scratches, you can use an iodine solution purchased at a pharmacy;
- For small cracks, putty is suitable. Moreover, you can use carpentry and automotive putty;
- For deep scratches, mastic and shoe polish help. Moreover, you can make mastic yourself.
To prepare mastic, beeswax is heated and mixed with turpentine. The proportions used are 4 to 3.
Having completed the main stage of restoration, you can add decor to your personal discretion. That is, here the previous appearance of the old chair is completely returned, or a completely new image is created. You decide.
Tools and materials
After reviewing the photos and videos of the restoration, many will want to do something similar with their furniture.
I can't say it's difficult. But a lot depends on the specific situation.
Restoration is unlikely to be possible without the following materials and tools:
[adv1]
- furniture stapler;
- furniture foam rubber;
- paints and varnishes;
- brushes of different hardness;
- 4-ply plywood for seat replacement;
- furniture glue;
- metal clamps;
- markers;
- ruler and tape measure;
- pencils, etc.
Regarding what glue to use. In principle, any glue that is labeled as furniture glue will do.
A striking example of a high-quality composition that really connects wooden parts well and is often used in furniture production and restoration is carpentry.
Of course, you will need additional materials and tools. The same consumables for reupholstering seats, ordinary nails, etc.
Given my own restoration experience, I would definitely recommend preparing:
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- grinding machine;
- sandpaper;
- hammer;
- mallet;
- jigsaw;
- screwdriver;
- drill;
- metal corners;
- screws;
- wood screws.
If you want to transform old chairs in a new way, get ready to devote about 4-5 days to this task. Most of the time you will need to wait until the wood and paints and varnishes dry.
Try to act consistently and not rush.
How to make a chair
Perhaps the easiest way , if you have a chainsaw and an angle grinder, is to make it using ordinary acacia hemp or other wood with a beautiful texture. It is done as follows. A stump of suitable size is cut, the diameter of which will range from 25 to 30 cm. You select the height yourself, focusing on the one that will be comfortable for you. The height can be determined by measuring some home stool. After this, a cut is made with a chainsaw in the form of a cross, with a depth of approximately half the stump.
Then, with an ax, a small depression is made in the middle of the stump and a small amount of flammable material - gasoline or diesel fuel - is poured into it. During the combustion process, the inside of the stool will burn out; it is important to monitor this process and prevent the legs from becoming thin. The thickness of the legs should be at least five centimeters at the base and it expands towards the seat. All burnt wood is scraped off with an ax or knife and sanded using a grinder. A special attachment in the form of a brush with coarse bristles is put on it.
After cleaning the inner surface, using a grinder and a grinding disc, the edges of the legs and the seat are processed around the entire circumference . Then it is painted diluted to the desired shade and, after drying, with varnish.
Stool
To make a simple stool you need very little time and a minimal set of tools. Of these you will need:
- board with a cross section of 20 millimeters;
- screwdriver or Phillips screwdriver;
- semicircular router or coarse sandpaper;
- electric jigsaw;
- pencil;
- self-tapping screws;
- set of drills;
- varnish and brush;
- Sander.
The diagram below shows with a dotted line the shape of the leg, which you need to cut out in the amount of four pieces, as well as the required dimensions for the board. The form may be different, it is shown here as an example.
Preparation and dismantling
There are several main stages into which the restoration process is divided.
Most often, chairs with a back and a soft base are restored, at which people sit in the kitchen and living room.
Working with such an old chair involves several main stages of restoration:
[adv2]
- first you need to remove all dirt and dust, get rid of greasy stains;
- the chair can be cleaned using detergent, brushes and sponges;
- try to carry out wet cleaning quickly, since wood does not like water;
- While the chair is drying, remove the seat and back;
- after drying, try to loosen the structure;
- separate the structural parts;
- if you cannot disassemble it by hand, use tools;
- to soften the old glue, apply a wet rag soaked in hot water to the joint;
- unscrew the screws, corners, unscrew the screws and pull out the nails.
After separating the parts, mark them with numbers so you know how to reassemble them in reverse order.
Visually inspect each part, check for cracks and other serious defects. Depending on the damage, use the appropriate methods to eliminate it.
Restoration process: step-by-step instructions
Stages of work. To update old chairs and stools, you need to follow these steps: – wash the furniture, dry it, degrease it with a solvent (for example, White Spirit); – carefully disassemble the object (if possible) into parts using a screwdriver or screwdriver; – remove the previous paintwork by scraping; – clean the wooden surface, fill the recesses, cracks, and prime; – wipe with a cloth after drying, you can cover it with stain; – paint (varnish) the elements; – sand after drying; – if necessary, re-coat the paint; – wait until completely dry, assemble the furniture. Before staining, you need to check the condition of the stool. If it has been idle for a long time or has been heavily used, it may need repairs. For example, tighten screws, glue elements, replace fasteners.
- Preparation. Preparatory work consists of cleaning the area of the upcoming finishing from dust, dirt, as well as providing access to the smallest details of the restored piece of furniture. In order to paint chairs efficiently at home, the scraping (scraping) method is used to remove the worn-out coating. Only a metal tool is suitable for this. You can make it yourself, for example, from a hacksaw blade or a circular saw blade. When scraping, it is important to ensure that no old varnish remains on the wood. To make it easier to remove the layer, you can use paint removers and solvents (acetone). It is best to work while wearing safety glasses and a respirator.
Important ! Make sure that the solvent (removal) does not get on other parts. These chemically active materials contain substances that have a detrimental effect on plastic.
After scraping off the old layer, some unevenness and roughness will still remain on the chair. They need to be removed using regular fine- and medium-grit sandpaper. This is a difficult task, but it can be simplified. An oscillating sander is useful for this. You cannot immediately paint a stool or chair if it shows deep scratches or dents. They need to be sealed with a putty of a suitable color. Then the treated areas should be cleaned with fine-grained sandpaper. The use of gloves, masks and goggles is recommended.
Attention! If the cracks are too large, there is no need to putty them. The furniture needs to be repaired. Otherwise, the putty will fall out of the crevice during use, and again you will have to think about how to paint the wooden chair.
After this, it is recommended to walk with a damp cloth over the surfaces that will be painted. During the preparatory work, dust may have accumulated on them. Next, the treated area should be primed in 2 layers for better adhesion to the paintwork. Experienced restorers advise applying a strengthening wax balm to the primer mixture at this stage of work. If the restoration object is subsequently varnished, it must be covered with stain (tinted). To highlight the structure of the wood, it is good to use wenge or mocha colors. You need to apply the selected composition with a brush or sponge, carefully distributing it over the surface. After drying, you can already think about how to paint the old chairs.
Surface preparation
- Coloring. The process of applying paint and varnish is also carried out after the preparatory work. To do this you need: - choose a suitable place for painting; - lay unnecessary fabric or old newspapers on the floor; - curtain nearby furniture and walls with film; – cover decorative elements on the chair (if any) with masking tape. Then you need to: – stir the paint, prepare a brush (roller); – apply a thin layer of paint and varnish material to everything, including hard-to-reach surfaces; – leave the stool until completely dry; – sand the first layer using fine-grained sandpaper, wipe the parts with a damp cloth; – paint the chair white or another color and let it dry completely; – to give a glossy shine, you can apply a double layer of colorless varnish. This measure will extend the service life of the product. After this, the room is cleaned and the updated piece of furniture is installed (if it was disassembled).
Stool coloring
