Hi all, so, the sofa and chair belonged to my parents. I grew up sitting in them. Scratchy, itchy wooly. A) I don't know who made them and won't be torn up if they aren't great. B) they need to be reupholstered and C) worst of all, I guess when my brother used them in his house, they unscrewed all the legs. When they put them back together, they used the wrong legs in the wrong places but I didn't realize that. When I got them back, I sent the sofa to have the bracket repaired. What came back, was all four legs on the sofa glued (!!!!). THEN, realized that the legs were all wrong. If you sit on the sofa, you're sliding down to the floor. And the chair - it's lower than a toilet seat! I don't even know where to begin to repair them. I guess the higher legs should be at the front? Lower at the back? I don't know what to do, so any feedback would be appreciated.
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Probably higher front and...
Probably higher front and lower back is correct.
I am disgusted that the legs were glued on. Disgusted.
It might not be easy to undo this. Are the threaded inserts the usual kind that screw in? The glue joint at the top of the leg will probably not be very strong. But if they put glue inside the threaded insert, that might well never come apart, and you would have to replace the hardware.
Perhaps wrapping the leg in a wash cloth, and then using a monkey wrench will give you enough torque to remove the leg without tearing the wood...
Leif...
my sentiments exactly. Every time I look at it I feel sick. The chair is fine, in that all the legs unscrew but that doesn't help much, given two of the legs on the sofa belong on the chair (!!**###!!!) and yes, correct, metal pins that screw into metal kind of brackets. But the sofa...I just don't know. "The leg"? They glued every leg and I don't even know if they sawed off the metal threaded pins. they stapled black crappy stuff over top. Honestly, I'd just like to send it out to some kind of expert IF I can find someone trustworthy. Not to mention that I paid $300 for what happened. AND, one of the legs on the front of the sofa is on a weird angle. Looks ridiculous. Before I dig in further on trying to make them right, any thoughts on who made them and I guess, are they worth investing in - even if I have to go as far as new (heart sink) legs? thanks, Leif.
I don't have any idea who
made them, just wanted to chime in and say that you should try to get your money back on that "repair" to the legs. Take the pieces back (I know, pain the neck) and have the guy sit in them. I wonder if he put all the long legs on the sofa and the short ones on the chair? That would explain why the chair is so low and also the sensation of sliding forward on either. Someone who doesn't know much about furniture might well assume that all legs should be the same length on lounge furniture, the way they are on most dining chairs.
Sounds like the legs have hangar bolts that screw into T-nuts. Or had, anyway. I would find a reputable furniture repair person to fix this mess. There is a right way to loosen glued joints and then there are wrong ways, and you could end up damaging not just the legs but also the frame if you do it the wrong way.
Good luck!
PS- there are some wonderful, soft upholstery wools that would be great on these---totally appropriate, too. My fave is "Tonus" by Maharam/Kvadrat. So wonderful.
glue - yuk
your probably not lucky enough for them to have used an older "hide" type glue but i've had good results with a hot water and vinegar solution. try to wrap a rag around the joint and keep rewetting and working leg back and forth. takes a long time but it will work on some glues. if they have used a newer epoxy type glue i don't know of a way without damaging something.
thanks all...
I know I should call the upholster but it's partly my fault. I didn't realize and the chair was together (with two wrong legs) when they picked up the sofa. I'm going to ask around and see if I can find someone great who can help try and sort the sofa, which hopefully will free up two legs for the chair. I'm just scared they cut them off in order to glue them. I have to rip away the black stuff they stapled to the bottom of the sofa - growing up when we'd hide under the sofa, it was burlap and zig-zag kind of coils exposed. uchh. the whole things makes me feel sick. but! you guys have encouraged me to soldier on, so thanks!
I would guess that they added some
glue because the hangar bolts were a little wobbly. Maybe.
The black covering on the bottom is actually correct. The padding and springs or webbing create a bit of dust as they rub together when the piece is sat upon, and this black fabric (called cambric, though usually non-woven synthetic these days) keeps the dust contained. It also neatly finishes off the underside, especially if the upholstery fabric has ravelly edges or there is welt around the lower edge.
In other words, it isn't there to hide mistakes! Or shouldn't be, anyway.
Go ahead and tear the
cambric off and see if you can get your finger up around to the top surface of the seat from. Sometimes the hangar bolt is long enough that it sticks up past the top side of the frame. Then at least you'll know that they didn't saw it off (which i kind of doubt anyway).
eta: not your fault for not know the legs were on wrong. A decent upholsterer would have spotted that immediately.
If they did cut the threaded ...
If they did cut the threaded rod, then you will know very quickly after sitting on the sofa. It is required to transfer your weight onto the legs. No amount of glue on the butt end of the leg will hold that kind of weight at those angles.
You might also consider hack sawing around the tops of the legs in order to "cut" the glue. The hacksaw will cut very slowly through the wood, and it will be very noticeable when you hit metal. The saw also won't immediately dull since it is designed for cutting metal. Then angle the saw a bit more and continue all the way around. Finally you will be able to twist the leg and something will come unscrewed. At that point it will be fairly simple to clean/fix/replace the hanger bolt and/or threaded insert.
Done right you only lose 1/16 of an inch or so of leg, which is nothing.
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Man alive, I would demand a complete refund, that is totally unproffesional, they've damaged your goods. The trade practices law in your state would be worth reading up on and quoting when you call them.
I'd be so angry I'd take a pipe wrench and force the things off and have new ones made, that might be worth a try actually, heat gun, something thick and flexible to protect them....just a thought, sooner rather than later if you want to try it, perhaps ask the fools what glue they used.
Hey Heath
This happened over a year ago. I've just been avoiding dealing with it. Only felt it was all wrong after reading so many posts here and understanding what was wrong. Great idea to check in on what glue. So, I'm posting the photos. The first two show to connection of the legs to the sofa. The next two are from the chair so you can see how they should connect an the final two are the underside of the chair and a good look at how ridiculous the angle is where they glued the one leg (they're all glued).
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