We've all had those moments -- you see a piece of furniture on the curb or at a second-hand store that looks like it could be a good find, but you can’t tell for sure if its worth saving and rehabilitating. Maybe you make the decision to leave it behind while the not-knowing haunts you; or on the other hand, you decide to take it only to regret your decision when you realize its cheaply made and unsalvageable. Follow along with our “How to Find a Good Piece in the Wild” series and don’t let this happen to you again.
Part 3: Gut Check
Starting to tie coil springs which are attached to the webbing.
If a chair’s frame is the bones of a piece, the springs and padding that give the chair its hold and shape might be considered its guts. Chances are if your chair has good bones, it probably has good guts too. When you find a piece you like, have a seat and see how it feels. Do you sink into the floor, or is the seat firm and slightly springy? Do you feel lumps in the padding, or what might be a spring sticking up, or is the seat uniform? If the piece has a padded back, does it seem to be sagging or uneven? Knowing the components that make up the guts of a chair will help you spot potential issues with your find and give you clues as to the quality of the piece and what it might cost to rehabilitate it.
Webbing & Springs
Chair with a broken piece of webbing.
Webbing are the bands of material that stretch across the bottom of the frame and form the scaffolding on which a padded seat or back is built. When coil springs are used, each spring is sewn into the webbing matrix. On more basic chairs, a foam cushion may sit directly on top of the webbing. If you are sinking too far into the seat of your chair, it may be due to webbing that has been stretched out or come loose. For furniture in which the cushion sits directly on the webbing, you can easily find out if thats the issue by lifting up the cushion. For other pieces, look at the underside to see if it is sagging or feel around the frame to see if you can feel a piece of webbing that is not attached.
Coil springs are used primarily in antique furniture and may be used in good quality furniture made today. Traditionally, many individual springs are tied together to form a web while more modern pieces have drop-in coil spring units. These types of springs are long-lived and can be re-tied and re-used many times. Run your hands over the seat and look out for any areas where it seems the round head of a spring may be poking up into the fabric; this may indicate that the springs need to be re-tied.
Zigzag springs stretch across the bottom of the frame, usually from front to back, and hold up the padding. Zigzag springs are more likely to be used in contemporary pieces and are extremely strong - the primary problem encountered with zigzag springs is that they have come loose from their fastening. If a spring has come loose, you may feel it poking up into the padding, or it may be curled down under the frame, causing you to sink into the chair.
Broken or stretched out webbing will need to be replaced while coil springs can be re-tied or zigzag springs can be refastened rather than replaced. In most cases, this type of work should not add significantly to the cost of re-upholstering your found piece.
Padding
An antique chair with coil springs and cotton padding. Some of the springs have come loose and worn through the fabric.
Foam padding is used in most, if not all, modern pieces of furniture both in stand alone cushions and inside the piece. If you sit in your found piece and feel like you are falling in, unless its an antique, the foam is likely the culprit. Mass-produced pieces of furniture are often made with cheap materials, especially when it comes to the foam padding. Over time, this foam will compress in areas that take the most stress or even crumble apart. The cushion cover will start to look saggy and loose as the foam gets more compressed, or may bulge in some areas and sag in others if the foam has started to crumble. Depending on the thickness and how much of it you need, good quality foam can add another $60-$200 to the cost of re-upholstering your piece, but if you decide to make the investment, it can last for decades.
Cotton padding is used primarily in older and antique pieces, often in conjunction with coil springs. Cotton can be re-used many times unless it has started to smell bad or if it has gotten wet at some point and started to mold. Cotton will get compressed over time, but one can easily add a few more layers of fresh cotton to help bulk up and fill out the seat without adding much cost. A seat padded with cotton will not be quite as springy and soft to the touch as a foam padded seat would be.
Horsehair is used in antique furniture and may be utilized as an added filler between the springs and cotton padding. Similar to cotton padding, horsehair can also be reused many times and can even be washed and re-used if its started to smell or if it needs to be fluffed up. Natural horsehair can be replaced with a synthetic horsehair fiber if one wants to use newer materials while staying true to the antique aesthetic.
Springs and padding in any piece of furniture can be fixed or replaced, though expense varies depending on the issue. The components, including the guts, in an antique piece of furniture are generally well-made and usually need maintenance rather than full replacement. If your find is a more contemporary piece of furniture and the seat seems to be sagging, keep in mind that you will likely need to purchase new foam. Knowing your options and possible issues will help you decide whether your found piece is a worthy investment, or one better left on the curb.