Leather sofas
Leather sofa services
In general (not saying never) we do not use leather in our re-covering work. However we offer a wide range of services to owners of existing leather sofas. Its a sad fact that, although the quality of leather you see in the showroom may be great, cost cutting measures are often employed on the bits you can't see, This includes use of substandard timbers, poor construction techniques, poor quality foam. Usually we can strip back the leather, repair anything that's gone wrong and put your lovely and expensive sofa back to better than new.
Pictured is one of two beautiful tan leather sofas where the seats had collapsed. We replaced all the foam and webbing and then reinstated the leather giving the sofa many years of extra life at a fraction of the cost of renewing the suite
A sofa story
Step by step sofa rebuild
Here's a picture story of a sofa we took on recently. The customer had approached us originally to fix a matching chair (see our transformations page for that one) and mentioned that this sofa felt overly soft. We investigated the problem and this is what we found....
The problem
Cracked frame
No longer supportive
Cracked frame
We often see cheap and inappropriate materials used at the core of sofas that just don't last. The weakness of this sofa was the chipboard frame itself
Warped rails
No longer supportive
Cracked frame
Its clear to see in this picture that the spring rails have given way and are badly warped. In this case there is no choice but to replace the original wood with new
No longer supportive
No longer supportive
Chipboard has given way
With the front and back rails no longer doing their job the customer was finding that they sank into the sofa and it wasn't giving support
Chipboard has given way
Chipboard has given way
Chipboard has given way
These parts are supposed to line up but the back was just wandering around no longer attached
Old frame
Chipboard has given way
Old frame
This is the old chipboard frame which was scrapped. Compare this picture with the next one
New frame
Chipboard has given way
Old frame
This is the start of the new frame made from much higher quality materials and better construction techniques throughout
The rebuild
New frame
Next stage in the process
Webbing and springing
We made a whole new frame using proper hardwood plywood and hardwood rails. This is much stronger than the original frame
Webbing and springing
Next stage in the process
Webbing and springing
Normally we would replace springs with new ones but these are the originals cross wired for extra support. We installed lots of new webbing for better back support.
Next stage in the process
Next stage in the process
Next stage in the process
Spring insulator on the seat and hessian on the back. We never put foam directly onto springs or webbing. Front of sofa boxed in.
Foam reinstated
Leather reinstated
Next stage in the process
Original foam has been reinstated. We only replace materials that need replacing. In this case the foam was fine and was reused
Dacron wrap
Leather reinstated
Leather reinstated
Whole sofa covered in a Dacron wrap. This is a polyester wrap that improved the feel of the sofa and also reduces wear on the foam.
Leather reinstated
Leather reinstated
Leather reinstated
In the final stage of construction all the leather has been reinstated and the arms have been re-attached using new bolts
All done
Back in the customer's home
Here is the sofa shown back in the customer's home with the finishing touch of brand new feet. These can be provided at very reasonable cost in a variety of shapes and finishes.
This sofa, together with another sofa and matching chair, were all refinished by Craig Denton our highly recommended leather finisher and came up as good as new.