We have this green chair that sits in our sun-room. It’s a very comfortable chair and I like to sit in it when I’m studying my Bible or reading a book to the kids. The fabric is in great shape – but two of the little legs on the bottom of the chair have become unstable. The holes where the legs attach have become “wallered out” and the legs will no longer hold firmly to the bottom of the couch. On top of that, one of the little legs is broken and I have no idea where I might be able to purchase another one.
As a side note – I’m pretty sure the legs broke when my kids decided to play “can’t touch the lava” and used the chair (and the couch in the same room) as trampolines / safety zones. If you are unfamiliar with “can’t touch the lava” – it’s a game kids play where they try to go around an entire room without touching the floor. It also goes by “snakes on the ground” or “stay out of the water”. Being a kid rocks!
I’m not much of a carpenter (although I did manage to build a playhouse for the kids), but I do know how to use a skill saw and a hammer. So, I took all of the legs off of the chair. I then took a 2 X 4 that I had out back, cut it into 4 pieces, and nailed those to the bottom of the chair.
Take a look –
Yes, that is a pretty rad Thomas the Tank Engine setup that you can see in the pic. I nailed the first board along the left-hand side of the chair. I then nailed the second board on top of the first, creating a very solid “leg” that runs the entire side of the chair. You can’t see it in the picture (because the battery of my ancient digital camera died) but I did the same thing on the right-hand side.
Here’s how the chair looks with the new “legs” –
Notice the power cord trailing out the door? It’s running to the skill saw. You can’t see the “legs” – and the chair sits perfectly. I think I might have another 2 X 4 out in the shed. If I do, I might add another set of “legs” to the front an back, for even more stability.
There you have it – my free, frugal, simple, easy-as-pie fix for the broken chair. Sure, if anyone looks under the bottom of the chair they’ll probably burst out laughing, but I can deal. Rock on.
I inherited the chair from the furniture set my parents had when I was a kid. The front legs are actually 4x4s, which my brother replaced the original legs when when they broke. I was happy to get it. The fabric is dated, but it’s still in good condition–which is pretty good considering how much the various family cats have loved it.
Hats off to you NCN! A perfectly good chair continues to serve perfectly well. We all need to do more of the same instead of trashing things that can easily be salvaged.
Peace.
I did something similar. I got a recliner from a relative for free and it was broken, probably from moving it 700 miles, but I decided I wanted to fix it rather than keep looking for a recliner. I had been looking for one for a few months.
I ended up figuring out the problem with it, which was that the bolts on which the chair pivoted to recline were snapped off. I just spent $2 for a few new bolts and the chair has been stable ever since.
I applaud your frugality! I used a frugal fix to extend the life of my pool vacuum – duct tape! A million and one uses. The duct tape held together for several weeks, until I received a coupon and bought a new vacuum.
Excellent blog with valuable tips! Thanks for posting