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Why
Reupholster?
Time is
money. Most manufactured furniture today is made out of New
York State where they pay their workers minimum wage to mass
produce pieces. The faster they can produce a piece of
furniture, the more money they make. They start with a fresh
frame that they don't have to take off old fabric to apply
new. Most frames are stapled together, compiled of plywood,
rather than doweled and glued with hard ash or oak like the
frames of yesteryear! Also, most manufacturers buy
fabric in bulk where they get exceptional prices on goods to
mass produce, with little concern for ware-ability because
of their 1 year warranty!
So most frames
that are made of softer woods don't hold up to everyday sittings.
The first sign that you have a good quality piece of
furniture is in recalling TWO FACTORS:
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Has your existing piece ever had to be reglued or rebuilt,
in the years you've owned it and lived on it?
-
If you
would try to purchase the same existing piece today, would a
furniture store even carry the same quality of the
refinished wood or fabrics like what you have?
Quality
furniture have
coil springs
in their foundation. If you have webbing and
burlap on the bottom of your furniture, then you know you
have coil springs. Its the same type of foundation that you
sleep on every night. Years ago, mattresses were hand tied
and guess how long they lasted? When we
reupholster it, it should be done
the same way it was originally constructed. It should be rewebbed, retied and rebuilt
with added padding and new cushions. Coil springs are tied
to work as a complete foundation. This is called "eight-way
tying" The time to reconstruct the spring foundation is more labor
intense than most of the mass-produced pieces of today.
Years ago, they didn’t cut corners to construct furniture.
They didn't know how, and this is why most pieces lasted and
the furniture industry have such a good reputation!
This is why there are variations in prices for
reupholstery AND new furniture. Most textiles were made of
finer and stronger fibers years ago (remember Herculon?)
The stronger textiles of yester-years added to the quality that
made furniture last.
If so, the
price would reflect the cost of making such fine pieces to
the point that "reupholstering would be the more cost
effective way" of giving your living space a tune up or
fitting it in with other existing pieces.
I can offer the same type of materials,
but now they demand premium prices. This is why If you buy new, I recommend buying
from some finer furniture stores. By making an "investment"
purchase,
you would be thinking of reupholstering these pieces in the
future! Otherwise you become part of the never-ending loop
of throwing all away every couple of years.
Click here for an education on buying materials
It is because we custom make and recover, reupholstery is never the
cheapest direction to go. Some advantages will be in
that your dealing with a reputable company (not all
upholsterers are) and directly with the manufacturer!
Complaints? No problem, I made it, I can fix it. Try getting
that service from a furniture retailer!
A final note:
If your
thinking of reupholstering a piece of furniture that you
have used over the years and the frame and padding have held
up AND it fits the room, my bet is that you'll never have an
opportunity to own something like this again! But,
If you don’t
like the style of your furniture or you don’t use it, why
invest in custom? Even a $600 sofa will last when NO ONE
uses it!
SO, it's worth the
investment if you use it, like it, or you don't like adding
to our waste problems by replacing something every number of
years!
Click here for info on a well built club chair |
