LongIsland.com

REUPHOLSTERY

Written by upholstery  |  10. October 2000

If you are considering reupholstering your furniture, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First of all, you need to realize that re-upholstery is not a product, it is an art and a service. It is not to be compared to buying a T.V. set, where the only difference between two stores is the price. There is more than one way to reupholster a chair. I have seen previously reupholstered chairs that, after removing the fabric, had three other old coverings underneath the first. I can tell you from experience that a chair could be reupholstered in 2 hours or 2 days depending on, the person doing the job, the amount of pride he takes in his work, and the amount of money he chooses to invest in it. The end result of a good job is a chair that not only looks good but also is comfortable and most important of all that will last a long time. In my opinion a chair after re-upholstery should be as good, if not better, than it was when it was new. It should be stripped down to the frame and rebuilt from top to bottom. The springs should be retied, the frame glued and doweled, and the entire filling replaced. This is the way I teach my people to do it and the only way I will send a job back to a customer. So if you're in the market to have your living room furniture reupholstered you should be skeptical. Of any upholsterer who: 1) does not have a shop where you can go and see his work 2) gives you an extremely low price 3) subcontracts the work out to others 4) tells you to get your own fabric 5) has a long list of complaints on file at DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS 6) Can not supply you with references in your neighborhood In my opinion any upholsterer who will not let you see his work -in-progress has something to hide. If he gives you a low price, he is not putting in the amount of time it takes to do a good job. If he is sending the work out he is getting a cheap contract job. If he tells you to get your own fabric he doesn't have accounts set up with the major fabric companies. If he has numerous complaints, his work is bad. If he can't give you at least one person in your neighborhood that he has done work for his experience is questionable. If you like you can e-mail me any questions at: CLSUPHOLSTERY@AOL.COM or vistit our web sight for more information.

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