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Mrs. Peel

Recaning & Reupholstering Chairs... Need Info!!

By Mrs. Peel, in General Discussion

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Mrs. Peel    7,157

Mrs. Peel
Posted

I have 6 dining room chairs with woven cane backs and upholstered seat cushions - they need to be recaned (they're not antique, so it's the pre-woven caning that comes in sheets/rolls), the caning needs to be stained, and then the cushions need to be replaced with new foam and upholstery (with a single row of piping where the cushion  meets the wood frame of the seat).

I am completely floored by the quotes I'm getting. I mean... I literally had to pick myself off the floor when the first quote rolled in! So far, I have 2 quotes... same ballpark: 200+ per chair just for the recaning/staining... and another 230+ per chair for the new upholstered cushions. It's an expensive, high-end dining room set, so I will insist on great workmanship... but still, that would be over $2500(!) for what I (mistakenly?) thought was a very simple job by anyone's standards. Honestly, I've never had this kind of work done... I was expecting 200 per chair for EVERYTHING... not over 400/chair! (I shudder to think what these people charge for a complicated project...like a tufted, button back sofa with kickpleats on the skirt, etc.)

So here's my questions:

1) can you recommend anyone who does one or both of these crafts at more reasonable prices? Perhaps someone in semi-retirement mode who does this out of his/her house? 

2) The steep pricing is making me consider the DIY route. I'm not currently set up with a sewing machine, so I can't do that part of it... but I am considering tackling the recaning & staining part myself. I've already researched it - I'm confident I can do a beautiful job. (It seems I could recane and stain for well under 100/chair - that's over $600 in savings). Does anyone have experience with this work? Any tips/suggestions? 

Thanks, in advance!

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Mrs. Peel    7,157

Mrs. Peel
Posted
11 minutes ago, Zeke said:

its sewing and some stapling.

Didn't I say I don't have a sewing machine? You can't make self-piping, for instance, without a sewing machine (not well or efficiently anyway). Nor would I want to sew the cushion corners by hand either. You need the perfect stitches of a machine for that to look really professionally done. 

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Scorpio64    5,156

Scorpio64
Posted
11 minutes ago, Mrs. Peel said:

Didn't I say I don't have a sewing machine?

Just buy a stupid sewing machine, they cost like $125 for a pretty good one.  You will need to get a piping/cording presser foot though.  If you don't want to make your own piping, just go to JoAnn Fabrics or wherever and buy ready made stuff.

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Mrs. Peel    7,157

Mrs. Peel
Posted
15 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

Just buy a stupid sewing machine, they cost like $125 for a pretty good one. 

Good lord, are they really that cheap? To think of all the hand hemming I've been doing... for YEARS... :facepalm: I thought they were like 500 bucks and up??

And yeah, I can't buy the piping at JoAnn Fabrics or someplace like that because I want "self-piping" - that means piping made from the same fabric you're using to cover the object... so you have to cut and sew it over the cord yourself.  

12 minutes ago, Zeke said:

I’ll loan you my sewing machine also 

Now this is getting a bit "too" DIY. The project is growing into Frankenstein. Oh dear. Unless I get a good tip from someone on here on the caning, I think I'll just order caning materials this weekend. Might as well get that part done first. I'll circle back to you if I need the machine. Thanks for the offer!

  • Haha 1

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dilbert1967    146

dilbert1967
Posted
2 hours ago, Mrs. Peel said:

I have 6 dining room chairs with woven cane backs and upholstered seat cushions - they need to be recaned (they're not antique, so it's the pre-woven caning that comes in sheets/rolls), the caning needs to be stained, and then the cushions need to be replaced with new foam and upholstery (with a single row of piping where the cushion  meets the wood frame of the seat).

I am completely floored by the quotes I'm getting. I mean... I literally had to pick myself off the floor when the first quote rolled in! So far, I have 2 quotes... same ballpark: 200+ per chair just for the recaning/staining... and another 230+ per chair for the new upholstered cushions. It's an expensive, high-end dining room set, so I will insist on great workmanship... but still, that would be over $2500(!) for what I (mistakenly?) thought was a very simple job by anyone's standards. Honestly, I've never had this kind of work done... I was expecting 200 per chair for EVERYTHING... not over 400/chair! (I shudder to think what these people charge for a complicated project...like a tufted, button back sofa with kickpleats on the skirt, etc.)

So here's my questions:

1) can you recommend anyone who does one or both of these crafts at more reasonable prices? Perhaps someone in semi-retirement mode who does this out of his/her house? 

2) The steep pricing is making me consider the DIY route. I'm not currently set up with a sewing machine, so I can't do that part of it... but I am considering tackling the recaning & staining part myself. I've already researched it - I'm confident I can do a beautiful job. (It seems I could recane and stain for well under 100/chair - that's over $600 in savings). Does anyone have experience with this work? Any tips/suggestions? 

Thanks, in advance!

I don't know about whether he  does upholstery but I've had work done by the company in the link below:

https://businessfinder.nj.com/233548/Granddads-Refinishing-LLC-Mount-Laurel-NJ

He re-caned the chair in the attached photo.

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Refinished chair.jpg

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Krdshrk    3,877

Krdshrk
Posted
2 hours ago, Mrs. Peel said:

Good lord, are they really that cheap? To think of all the hand hemming I've been doing... for YEARS... :facepalm: I thought they were like 500 bucks and up??

https://smile.amazon.com/Heavy-Duty-4423-Decorative-Automatic/dp/B003VWXZQ0/ref=sr_1_5?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1545188905&sr=1-5&keywords=sewing+machine

$124

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YankeeSC    1,204

YankeeSC
Posted

We have an antique chair that needs to be re-caned and before we moved my wife had gotten some estimates ... yeah it's going to be in the $200 range per chair.  Seems to be a hard to find/forgotten skill.  Let me see if I can find who we got estimates from.

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dilbert1967    146

dilbert1967
Posted
22 hours ago, dilbert1967 said:

I don't know about whether he  does upholstery but I've had work done by the company in the link below:

https://businessfinder.nj.com/233548/Granddads-Refinishing-LLC-Mount-Laurel-NJ

He re-caned the chair in the attached photo.

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Refinished chair.jpg

It cost me $200 to re-cane this chair.  Since it's an antique, and I have no idea what I'm doing (re-caning) I'd rather have a professional do it.

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