How to Fix a Broken Wooden Chair

Wood chairs are worth saving.

Almost every home has wooden chairs that are too loose and unstable to use, and there are two main reasons why. Furniture repair specialist Kaile Warren, visiting the CBS "Early Show" in March 2004, cited misuse as the most common cause of breakage. In addition, placing chairs too close to baseboard heaters, where the hot air can shrink the wood, can make the joints separate. Luckily, you don't have to throw out rickety old chairs. You can make them serviceable in a few hours with a little glue.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber mallet
• Sandpaper
• Water
• Rag
• Polyurethane glue
• Belt
• Drill
• 3/16-inch drill bit
• Masking tape
• Syringe
• Bar clamp

Instructions

1. Knock a loose leg sharply with a rubber mallet to separate the rung. The blow should loosen the glue bond. Pull on the leg until the end of the rung pops free.

2. Clean the old glue off the end of the rung with medium-grit sandpaper. Fold the sandpaper into a small tube and use it to clean the glue from the hole.

3. Moisten a rag with water. Wipe the water on the end of the rung where you cleaned off the old glue. Moisten the wood until it changes color and becomes darker. This will swell the wood so the glue forms a better bond.

4. Spread polyurethane glue around the end of the rung. Fit the rung back into the hole on the leg. Tighten a belt around the middle of the leg and the leg adjacent to it. If the legs spread outward, work the belt toward the end so it tightens and holds the rung securely in the hole. If the legs aren't splayed, tighten the belt as much as you can by pulling on it.

5. Let the glue dry for five hours, then release the belt. Turn the chair upside down. Drill a hole with a 3/16-inch drill bit into the bottom of the chair, parallel to and touching the leg that was loose. Wrap masking tape around the bit to mark the depth of the hole so you don't drill through the chair seat.

6. Squirt glue into the hole with a syringe, completely filling it. Let the glue dry; it will reinforce and tighten the joint.

7. Mend a broken seat by separating the halves and spreading glue on each. Fit them back together and tighten on a bar clamp to hold them for five hours while the glue dries.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't try to repair an old chair with nails or screws. Besides detracting from the chair's appearance, they will fail much more quickly than a glue repair.

• Don't sit in an old chair that is wobbly and unstable. If it breaks, you can sustain a serious spine injury.

References

• CBS News: Wooden Chair Woes Be Gone!
• Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls: How to Refinish & Repair an Antique Chair