How to Easily Repair a Caned Chair Seat
When a caned seat is punctured, there's no need to kick it to the curb or pay the high cost to have it professionally recaned. This simple repair option will conceal the damage while making the chair functional again.
Marian Parsons
Materials Needed
- 1/2" plywood or MDF (piece large enough to cover seat of chair)
- serrated knife or electric carver
- quilt or upholstery batting in desired thickness
- cardboard upholstery stripping
- cardboard
- staple gun (electric, manual or pneumatic) and staples
- scissors
- spray adhesive
- permanent marker
- jigsaw
- eye protection
- 2" foam cushion
Create a New Padded Seat
Use a jigsaw to cut 1/2" plywood or MDF into shape of chair seat. Then cut coordinating piece of upholstery foam using a serrated knife or electric carving knife. Use a pair of scissors to cut upholstery or quilt batting to same shape as well. Using spray adhesive, glue batting to foam, then foam to plywood cutout. Tip: Because of the back, it might be difficult to trace seat shape directly onto plywood, so make a paper template and trace that to ensure a good fit.
Marian Parsons
Prepare to Attach Seat Cover to Chair
Place newly made seat cover onto work surface, batting-side-down. Turn chair upside-down and set on top of seat cover, directly onto plywood/MDF side. Line up seat cover with chair seat. With scissors, cut a square out of cardboard that will fit over hole in caning.
Marian Parsons
Cover Hole in Caning
Cut lengths of upholstery cardboard stripping and use them to secure cardboard piece to wood seat base. Staple upholstery strip every few inches, using two strips, one on each side of cardboard piece to fully secure it.
Marian Parsons
Secure Wood Seat to Chair
Use additional cardboard upholstery strips to secure wood seat to caning of chair seat (Image 1). Add a staple every few inches until seat feels securely affixed to chair (Image 2). Note: The nice thing about this method is that the staples can be removed in the future, so seat can be detached and chair can be professionally recaned at a later date, if you choose. To disguise your repair, upholster or slipcover the new padded seat (Image 3).
Marian Parsons
Marian Parsons
Marian Parsons