Q&A for How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat

Sure, you can do it yourself. First you'll first need to disassemble the cushion or the upholstered parts. Some dining chairs have seats that can be screwed right off and some are attached. If the padding is in good condition, you can cover the seat easily with new fabric. Either upholstery glue or staples are a simple way to attach the fabric where it is concealed. If you cannot dislodge the upholstered area of the chair, you'll need to neatly tuck the fabric around the edges and do something that will conceal the seams, such as roping or fabric beading.

Buy foam padding from the same store where you buy the fabric. It's expensive, so check around for deals or coupons.

Once the staples are started by the staple gun, you can often tap them flat with a small hammer. Alternatively, furniture tacks may be necessary; they are stronger and provide a higher quality appearance.

JoAnn Fabric stores, Etsy, Ebay, or any number of online fabric stores. Measure your chair seats plus extra fabric to turn over and under the cushion, and then staple.

If you are talking about the screws that held the seat to the frame, first see if you can acquire replacement screws of the same length but bigger shank diameter; they might fit the hole. If that doesn't work, you might have to make a new hole a short way from the original. Another trick is to take toothpicks, apply wood glue, and start placing them in the hole one after the other, until no more fit. Allow them to dry, and retry with the same screw after drilling a hole. Use care not to drill with too large of a drill bit.

Nothing will happen. It will just add extra cushioning.

You can cut the cording and find a piece of wood in the required sizes, upholster that, and screw onto the chair base when finished.

Here's one way (but be forewarned -- it's difficult). Remove the spline that holds the cane on the back, and staple the chair back plus muslin plus thin cotton batting to the innermost edge of the chair front. Attach one piece of wide jute webbing for extra support. Add three or so layers of poly batting, plus a thin cotton batting and then your fabric. You can sew the welt cord (or have someone else do it) and then glue it into the crevice where the spline was with hot glue. Practice with one chair. This method isn't for the faint of heart.

Yes. You could use a manual stapler.

You can use a saw or a sledge hammer to remove them from the chair.

I have used tag board with good success. Dollar stores, Michael's, Jo-Ann's, and office supply stores all carry it. Use the old piece of cardboard paper as a template, trace and trim, then apply.

Batting is also called wadding-at least it is in the UK. Vilene make a good range which is easily available. Try online if it is not in your local fabric store.

Cut it the same size. If you were to cut it larger, it would prevent you from properly working the fabric when securing to the chair bottom.

2 yards total should be enough as long as you don’t have XL dining room chairs, don’t foresee any mishaps when cutting and would like about 1-1.5 extra chair bases for repairing down the road. Remember if one becomes stained or tears, it may be hard to find that same fabric, so having some extra for repairs stored away won’t hurt.

Hospital corners are usually what you are seeing on your seat. Search up "hospital corner images" and you will see how you fold one side of the fabric over the other and then fold onto the bottom of the base.

Use T50 heavy duty staples, if you are speaking of the length. Measure the depth of the seat base’s original surface, if it is over 3/8”, then you are okay. Use a 5/16” staple and it will hold secure and not poke through the top.

Flip the chair over and look for 0 brackets, 0 screws, 0 bolts holding the base. There are 2 places to check. The chair frame part in which the base sits on, see that it doesn’t have screws tuning through it and are sunk into the depth of the rail. If you have 2 holes on that part of the chair, most likely that is holding the base on. The next thing to do is to take a thin, stiff putty knife and slide it between the frame and seat base, try giving a little upward pressure, it is possible it is glued to the frame. If so, use the putty knife to work it away from the frame. When reattaching, you can purchase 90-degree brackets at the hardware store with short wood screws.