Q&A for How to Adjust a Recliner Chair

You may have trouble finding a chair that would lift your feet that high, but you could pile cushions or pillows under your feet to raise your legs above your heart.

Try some WD-40.

Put a thin piece of wood under some of the legs until it is level. Folded paper works, too.

Make sure the base is sitting flat first. Then flip it over and see if any of the metal frame/hardware is loose, and tighten as necessary.

A desk chair normally has a handle that sticks out under the seat that you press up to go up (while standing) or press down to lower the seat while sitting. Some have a reclining option where you spin the handle and this is usually located on the back of the chair.

You can check with your warrantee and see if it would be covered. You may need to contact the store and find out if they can replace the foot rest.

There should be a small lever that releases the seat backs, much like a recliner chair. Look underneath to locate the lever.

Take it back to whoever upholstered it, or if you did the work, reverse your work steps until you find what exactly is causing the problem

Many have a built-in tension adjustment for this––look under the chair. See if you can find 2 wingnuts, (1 on each side), and if they are compressing a spring that is the adjuster. There are likely sliding/pivoting metal parts there that the spring is pushing against, which most are either dried out, gunked up, or rusty and need to be cleaned/greased. If that area appears clean and has some lubrication, to make the recline easier, back off the pressure on the springs a turn at a time, testing the recline after each test. If it gets too easy to recline, tighten the wingnuts by 1/2 turn at time.