Grace WoodworkBroken legs and rungs
Glued and reinforced, or remade from matching wood when the old part is too far gone.
Chair Caning and Chair Repair
A chair that rocks, a leg that has cracked, a cane seat with a hole worn through. We take chairs apart and reglue them properly, repair broken parts in wood, and replace worn cane seats.
Chairs take the hardest beating in the house
Every time someone tips back, drags a chair out from the table or sits down hard, the joints take the strain. Over years the glue lets go, the wood around the joint wears, and the chair starts to rock. It is an ordinary repair, and a very fixable one.
We repair wooden dining chairs, kitchen chairs, rocking chairs, ladder-backs, desk chairs with wood frames, and chairs with cane seats. The repair depends on what failed: a joint, a part, or the seat itself.
Upholstered seats and recliner mechanisms are not on our list of services. If your chair has a wood frame with a cane or solid wood seat, it is the kind we work on.
Why screws and glue in the gap do not last
The quick fixes for a wobbly chair are a screw through the joint, a nail, or glue squeezed into the gap. They feel solid for a while. Woodworker's Journal explains why they fail: new glue does not bond well to old glue, and the only way to restore a joint's strength is to take it apart, clean off the old glue, then reglue and clamp it.
Screws and nails add holes in exactly the place the wood is already stressed. When the joint loosens again, it takes more wood with it.
The right repair is slower:
- The chair is taken apart at the loose joints, gently, so nothing splits
- Old glue is cleaned off the tenons, dowels and holes
- Worn joints are built back up with new wood where needed
- The chair is reglued and clamped square and level, then left to cure
Conservators note that not every joint should be forced apart, especially where pegs or old nails hold it. Part of the job is knowing which ones to leave.
Cane chair repair
Cane seats wear through in the middle first, where people sit. There are two main kinds, and the repair is different for each.
Hand caning. If you see a row of small holes drilled around the seat frame, the seat was woven by hand, strand by strand, usually in the traditional seven-step pattern. A worn hand-caned seat is cut out and rewoven through the same holes.
Pressed or sheet cane. If there is a groove around the seat opening with a strip of reed (the spline) pressed into it, the cane was woven on a loom and set in as one sheet. The repair is to remove the old spline and sheet, clean the groove, and set in a new sheet and spline.
Rush seats, made from twisted cattail leaves or a paper fiber substitute, and woven splint seats are a different craft; send a photo and we will tell you whether yours is a job we can take on. Our guide how chair caning is repaired explains each kind in more detail.
Other chair repairs
Split seats and backs
Cracked solid seats and broken back slats or spindles reglued or replaced.
Rocking chairs
Loose rockers, arms and spindles, and worn finish on the arms where hands rest.
Matching a set
Chairs refinished alongside the table so the set matches. See table refinishing.
Common questions
Where can I get a chair recaned near me?
Grace Woodwork repairs and recanes chairs at our shop in Kilgore, for Longview, Tyler, Henderson, Marshall and the rest of East Texas. Send a photo of the whole chair and a close one of the seat so we can see which kind of caning it has.
How much does chair caning cost?
It depends on the type of seat and its size. Hand caning is often priced by the number of holes around the seat, and a pressed cane seat by the seat. Our guide how chair caning is repaired lists published price ranges. We quote your chair after seeing it.
Can a wobbly wooden chair be fixed?
Almost always. A wobble means a glue joint has let go. The lasting repair is to take the loose joints apart, clean off the old glue and reglue them, not to add screws or nails, which split the wood and leave the joint loose.
Can you repair a broken chair leg?
Yes. A clean break can often be glued and reinforced; a leg that is splintered or missing can be remade in matching wood and finished to match the others.
How long should a wooden chair last?
A well-made wood chair can last for generations if its joints are reglued when they loosen.
Send a photo and we will tell you what it needs.
A phone picture is plenty. You will hear what the piece needs, what it will cost and roughly how long it will take before anything starts.
- HoursMonday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
- The shopKilgore, Texas, working across East Texas
- On Facebook100% recommend on Facebook from 13 reviews (opens in a new tab)