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8 Simple Furniture Repair Tips By Experts

1. Twist out damaged screws with an extractor

Major furniture repair often involves disassembling the piece and putting it back together. Sounds simple enough: knock things apart and glue them back together. But anyone who’s tried this knows that it never goes that smoothly. This article will show you some slick ways to deal with the most common and frustrating aspects of the job. Plus, we’ll show you some shortcuts that might help you avoid disassembly altogether. Just keep in mind that these methods aren’t meant for fine antiques. If you suspect that a piece of furniture is especially old or valuable, have an expert take a look (see “Antiques-Repair & Restore” in the Yellow Pages).

sofa repair tips

2. Drill holes to get a grip on nails

Some nails are easy to deal with. Sometimes you can separate the parts and then remove the nails. Other times you might be able to drive a nail right through the part and out the other side. If you can’t get hold of the nail’s head, drill holes just large enough for needle-nose pliers—on opposite sides of the nail shank. Run the bit right along the shank and bore as deep as the shank. This will help to loosen the nail.


3. Hollow out, then chip out broken tenons

When half of a dowel or tenon stays in its hole, you’ll be tempted to grab a bit of the same size and completely drill it out. But this is almost certain to leave you with an enlarged, off-center hole. Instead, use a bit that’s about 1/8- in. smaller than the socket. Then break out a section of the remaining material and the rest will chip out easily. A small carver’s gouge is the perfect tool for the job, but a narrow chisel or even a sharpened screwdriver will work, too.


4. Disassemble with a hammer

Despite the variety of spreading clamps and prying tools available, hammers are still the favorite disassembly tools of furniture repair pros. Some use rubber mallets, others like dead-blow hammers, which have heads filled with sand or metal shot to eliminate bounce-back. Either way, you’ll need a collection of wooden blocks, cardboard or carpet scraps to prevent surface damage. Cover your workbench with carpet or a heavy blanket and swing away. Try to knock joints straight apart. Some twisting and wrenching are inevitable, but keep it to a minimum and you’ll avoid breaking joinery.


5. Inject epoxy into loose joints

This is a fix that makes furniture-repair purists cringe, but let’s face it: some pieces just aren’t worth the time it takes to make a first-class repair. Epoxy injection is fast and easy, but also a bit of a gamble. It doesn’t work every time and if it doesn’t, you’re stuck with a loose joint that’s almost impossible to pull apart and re-glue.


The goal is to force epoxy into the pocket between the end of the tenon and the bottom of the mortise or socket. That way, epoxy will flow into gaps around the tenon. The hole you drill into the pocket should be sized so that the tip of your syringe seals tightly when inserted. As you apply pressure to the syringe, wiggle the loose part so epoxy flows all around the tenon. You’ll get the best results using low-viscosity epoxy that will inject and flow easily.

6. Heat and scrape off glue tenons

New glue doesn’t adhere very well to old glue, so you have to get rid of the old stuff before reassembly. Turn a heat gun on old glue, and it reacts just like old paint, becoming soft, gummy, and easy to scrape off. Just remember that a heat gun is designed to destroy finishes and can even ignite the wood. Have a wet rag handy to keep things cool.

7. Shavings and hot water get glue out of joints

Scraping, sanding, or reaming old glue out of a socket or mortise is slow, tedious work. And it’s tough to do without enlarging the hole. So why not let heat and moisture do the work for you? A big syringe lets you put the steaming-hot water right where you want it and crushed shavings from a block plane are great for soaking up the softened glue. You might have to repeat the process a couple of times, but it’s still safer than other methods.

8. Rebuild a broken tenon

A broken tenon may seem like a disaster, but it’s actually pretty easy to fix. The first step is to trim off the rough, broken end. Then glue in a block in place of the missing tenon. If you’re fixing a chair leg or some other part that will bear a lot of stress, use epoxy because standard glues don’t bond end grain very well. With the block in place, drill a dowel hole through the block and into the part. The photos at right show the rest of the process.

Source: https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/furniture-repair-tips




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