Introduction
In my kitchen we use a vintage table and chairs from the 1940s or 1950s. The chairs are small, with padded bottoms attached to steel frames. They may look ancient, but it pleases me to use them as the retro look reminds me of the dining room furniture of my youth.
The bottom of one chair started sagging. Underneath the plastic cover I found foam rubber backed by 1/2” particle board. The particle board had a severe crack, resulting in discomfort when sitting in this chair. I repaired the chair by replacing the particle board with a new plywood bottom.
What you need
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Turn the chair over. Remove six wood screws holding the chair bottom to the steel frame.
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A black cloth liner is stapled to the chair bottom. Use a small screwdriver to pry up the staples, exposing the broken particle board base.
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Additional staples fasten the seat cover to the particle board. Use the same small screwdriver to pry up the additional staples.
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The foam rubber is lightly glued to the broke particle board base. Use a medium sized scraper to detach the foam rubber from the particle board.
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The broken particle board is 1/2" thick. Find a piece of plywood that is at least that thick, and larger than the particle board. I happened to have some 3/4" plywood on hand, so I used it.
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Placing the particle board on top of the plywood, mark the outline of the desired shape.
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I used a cheap jigsaw to cut the plywood. It doesn't give me precise control over the location of the cut, so I leave a margin around the desired cut line.
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After roughing out the new plywood base, use a wood file or a cheese-grater like mill file to remove the margin. Now you have a new base the same size as the old one.
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Use a staple gun to fasten the seat cover and foam rubber onto the new plywood base. You will have to stretch the seat cover and compress the foam rubber padding in order to get it into the same position as before. At this point your goal is to position the seat cover with the minimum number of staples. You will add more staples shortly.
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Next, staple the cloth liner over the bottom of the cushion, concealing the plywood. Drive the cloth liner staples through both the cloth liner and the seat cover. Combined with the previous staples, fully secure the seat cover to the chair base.
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Tip: If your staple gun doesn't drive the staples all the way in, use a small hammer to pound them down.
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Tip: If you don't have a staple gun, thumbtacks or small carpet tacks are fine.
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Use the old broken particle board seat base as a template to drill new pilot holes into the new seat bottom. Make sure to use a drill bit smaller than the wood screw diameter, so that the screws will bite into the sides of the holes.
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Use the wood screws to reattach the chair bottom to the steel chair frame.
