Expert: Mark H. Miller - 1/13/2010

Question
QUESTION: I have a 20 year old Drexel dining room table and chairs.  The original chairs has a weird fiberboard seat board with a recessed center to give your tush extra padding.  Years ago, I stood on a chair and it broke through.  I got a replacement from Drexel that was a plywood seat board with the center cut out and filled with elastic web.  I'm now ready to do a total recover and wanted to buy seven more of the plywood seat boards.  They are no longer available, so I had a local woodworker cut them for a very, very reasonable cost.  I've read some of the other posts where you answer not to use elastic webbing.   The one that came from Drexel is over 10 years old and shows no sign of relaxing.  I definitely want to keep the extra cushiness in the center of the seat.  Are there different qualities of elastic webbing?  What thickness of foam should I use?  Should I roll the edge of the foam? cover in Dacron?  Help.  I'm somewhat of a perfectionist.

Jill

ANSWER: Hello Jill,

Since your seats originally had rubber webbing you should do the same again.  The webbing that I recommend you use is Pirelli webbing, it is the most expensive but well worth the extra cost - it will outlast any other webbing that I know of.   Pirelli webbing is available from most upholstery supply houses including those on-line.  It is 2" wide and you should place the strips 2" apart front to back and side to side weaving like a basket.

Over the webbing you should loosely place a piece of burlap so that the foam will not work itself between the gaps in the webbing.  Place the burlap loosely so that it will give as the webbing stretches when one sits down.

The thickness of the foam is usually 1 inch, but the seat height is what makes the final determination,  the thickness of the foam should be so that the top of the seat is 18 inches from the floor.  

You should definitely cover the foam with a layer of bonded Dacron otherwise it will look cheap and flat and not luxurious.   It is not necessary to roll the edge of the foam,  the bonded Dacron will take care of that.  

I hope this helps,  don't hesitate to contact me if you need further pointers.

Have fun!

Mark Miller.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,

It's not rubber webbing, it's elastic and in one piece.  I've never seen this on any supply site.  The original foam was 2 - 3 inches thick.  It's hard to tell.  There are several upholstery stores in my area, I have to see what is available.

Jill

ANSWER: Hi Jill,

Oh I see,  the single sheet of webbing can only be applied using a hydraulic machine that is able to stretch a strip of webbing that wide and large,  so I suggest you change from a single sheet to strips of Pirelli webbing since they can be applied just stretching by hand.  If your suppliers do not carry Pirelli webbing any woven rubber webbing will do the same thing, instead of 2" apart place the strips side by side in two directions and you will have the best possible seat.  

Most likely your foam is 2" thick I have never seen 3" foam on dining chair seats.  You should purchase medium firm HR (high resiliency) quality foam.  You can get that from Foamorder.com if your local supplier does not carry HR foam.  

I hope this helps.

Mark Miller.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Mark,

I've been doing my homework.  I have more questions.  The elastic webbing has different "percentage of stretch".  Which should I chose?  What does the number of stripes indicate.  Also, there is HR foam in many kinds.  What rating is the correct one.  Foamorder does not sell to the public.  I'm now wishing I would have just used the fiberboard inserts. :-(

Jill

Answer
Hi again Jill.

I have contacted Foamorder.com and they do sell to the general public,  they are the best site for foam and cushions that I know of.  Here is their reply to me.

"While we do wholesale our products to businesses that are in our industry, selling our products directly to the general public through our retail store and web site is the bulk of what we do.  I'm not sure why someone would have the impression that we don't offer our products to the general public, there is very little mention of the wholesale opportunity on our site."

I hope this helps.

Mark Miller.