Expert: Mark H. Miller - 1/31/2011

Question
DEAR MR. MILLER,
I HAVE PURCHASED OLD DR CHAIRS WITH THE SMALL BUTT CUSHION PLACED IN THE CENTER OF THE CHAIR. THEY HAVE BEEN RESTAINED AND REPAIRED. UNFORTUNATELY THEY CONSTANTLY SQUEEK WHEN PEOPLE SIT ON THEM. THEY ARE RATHER PETITE IN SIZE, I THINK THEY ARE MADE OUT OF OAK AND I CAN FEEL MOTION TO THE BACK OF THE CHAIR. I INTENDED TO PLACE BRACKETS ON ALL FOUR LEGS INNER SIDE BUT I DO NO THINK IT WILL WORK BESIDES IT LOOKING LIKE AN EYE SORE. PLEASE TELL ME THE SECRET TO REPAIR THE SQUEEK. SOMEONE TOLD ME ABOUT GLUE AND TALCOM POWDER BUT I WOULD LIKE YOUR EXPERT OPINION FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION.

Answer
Hello Angie,

The brackets you considered placing will do absolutely nothing to stabilize your chairs and you should not do that at all.

To do a proper repair open the existing joint as much as possible,  a rubber mallet usually works best.  Use very thin sand-paper to remove as much of the old glue as possible.  Use a high grade glue - I prefer to use Gorilla glue which is available in most hardware stores,  it is extremely strong and easy to work with.  Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands,  follow the directions on the bottle.  

The most important step in gluing is clamping,  squeezing out as much glue as possible so that wood makes contact with wood.  If you do not have enough clamps to tightly squeeze as much glue as possible use a tourniquet method - use a good strong twine and make a loop,  then twist that with a short piece of wood to tighten the joint,  you may have to place several to make certain that everything is where it should be,  remember nothing will move once the glue dries.  Allow the glue to dry for a minimum of 24 hours before you remove the clamps or tourniquet.  

What you will do by doing this is restoring how the chair was originally built.  I hope this all makes sense,  please don't hesitate to contact me if you need further explanation or pointers.

Good luck.

Mark Miller.