Expert: Mark H. Miller - 7/6/2006

Question
How do I find an upholsterer to recover a sofabed and dining room chairs and do they also clean and restore or do I need a separate furniture repair and/or cleaning person?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi,

I believe that the best way to find a good upholsterer is from a personal referal,  someone who has used that upholsterer and had a positive experience.  If you can not get a referal then look in the yellow pages of your phone book, go to the upholstery shop and check the place out, see what kind of furniture are they working on.  Is the place clean and orderly, low end upholsterers often have very messy and dirty shops.  Only after you have seen the shop and told the owner what furniture you have to be reupholstered, possibly shown pictures, only then allow them to come to your home for an estimate.  I suggest you do not call on the phone and allow an upholsterer to come to your home for a free estimate unless you have seen their shop first.  

Pay no more than a 50% deposit to get the job started,  balance due upon completion and redelivery.  Make certain you get a written estimate completely detailing the work to be done, amounts of fabric to be used, all costs, including taxes and delivery charges if any, any guarantees on labor should also be in writing.

I would also like to point out to you that reupholstering a sofa bed may not be cost effective,  in other words it may be less expensive to buy a new one.  The reason for that is that sofa beds are usually very inexpensively constructed and not worth reupholstering.  A good upholsterer would point that out to you.  An exception to that would be if you have a very old sofa bed that has a solid metal mechanism rather than tubular pipes,  and a hardwood double doweled frame,  something over 40 years old may have that.  If not, I would be very cautious to invest any money into a sofa bed.

Upholsterers should do minor repairs such a glueing loose frames, touch up scratches on exposed wood. Rarely do they also clean furniture, that is a completely different trade and for cleaning you should look for an upholstery cleaning service, preferably one that will come to your home to do the job.

I hope this information is helpful to you,  please do not hesitate to contact me again should you have further questions or concerns.

Mark Miller.