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Furniture Repair and Assembly/Questions
| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
| Wood Veneer - Cracking, Splitting | 2/9/2012 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: I've got a coffee table with a wood veneer finish, and over the years the grain has started to lift ... A: I am not sure just what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to glue it back down,fix the ... | ||
| Flaking lacquer on antique table | 12/31/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: I have a table that belonged to my great grandparents. The lacquer is flaking off and I'm wondering ... A: Its better to remove old finishes by stripping with a paint/varnish remover then rinse with a ... | ||
| Hand caning a round chair | 11/4/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: Steve - I'm pretty good at hand caning chairs, but I've run up against a 72 hole round chair that's ... A: Yes, you need to skip some holes when getting close to the edge. When weaving a round seat to keep ... | ||
| wood headboard repair | 9/6/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: I have an old bed frame that has been in my family for years. It is not a valuable antique, but I ... A: Yes, body filler adheres very well to wood. It can be shaped (cut to size) with a sharp chisel or ... | ||
| wood headboard repair | 9/5/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: I have an old bed frame that has been in my family for years. It is not a valuable antique, but I ... A: For filling large missing sections of the legs you can use auto body putty. Much stronger than what ... | ||
| Repair piano bench | 9/1/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: My piano bench has broken at the two front corners. I'm hoping I can use wood glue and a little ... A: This is a fairly simple repair if you have "C" clamps. The use of clamps are required for a good ... | ||
| dutailier glider | 8/8/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: we've owned this glider for several years and have loved it. It's very well made but now after 3 ... A: call a local upholstery shop, if the screw that snapped is next to fabric if the screw that snapped ... | ||
| Replacing webbing on a Adrien Purcell couch | 8/1/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I recently purchased a wonderful mid-century couch in pretty good condition. The only repair it ... A: YES, EASY TO DO YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES BECAUSE IT THINK THE LEATHER IS REALLY HEAVY RUBBER WEBBING ... | ||
| Covering up leather scratched off color | 7/24/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: In the process of moving a navy blue leather couch inside a doorway, some of the color came off. It ... A: Most, 98%, of leather upholstered furniture is cow hide. The natural color is not white. If the ... | ||
| Vintage chair worth reupholstering? | 5/19/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I saw this chair at the Salvation Army thrift store today and am considering purchasing it for my ... A: I just repaired a brand new chair for a furniture company, I't made out of plywood. any Vintage ... | ||
| re-upholstery of slip seats | 3/21/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am reupholstering four slip seats in the traditional style. I've just tacked the webbing and ... A: you can buy cotton from fabric stores or upholstery shops or keystons brothers (national wholesaler ... | ||
| re-upholstery | 3/17/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am reupholstering four slip seats in the traditional style. I've just tacked the webbing and ... A: your book is showing an old method of making a fox edge, this is used mostly on fixed chair frames ... | ||
| re-upholstery | 3/16/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am reupholstering four slip seats in the traditional style. I've just tacked the webbing and ... A: did you web and burlap on the top or the bottom? and are there springs? twine is not used used to ... | ||
| Sofa Reassembly | 3/11/2011 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I have a Sears Rockwell Sofa that will not fit through the door into the apartment that I just moved ... A: Gavin - we can do it but I would not be able to give you instructions to do it because you have to ... | ||
| Replacing the fabric lining on the back of an antique Drinks cabinet | 2/21/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I wish to remove the old dis-coloured damask covering in the back of my antique drinks cabinet. What ... A: depends on the space behind the shelves, the options are you should not take the wood frame apart ... | ||
| re-upholster a Dining Chair BACK | 2/8/2011 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am re-doing my dining room chairs. The seat cushion was easy but I do not know how to do the back. ... A: it looks like you can get some pliers and pull the welt off,it is hot glued into a 1/4 grove in the ... | ||
| Repair of a leather Braddington-Young Reclining chair | 1/22/2011 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: Can you refer me to someone in the GTA West area (we are in Oakville) who can repair the wooden ... A: I can repair it,I do service in your area occassionally. Can you provide pictures of the damage so ... | ||
| Box spring slipping off bed frame | 1/18/2011 | Steve Nearman |
| Q: I purchased a brand new simmons mattress and box spring last march and it hjas been wonderfully ... A: There are several issues that can cause this problem. Most common is that the rail spacing is a ... | ||
| Love Seat Back | 12/8/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am reupholstering an old love seat and I am not sure how to start the seat base. I stripped it ... A: good job!! first glue the back foam to the back burlap . then cotton over foam and tear a whole in ... | ||
| Love Seat Back | 12/6/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am reupholstering an old love seat and I am not sure how to start the seat base. I stripped it ... A: try this find a 3/4 or 1 tube pvc water line , or pvc sink tub or copper tube, not steel (too ... | ||
| Love Seat Base | 12/3/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am reupholstering an old love seat and I am not sure how to start the seat base. I stripped it ... A: I can see why you stopped, kind of scary! be brave, there is hope . if you want we can go all the ... | ||
| Dining table too low | 10/20/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: We have a dining table purchased in Germany at a second hand store. I found great chairs that match, ... A: the 2 " square leg base will give you enough wood to drill a hole and add a tee nut .(it will give ... | ||
| disassembly reclining sectional | 10/14/2010 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I recently purchased a vacation home in collingwood area it came with furniture. In livingroom is a ... A: Yes, we can do that for you, the cost would be $500.00 for both pieces. It's a big job and will ... | ||
| Re-webbing antique sofa | 10/2/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I have tried re-webbing our antique sofa by reattaching (with some wood screws & washers) the ... A: you have hand tied springs the webbing is the first things done in a sofa, then springs placed on ... | ||
| Antique sofa webbing repair | 10/2/2010 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I have tried re-webbing our antique sofa by reattaching (with some wood screws & washers) the ... A: You need to buy new jute webbing straps. You need to fold the end of the webbing so it will not ... | ||
| sofa damage | 9/6/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: We have a bassett cloth sofa that unfortunately the cat used as a scratching post on the arms and ... A: we love cats. they are better than any stimulus plan . some fabrics can be shaved, but be careful ... | ||
| tufted headboard | 8/29/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I just acquired a french tufted headboard. I would like to recover it and wondered if I could easily ... A: the buttons should be have a loop and a string pulling through the button back,so you just cut the ... | ||
| tufted headboard | 8/29/2010 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I acquired a french tufted headboard and would like to recover it. I was thinking that I could ... A: Carolyn: You can remove the buttons and replace them but if you want the buttons in the same fabric ... | ||
| leather furniture | 7/11/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I have a leather couch(brownish in color) and my son sat on it while wet from swimming. He was ... A: it may or may not dry back to normal color, it depends on how and who sealed the leather, and how ... | ||
| Recovering dining room chair back | 6/15/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I am in the process of recovering my dining room chairs. I have restained and recovered the seats ... A: been out of town, sorry for the delay, if you still need the info . there are a dozen different ... | ||
| springs or plywood with foam | 4/11/2010 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I have taken apart a very old chair. It is upholstered except for the front and back legs and the ... A: You can put the plywood on top or screw it from underneath, if you put it on top you will require ... | ||
| couch springs | 2/24/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I need to reattach my couch springs i already did 7 by hand have 8 more to go...really hard is there ... A: yes it is hard, the spring need to be under great tension to be firm, good luck and be careful. ... | ||
| Drop-in spring unit | 1/14/2010 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I have an older Morris-type chair that belonged to my grandmother. It has loose cushions for the ... A: I not sure if anyone carries them or not but you could look into upholstery suppliers. You could ... | ||
| Teak dining room chairs | 1/10/2010 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: The chairs wiggle. How do I remove the wooden plug which covers the screw which attaches the leg to ... A: if the plug has a mushroom head,you can tap it lightly with a hard plastic, it will vibrate off if ... | ||
| broken couch spring clamps | 11/12/2009 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: Are there anchors available for replacement of clamps that have "popped" on our couch's zig-zag ... A: yes there are anchors available but they do not usually come out because they are nailed from the ... | ||
| bed slats | 11/10/2009 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: what type of wood are bed slats made of? could you use pine wood for them (1x3 or 1x4) A: wood slats can be almost any kind of wood,pine,maple.oak,birch,ect. 2x4 are easy,low cost and strong ... | ||
| redesign chair heigth ? | 10/16/2009 | Michael Jimenez |
| Q: I have a neighbor who because of health is losing his sight, he has asked me to sew him a big pillow ... A: good reasoning on your part there is a seat height to back ratio for support and operation of the ... | ||
| sofa back cushions | 10/11/2009 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I would appreciate your advice about how to firm up sofa's loose back cushions if they are of 25/75 ... A: If there is an inner casing with the down/feather inside the outer casing then you can wrap the ... | ||
| sofa spring coils tension adjustment | 9/30/2009 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I have an old sofa set which I love. However,it has lost a lot of it's firmness especially the side ... A: Unfortunately, it is a wired system and these systems do not hold up indefinitely. There are small ... | ||
| sofa spring coils tension adjustment | 9/26/2009 | Craftmaster Custom Upholstery Ltd. |
| Q: I have an old sofa set which I love. However,it has lost a lot of it's firmness especially the side ... A: The only way to firm them up would be to add blocks of foam in between the coils of the springs. In ... | ||
Answers by Expert:
Michael Jimenez
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
We work on everything in relates to building, redesigning, remolding, reupholstering and repairing. We reupholster wood frames, walls, ceilings, doors, yachts, outdoor cushions and many more. We use different kinds of padding to re-pad and re-web. We are a green business and are constantly getting new products and lines of green sustainable materials for upholstered furniture. To see more information and pictures of our work, please go to our website. http://www.michaelsupholstery.com/ New Upholstered Furniture - new custom designed furniture Reupholstered Furniture - recover your old furniture Restyled Furniture - alter the look of your pieces Antique Restoration - restore your upholstered antiques Slipcovers - tailored or loose fit for chairs and sofas Dining Chair Seats - new fabric to freshen your room Chair Pads - add a little softness to a wooden seat Window Seat Cushions - new and recover for all shapes and sizes Cushions for outdoor furniture - fabulous fabrics for outdoor use Banquettes - unique built-in seating for any room Upholstered Headboards - new or recovered, any style, any size Upholstered Beds - custom styles for every home Upholstered Walls - padded and your fabric applied for a distinctive look. Toss Pillows - down blend inserts, special fabrics and trims Bed skirts - tailored or gathered, any fabric, any size We do not work with autos, metal frames and do not finish or refinish wood frames, but we do some office furniture
Experience
I started in high school around 1970, where I worked my way up from apprentice and upholster partners until 1983. I then opened Michael's Upholstery in San Rafael, CA which is now Michael's Custom Built Inc.
About 20 years ago, we became a sustainable green business and are proud to say that we still are.
Organizations
Rotary International, AFIA
Publications
Examples of Michael’s work has been shown in the Marin, Napa and San Francisco Designer Showcase Homes. We have also done work shown in Sunset and Northern California Homes and Garden, as well as California Home and Design. Some of our work has also been featured in magazines such as Traditional Home, and Better Homes and Garden Magazines.
Education/Credentials
junior college, sustainable enterprise santa rosa, green business
SDBC college
Awards and Honors
Silver award AFIA 2009 new furniture new design
Pacific sun BEST IN MARIN 2 or 3 years
Bay area green business marin certification
Past/Present Clients
We built a sofa that was shown on Monster House, a Discovery channel television show.
We have done work for many movie stars and a few major group bands, sorry no names
There has been work shipped to Tahoe, Montana, New York, Hawaii and Japan.
We have had plenty of work shown in art decorative societies and their showcases.
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