Even the highest quality commercial wood chairs will need maintenance from time to time, so here are a few hints to save on your investment and to keep your customers safe.
First, remember that regular maintenance on your chairs is very important to stop problems before they start. Thinking that any wood chair will last for the life of a restaurant without any maintenance is a mistake. Next, stay observant each day for anything unusual about the chairs or bar stools. Anything from stain or finish coming off; missing glides, broken rungs, cracked seats; or loose legs should be a sign to get that damaged chair out of service for repair.
Hints on Saving Commercial Wood Chairs
Here are some tips for getting that chair back into service fast:
1. Stain Missing
See any local paint store to get a touch up pen which matches the chair. This process is easy and takes no professional skill to accomplish. If the stain has been chipped, take a piece of 100-grit sand paper and smooth out the rough spots before using the stain pen. Many stain pens contain both stain and finish in the pen, so you can complete the process in one step. In areas the customer does not normally touch, shoe polish or wide tipped markers also make good fixes.
2. Missing Glides
Missing glides not only make the chair difficult to slide, but can also put excess strain on the joints of the chair, causing them to loosen sooner than normal. Keep a dozen or so glides on hand, which can be obtained from the original chair vendor or a local hardware store. Most glides are simply nails with their heads in plastic, and are easy to remove and replace.
3. Broken Legs, Stretchers, Seat or Back Rungs
This type of repair takes glue and a correctly sized clamp. Usually, when a break or crack happens, all the wood is still there; so all that is needed to correct the problem is to put wood glue into the crack, or on both ends of the split, and clamp it down until it dries. Common wood glues found at hardware stores can make the break or split even stronger than the surrounding wood.
4. Loose Legs
If the dowels that go into the legs or the seat are loose, try drilling a 1 1/8” drywall screw through the loose joint. Just turn your restaurant chair or bar stool upside down, and put the screw in at a 45 degree angle to the joint and you’ll be surprised at how tight it becomes.
For more information on how to save your wood chairs, contact an experienced online restaurant furniture dealer.
