Broken Office Chair... Again!

Not again! Why can't a good office chair last more than two years without breaking? Remember this?: http://collegiatehandyman.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-to-2-fixing-that-busted-office.html

This time, my friend was just sitting there, albeit perhaps leaning back a little too far and maybe a little intoxicated, then WHAM! He's on the ground and there is a chair arm flying through the air.

It's the classic 'lean too far and end up ass over teakettle' scenario. Wheels are a nice convenience on an office chair, but they can quickly go from your best friend to worst enemy in a split second. To recreate this incident and warn everyone of the dangers of leaning back too far, I've enlisted the help of a local 3rd grade sketch artist. Here's what he came up with:

Please excuse the simplicity of this illustration. I hope you get the point - DON'T LEAN BACK TOO FAR!

Now, what to do about that arm? Well, first gather up all the pieces; those are probably important.

In this case, three screws along with the arm went flying. The screws actually tore out of the wood, so we'll have to get creative to reattach it, since those screw holes won't work with the screws anymore.

If you can't find the screws, you'll have to go get some new ones from the hardware store. You may need longer ones if this next step doesn't work for you...

Here you can see that the screw holes are torn up. Now I could use longer screws, but I managed to find all three and I plan on making them work.

This picture is actually of me in the process of turning that bracket around. I'm going to use those screws on the other side of the wooden arm support. Genius!

If you have access to a drill, predrilling the holes makes it a lot easier. Otherwise, wrestle them in there.

That's it. You're office chair lives to break again.

How-to #2: Fixing that busted office chair.

Difficulty: Easy.

Everybody has them well, at least one of them. How many office chairs do you have that are in need of repair? There are two in our garage alone. Granted, those are waaay beyond help, but I'd be willing to bet that there is a squeak or wobble in the chair that you're sitting in right now.


Guess what? You don't have to live this way. Here are a couple easy tips on getting that chair of yours back in shape. Think about it, no more stretching back and wondering if that rickety chair is about to send you ass over teakettle...


So I just fixed my girlfriend's chair a few minutes before this post. It was very easy. The problem was a missing screw, which caused the back to basically hang there ready to fall off.

The solution was simple. All it needed was another screw. Anna went off to the local hardware store with the one good screw to find a match. She was able to find it without any problems, and now the chair is as good as new again.

The chair that I'm sitting on right now is actually a repair job. I bought this "broken" chair from my old roommate for $5. It's a nice chair that was probably about $75-100 brand new. The only problem was the back was pretty much hanging by one screw (I'm starting to think this is a common problem in office chairs).

Again, one trip to the hardware store solved this problem. The screws didn't quite have a big enough head on them, so I MacGyver'ed some washers out of beer bottle tops.

So why not stretch back and spin a few circles? Does that chair of yours need some work?