Upholstery and Fabrics - Can you repair broken coil springs in an old couch?

so the SO has a couch that she is refusing to part with. It's really old, i don't know how old, but it was recovered in the 70s with a great golden crushed velvet. i too love the couch, but during the last move, we foolishly broke a lot of the stuff on the inside. now you kind of just sink down to the ground when you sit on it. i'm guessing we broke the springs.

so i'm a metalsmith, and have no problem welding things up to replace the insides, but i have no idea what it's supposed to look like in there. can i just weld everything back together or will i need to completely replace the springs? (or are there bands of spring steel in there?)
there are also springs inside the seat cushions that have managed to work their way up through several layers of upolstry and are stabbing us. so. can i just take everything out of the cushions and replace it with foam? or is that part of the big picture?:confused:

thanks everyone!

Hi and welcome to the forum! I'm not an upholsterer and couldn't even begin to tell you how to do what you're asking. The springs would need to be replaced. They can't be fixed. In fact, all the foam and battings (and there's some other things in there too) need to be replaced and then new fabric has to be put on, too. The upholsterer's I know have all had some sort of training first and began by practicing on smaller, easier pieces of furniture, so it's not an easy task.
If you're still interested in doing this yourself, I can recommend a book or two, which you'll definitely need.

I think it is time for a new couch. Repairs would be time consuming and expensive, and you'd still end up with an old couch.

The older upholstered furniture largely used coil springs tied together for support. The ends of the wire coils are usually banded on the ends so they don't protrude and stick up. A broken spring probably cannot be repaired suitably because, as you know, heating will take the temper out of it leaving it brittle and suseptible to more breakage. If you can find an old piece of furn. to rob a spring from, you could replace it. Maybe, if that isn't feasible, you could swap it for a spring that is in a position of less use(the back or side). The old spring could possibly THEN be tacked together and used where it will see less usage.

The covering was probably horsehair padding with cotton batting on top of that. You can get a covering for the springs so that they don't stick out(after you re-tie them) and then use a dense foam(several different densities available) to pad the chair/couch with.

Hope this helps.

yes, this helps a whole lot-
i'm going to cut into it tomorrow, and i just wanted to know what i was going to be getting into! i didn't want to tear up her couch if i wasn't going to be any help!
if i have more problems, i'll be posting pictures, and see if any of you have advice- i'm really impressed with the level of expertise on these forums, i'll be coming back here more often!!

thanks SO much!!!
j

Once you remove the dust cover on the bottom of the couch, you will be able to see what you need to do.

The following may be helpful:

Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks: coil springs, jute webbing, upholstery tacks (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cabinets-Furniture-Woodworks-1468/coil-springs.htm)

How to Tie Sofa Springs | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_4540338_tie-sofa-springs.html)

http://forum.doityourself.com/upholstery-fabrics/215095-need-firmer-cushions.html

Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks: tying springs, luck mark, cusion (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cabinets-Furniture-Woodworks-1468/tying-springs.htm)

The Elements of a Great Sofa - SouthernAccents.com (http://www.southernaccents.com/accents/homes/decorating/article/0,14743,-1194059-2,00.html)

so i took the dust cover off and found that everything was still attached, together and stiched to the deck,
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/enormousinside/DSC06194.jpg

but the sides of the frame had snapped.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/enormousinside/DSC06200.jpg

in a lot of places.

so my question is: can i just add four more of these wooden cross pieces to support the frame and give the springs something to 'spring off'?

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/enormousinside/DSC06201.jpg

btw- does anyone know how old this thing might be judging from the insides? there's a label on the deck (under the seat cushions) that says it was recovered in '73. i guess i'm just wondering if it's a lot older than that or maybe just from the 60's.

thanks everyone!!!

j

so i took the dust cover off and found that everything was still attached, together and stiched to the deck,
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/enormousinside/DSC06194.jpg

but the sides of the frame had snapped.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/enormousinside/DSC06200.jpg

in a lot of places.

so my question is: can i just add four more of these wooden cross pieces to support the frame and give the springs something to 'spring off'?

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/enormousinside/DSC06201.jpg

btw- does anyone know how old this thing might be judging from the insides? there's a label on the deck (under the seat cushions) that says it was recovered in '73. i guess i'm just wondering if it's a lot older than that or maybe just from the 60's.

thanks everyone!!!

j

Looks like all you need to do is pull the broken ends together, re weld them and weld on a longer brace next to the break to give it strength. A welding blanket will keep it from setting the couch on fire.

Couch doesn't look THAT old! Doesn't have the horsehair I thought it would. Luck to 'ya!

It has been repaired once so nothing in the move broke it. Notice the extra spring and string tying it up. The board you are talking about holds the frame together from the pic it doesn't look like the springs touch it.
If you were not sinking before the move you can just change the spring cushions to foam to get the springs that are poking you.

It has been repaired once so nothing in the move broke it. Notice the extra spring and string tying it up. The board you are talking about holds the frame together from the pic it doesn't look like the springs touch it.
If you were not sinking before the move you can just change the spring cushions to foam to get the springs that are poking you.

I suppose you could add a board under the broken springs to support them as long as it was providing support to the spring by having the spring rest on it.

If you do pad the board so when the spring hits it the sound is dulled.