No matter how carefully you look after your home, its contents can easily incur damage due to accidents or simply casual wear and tear. When any of your furniture picks up damage, however, it’s not always obvious whether you should go down the repair or replace route.

To help guide you, here are some examples of furniture types, instances of damage to which they can be especially prone, and how you should react if any of these unsightly issues arise.

 

Chest of drawers

A chest of drawers is a convenient place to leave a mug of water – and, sadly, that’s where problems can emerge in the form of water rings on the unit. However, the Martha Stewart website explains that it’s possible to remove water rings by putting salt over them and then using some heat to draw out the water.

You should start thinking about replacing a chest of drawers instead if it has been damaged extensively – for example, by termites.

 

Outdoor furniture

This type of furniture is obviously exposed to water – such as from rainfall or even a nearby swimming pool. Therefore, rust is a persistent threat – but, if your outdoor furniture accumulates any loose rust, you could just remove it with a wire brush and restore the furniture by applying a rust-proof primer and some paint.

Still, if any particular piece of outdoor furniture in your possession has rusted to the extent that it is filled with holes, then replacing the furniture could be much less of a hassle than fixing it.

 

Sofa

The average life of a sofa bought today is seven to 15 years, says The Spruce – but how can you tell when exactly a sofa would need replacing?

If your sofa makes a squeaking, popping or creaking noise whenever someone sits down on that seating, this would evidence structural damage. Since repairing this and replacing the upholstery could be almost as expensive as a whole new sofa, you might ultimately decide that a change would be as good as a rest.

 

 

 

Chairs

If you keep settling into a particular chair only to realise that it disconcertingly wobbles, you don’t have to just put up with it. Firstly, you could try gluing loose rungs of that chair and tightening its hardware. If that doesn’t work, however, you should add right-angle corner braces. 

These can be sourced inexpensively from hardware and home improvement stores, meaning that you don’t necessarily need to invest in a whole new chair.

 

Coffee table

 

“When people drag furniture instead of picking it up to move it, they put a lot of pressure on the leg and can cause it to come off,” furniture repair expert Crystal Dvorak tells Popular Mechanics. Unfortunately, you are probably especially inclined to transport a coffee table in this way due to its lengthy but low profile.

 

If your table’s leg has detached, though, take heart that replacement coffee table legs of various hues aren’t strictly hard to come by online – and can be affixed to existing coffee tables.

 

Repair or replace? Advice for deciding what to do with damaged furniture is a featured post