Upholsterer in Openshaw.

The most common thing wrong with a sofa is not the frame or the fabric but the foam in the seat cushions. It softens with every year of use until the cushion sits flat and you sink through to the base. If the covers are still sound, new foam cut to the shape of the old cushion is a far smaller job than recovering the whole piece. Our foam cut to size page explains the grades we use and how to measure, and replacement sofa cushions covers the job when the covers need replacing too.

Openshaw’s terraced streets hold a mix of furniture: older suites bought to last and newer ones bought to fit the front room. An older frame in hardwood with sprung seats usually repays a recover. A modern frame of stapled board often does not, and we will tell you so before you spend anything on it. Our article on whether it is worth reupholstering a sofa goes through the signs, and the pricing page gives the brackets we work to.

Another job worth mentioning is the one chair that someone in the house will not part with: a wingback with a loose arm, a fireside chair with a sagging seat, or a riser recliner whose fabric has worn through while the motor still works. Frames can be reglued, springs retied and seats given firmer foam, which makes getting up easier. A recliner’s mechanism can often be kept and serviced, as it was for the riser recliner we recovered in floral fabric. Send a photo of the chair and one of any damage, and we will say what it needs and whether it is better brought in or collected.

• Measured foam for M11 jobs: foam cut to size, from a soft seat pad to firm contract foam.
• Seats that have sunk but covers that are fine: replacement sofa cushions, collected from the workshop when ready.
• Tired covers on a settee you would rather keep: sofa and suite recovering, quoted from photos.
• Not sure if it needs a repair or a recover: repairs and restoration, and the quote will say which is better value.