Messages

Chair glides are nothing more than heavy-duty thumbtacks hammered into the bottoms of chair legs to provide protection and to give the chair that smooth gliding motion across the floor. Over the years, even these sturdy metal parts can fail. They either break off or become so rough that they can scratch your floor. If you have chairs with bad glides, don't wait any longer. Pry them off and replace them.

1
Turn the chair upside down. Place the tip of a chisel -- beveled side up -- at the edge of the glide.

2
Tap the end of the chisel with a hammer to drive it under the glide. When the glide rises up 1/16 inch, move the chisel to the other side of the glide and pound it under there.

3
Pry up on the glide using the chisel. Move the chisel around the glide, prying around the circumference of the glide until it begins to loosen.

4
Pop the glide off using the chisel. If it has broken off, use diagonal pliers to remove the small pin. If the pin breaks off or is too small to grab with the pliers, pound it down into the leg with a hammer.

5
Place the tip of a new glide on the end of the chair leg. Do not place the point of the new glide in the old hole, it won't hold. Place it to the side of the old hole.

6
Hammer the new glide down tight into the leg to finish. If the glide hangs over the edge of the leg a bit, don't worry. The glide will function as intended.

exp-player-logo
TIPS

WARNINGS

WRITER BIO