Reupholstery/slipcover?

[bobbin]

I received a request from a friend to look at a Drexel "Lawson style" sofa for slipcovering.  The piece is 20 yrs. old, original upholstery (they bought it new), and she said it felt, "saggy". Maybe that means the deck cushion foam is kaput, maybe it means the webbing is kaput and what's needed is reupholstery, NOT a slipcover.  She'll consider either option and I want to give her good advice.

Is the piece worth the cost of reupholstering?
At what age is a piece ready for reupholstery (complete rebuild)?
When you look at piece how do you determine the relative remaining "life" of the guts?

She is a friend and I want to give her good advice, but your replies will help me immeasurably when faced with the same questions in coming years. 

[Rich]

I don't have much in the way of answers to your questions, but I think it's largely what you determine both by poking around before you strip it and (leaving the estimate flexible) what you find after you've stripped it.
I wanted to give you my experience with reupholstering sofas as recently I did my own sofa and love seat using what I call the "slipholstery" method. The sofas are Pennsylvania House, 26 years old and had it not been for the handiwork (clawsiwork?) of our two lovely cats, I wouldn't have had to  put in the time, energy and expense I did. I mostly did not strip these pieces, rather, I made fitted covers for the backs, arms and deck which I secured with a combination of glue, staples and velcro. They look great and I am quite confident they will stay that way for a long time to come (the cats are banished from that room btw). The work took me long enough (I don't do sofas as a general rule, so I have to stop and think about the next step a lot) but had I added in the time to strip, they would have taken me even longer.
Just an idea,
Rich

[sofadoc]

Is the piece worth the cost of reupholstering?

Yes. Unless your customer is simply looking for the cheapest way out.

Some Drexel sofas from that era had hand-tied springs. Some have a pre-fab spring unit. The pre-fabs seldom break down. But if they do, acquiring a replacement might be difficult. Of course, hand-tied ones can be re-done.

That style of sofa should be a great candidate for re-upholstery or slip cover.

[MinUph]

  I agree with sofa.
  Saggy at 20 years old is more than cushions. Best way to tell if a spring base is shot is one to look under the piece and see if the webbing if it has any is sagging. If it is solid underneath it has webbing if its hollow there are no coil springs. If the later it may have zigger springs. Then feel under the cushions to see if it feels tight and smooth. If it is a coil spring seat it should be flat and smooth. If there are high and low spots it needs to be retied. If it is a zigger base and it is shot there will be high and low spots. Ziggers need to be replaced not fixed most of the time. That said a properly tied coil spring base with good webbing underneath should last 40 to 50 years. But this has become an art that many factories no longer do. The quality of hand tied springs has been lessened by not using knots for many years. So it is hard to say if any single piece has been done properly.
  Short answer is quality furniture should be reupholstered not slip covered. There isn't much difference in price as far as I know and getting rid of the old fabric is in itself a good thing. Reconditioning the piece is another plus.
 

[bobbin]

Thanks for the replies.  I think it would be worthwhile to do an "exploratory", peel back the dust cover on the bottom and see what I can see, bearing in mind your good advice. 

She likes the look of slipcovers (not the big, loose, "sloppy" ones), as do I.  But there is really no point in slipcovering if the real issue is tired, worn upholstery.  If that's the case I will counsel her to have the piece reupholstered because as Paul pointed out, slipcovering can be right up there with the price of reupholstery.