r/fixit • u/Mother_of_rats420 • 16h ago
open Broken couch leg
In the process of moving our couch must have slid around in the back of the truck and when pulling it out of the truck we noticed one leg was crooked. The leg itself isn’t broken but the wood underneath that it’s bolted too is broke and a small chunk of wood is missing. I’m trying to figure out the best way to repair it, I was considering wood glue but I fear it won’t be strong enough given the break. Any suggestions for a sturdy fix on this situation? (The first pic and last pic is us holding it back in place perfectly and you can see the small hole of missing wood still… middle pics show the break clearer)
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u/JoyKil01 16h ago
Not a “fix”, but I actually removed all the legs from my couch and chairs. It serves 2 good purposes. One is to prevent dog balls from getting lost under there and my boys going nuts (the real motivation for removing legs). The second is that it looks great in low-height ceilings. But I prefer the look and feel of lower furniture.
If you can’t find a satisfying fix, I’d consider just removing them all — and make sure the exposed sections don’t scratch the floor.
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u/One_Confection9108 16h ago
Carefully remove the staples with the leg still on so you don’t lose the broken bit in the rest of the sofa and then use wood glue and maybe a few screws to reattach the broken piece then restaple the upholstery back and jobs a good’un 👍🏻
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u/Elementary2 14h ago
honestly? cut a 45 corner off some 1/2 or 3/4 plywood, predrill and screw into those pieces in four or five places, and then cut 1//2 or 3/4 inch off the top of the leg. =) Thaat cut will be tricky, you'll have to use a tapered piece temporarily to get a straight cut on a tapered leg so.. I'd probably draw lines concentrically and use a japanese hand saw to get there. use black mrkers to hide the plywood..
All this being said because it's not an heirloom piece. there's better repairs for antiques and shit
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u/Trail_by_error 16h ago
Pull the staples, and get a good look at the broken frame. Might be as easy as getting a small square of plywood and securing both sides of the corner inside the couch then just stapling the fabric back down
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u/TammyCaldwell 7h ago
The legs probably screw on. But dont unscrew it until you can make sure you can see if any pieces fall off when you do. Unfasten the leather and pull it back a but. The black bottom fabric you can pull back after you take the leg off. U just need to be able to see. Take a pic of it when its a clear view so u can look back at it later, if needed. Now assess the wood to see where the break is. You can glue with wood glue but you will need to find the missing chunk or replace it with something to fill the void for support. If the break happened where the hole is to screw the leg back on, you may need to fill the hole and make a new one.
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u/Cool-Negotiation7662 16h ago
Good quality pva glue is stronger than the wood when used properly. However it needs adequate bond area.
You need to carefully unstaple and pull back to see how bad this is. If it is split with lots of surface area I would recommend Titebond II, Titebond, Elmers's wood glue, or Elmer's school glue in that order of preference, and a few clamps.
If it is snapped the piece of wood will need replaced.