Fixing an Ottoman Again

Fixing an Ottoman

Again

It’s the end of the day and you are exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. All you really want to do is sit down and put your feet up. Maybe watch something on Netflix, the game, possible crochet a little. It doesn’t really matter what you want to do to unwind you just want to relax and put your burdens down for a little while. 

You are lifting your tired legs up onto your ottoman when you remember that it is sagging in the middle like a cake that has fallen. You have tried fixing it many times and it is broken, again. You are too tired to fix it tonight. Your mind starts to wonder; what is the point of fixing it if it’s just going to get broken again?

The point of fixing it again is that eventually, someday all the times you tell your kids to not jump on it will sink in and they will stop jumping on it.

The point is that you do want to have nice things and trying to take care of the things you have sets an example for your children they can recall when they are on their own.

The point is that it is a lot cheaper to keep fixing it than to buy another one; especially when the same things will just happen to the new ottoman.

So why does this keep happening? Why does that webbing that’s inside of the ottoman keep breaking? It keeps breaking because webbing is not strong enough to hold up to life.

Even if you don’t have children everybody trips, falls, loses their balance sometimes. When you fall sometimes you are lucky enough to land on furniture instead of landing on a hard floor. These kinds of landings can break furniture and better it than a person’s body.

In an ottoman what usually breaks is the webbing; unless you have an antique ottoman. The reason these don’t break is the structural guts are built more soundly; they can take a little bit of a beating and that’s why they survive long enough for people to refinish/reupholster them.

 

Antiques have springs or zig zag wire that 

adds strength because of how the wires

 are anchored to the framework of the furniture.

Can you see the structural difference?

So if you don’t have an antique what options do you have left?  I chose this one.

Step#1

I grabbed a Phillips head screw driver, Flat head screw driver, a pair of pliers and a bowl to hold all the parts I was about to take off otherwise I will lose something.

Step#2

I took off the legs with the Phillips head screw driver and pried up the staples with a flat head or pulled them out with the pliers if needed.

Step#3

See the cross beams that don't add enough support for the cushion to stay up. 

I think this was the builders attempt to prevent the issue I have with our ottoman.

I took a hammer and knocked the cross beams out of way.

Step#4

I measured the inside edges of the ottoman or the interior perimeter of the ottoman.

I then divided that number in half. 

I did this because the bottom pieces the ottoman that the builder had added for strength prevented one whole sheet of OSB from being added.

Step#5

I initially cut a piece of OSB 34” x 34”. Then I cut in the middle/in half so there were now two pieces measuring 35” x 17.5”.

I still had the dilemma of the two pieces of wood that the builder used in two of the corners. Here is how I handled it.

I took one of the pieces of wood I had knocked out with the hammer and traced it on the corresponding corners of OSB with marker. 

 Then cut out the little rectangles.

It fits!

Step#6

I took L braces and screwed them in to the OSB boards while it was outside of the ottoman. I tried doing it while it was inside, yeah, that didn’t work.

I then maneuvered one of the boards into the appropriate place and pushed it in until it moved the cushion inside of the ottoman to the place it was originally located and screwed it into place.

I repeated the same steps for the other board with the other side of the ottoman. 

Step#7

I took our staple gun and stapled 

the dust cover back in place.

Then I screwed the ottoman feet back on.

I set it right side up.

Materials                       Cost

OSB Board- leftover from another project   0.00

3-4 packs of L braces-           11.31

Staple guns and staples- already had  0.00

Phillips head screw driver-already had  0.00

Flat head screw driver- already had   0.00

Pliers – already had              0.00

Measuring tape- already had           0.00

Marker- already had              0.00

Bowl- from the kitchen             0.00

Hammer- already had             0.00

Jig saw- already had                     0.00

Drill- awesome birthday present from my parents  0.00

Total Cost
                                11.31