tuna55
MegaDork
10/9/20 11:26 a.m.
My family visited a friend who got three stools when she bought her house. The squeaked. A lot. I added wax paper to the thin wood bracing shown below and the squeak stopped. This made them more sittable, and this made them get sat on, and this made two girls break them the next day and have some doubts as to their weight. Oops. I now want to fix them the right way. I cannot tell if the brace is stock or not, but without it seels awful. The upholstery is mega-stapled around the perimeter and you can't get to the top without pulling them all to add wood up there. Any thought of adding a braze across the same way as the current brace were dashed because something thin enough to fit between the frame and the upholstery is going to be as weak as this was, and something thicker would have to conform to the curved top, which is doubtful to be successful, and also feel like you're sitting on some wooden version of a Purple cushion. I'm thinking add batting stuffed in there and a piece of luan screwed to the bottom to cover it all. What say ye?
In reply to tuna55 :
I was afraid this was going to be about stool "samples"
I'm relieved it's not. 
Usually a banana will keep it together, celery and popcorn move it through quickly, and coffee every day keeps me regular.
Indy "Nub" Guy said:
In reply to tuna55 :
I was afraid this was going to be about stool "samples"
I'm relieved it's not.
I'm disappointed, honestly.
I think you're going to have a hard time adding enough structure to make it strong enough to sit on from the bottom, since you really need the support to sit on the perimeter of the stool.
Upholstery is actually pretty easy, buy yourself a staple puller like this one and pop them all out, then add a piece of thin plywood and staple the cover back on.
Fiber or fiberboard. But definitely fiber.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/9/20 1:07 p.m.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:
Fiber or fiberboard. But definitely fiber.
What do you mean "fiber"? I'm familiar with MDF but that seems to be too weak on something this thin.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/9/20 1:08 p.m.
cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) said:
I think you're going to have a hard time adding enough structure to make it strong enough to sit on from the bottom, since you really need the support to sit on the perimeter of the stool.
Upholstery is actually pretty easy, buy yourself a staple puller like this one and pop them all out, then add a piece of thin plywood and staple the cover back on.
Do you think this is better than filling the cavity and adding plywood to the bottom?
tuna55 said:
cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) said:
I think you're going to have a hard time adding enough structure to make it strong enough to sit on from the bottom, since you really need the support to sit on the perimeter of the stool.
Upholstery is actually pretty easy, buy yourself a staple puller like this one and pop them all out, then add a piece of thin plywood and staple the cover back on.
Do you think this is better than filling the cavity and adding plywood to the bottom?
Would you rather stand on a platform made from a piece of plywood screwed to the bottom of some 2x4s or sitting on top of them? I wouldn't necessarily trust whatever wood they used for the frame to be strong enough to hold the screws in tension.
I assume the cushion on top is already pretty thick, it looks like there are a couple tufts on top? I'd worry that unless you use some firm upholstery grade foam (expensive) it's going to turn into a big marshmallow if you turn that whole cavity into the cushion.
Wouldn't wax paper make two surfaces slippery together? Loosen the screws-bolts on the corner braces and squirt some wood glue on the mating surfaces. Do the same with the horizontal (hard wood?) brace and the (pine?) vertical one.
Can't make it worse ......
tuna55
MegaDork
10/9/20 5:24 p.m.
914Driver said:
Wouldn't wax paper make two surfaces slippery together? Loosen the screws-bolts on the corner braces and squirt some wood glue on the mating surfaces. Do the same with the horizontal (hard wood?) brace and the (pine?) vertical one.
Can't make it worse ......
It's not squeaking there, it's between the cardboard and the wooden (now broken) brace.
Magnesium is a good softener as well.
What's the seat made of?
It sounds like the seat bottom is failing. The plywood (or other) that the upholstery is attached to.
Remove the upholstery and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom.
Alternate... leave the upholstery, remove the bracing, and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom (inside the frame). Support with small cleats around perimeter.
I was gonna say, we'll need to take a sample before we can decide how to fix it. 
Lots of extra wood pieces all braced together at various angles. I dunno, I'm not an engineer but lots of extra pieces has to help.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:
Alternate... leave the upholstery, remove the bracing, and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom (inside the frame). Support with small cleats around perimeter.
this is your easiest fix. You could even glue (epoxy) the plywood to the bottom of the existing wood of the seat so it sits inside the frame and rests on the cleats.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/10/20 2:03 p.m.
thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) said:
tuna55 said:
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:
Fiber or fiberboard. But definitely fiber.
What do you mean "fiber"? I'm familiar with MDF but that seems to be too weak on something this thin.
Metamucil
Oh. I didn't catch the joke
tuna55
MegaDork
10/10/20 2:04 p.m.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:
What's the seat made of?
It sounds like the seat bottom is failing. The plywood (or other) that the upholstery is attached to.
Remove the upholstery and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom.
Alternate... leave the upholstery, remove the bracing, and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom (inside the frame). Support with small cleats around perimeter.
I can't take the frame apart without taking the upholstery off, so I did that. I used some scrap plywood and it looks pretty good. I need to get more plywood for the others and some string for the buttons.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/10/20 2:05 p.m.
mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:
Alternate... leave the upholstery, remove the bracing, and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom (inside the frame). Support with small cleats around perimeter.
this is your easiest fix. You could even glue (epoxy) the plywood to the bottom of the existing wood of the seat so it sits inside the frame and rests on the cleats.
The underside of the stool is curved, so that would be hard anyway.
Cut plywood to shape for the underside and install. Drill some holes many a couple rows of them about 4" apart down the center and the "install" low expansion spray foam in through the holes. Let cure and trim off what ever comes back out the holes.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/10/20 5:19 p.m.
dean1484 said:
Cut plywood to shape for the underside and install. Drill some holes many a couple rows of them about 4" apart down the center and the "install" low expansion spray foam in through the holes. Let cure and trim off what ever comes back out the holes.
What I said up there was past tense. I took the upholstery off and made the plywood for the top. I was warned that there approach you suggested would end up looking like a marshmellow.
tuna55 said:
mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:
Alternate... leave the upholstery, remove the bracing, and add a piece of plywood under the seat bottom (inside the frame). Support with small cleats around perimeter.
this is your easiest fix. You could even glue (epoxy) the plywood to the bottom of the existing wood of the seat so it sits inside the frame and rests on the cleats.
The underside of the stool is curved, so that would be hard anyway.
Not necessarily. Find your local West Marine Store. Not only can you buy epoxy by the gallon, but it comes with all sorts of powders you can mix in to make it more sticky and to change it's consistancy from a viscous liquid up to almost peanut butter. You can use the latter to afix a flat sheet of ply to curved wood.
I came for the poop. I am disappoint.
