Guide · upholstery in Melbourne
A sofa recover runs in six steps: a photo quote, pickup, strip-down to the bare frame, fabric arriving and being cut, the rebuild, then delivery. On the bench the work itself takes about a couple of weeks once the fabric lands, and fabric lead time is the one step nobody controls. A good workshop tells you what it found at every stage, with photos, before anything is covered up.
Last updated: October 2026
Get a free quoteCall 0425 832 619A quote starts with three photos (front, side and underside), the width, the age and what is wrong with it. We quote from the photo and make it firm once the fabric is chosen. Before work starts, settle four things in writing: price, fabric, deposit terms, and what happens if the inside is worse than it looked.
Most enquiries send one photo of the front, which tells us the style; the underside tells us the truth. Send:
Ask any quote to break out fabric, foam, springs and frame repairs, because a single number hides what was left out; we quote from the photo and firm the price once the fabric is chosen, and the drivers are on the cost guide.
Most workshops take a deposit on booking because fabric is cut to order and cannot be returned, so ask how much, what it covers and what is refundable before the roll is cut. We confirm this with you when we quote.
A quote that has not seen the underside is a guess with a number on it.
Clear a path about 90 centimetres wide to the door, take off loose cushions and throws, check under the seats for anything you want back, then photograph the piece from all four sides before it leaves. Pickup and delivery from our Eltham North workshop are by arrangement; we confirm the day and the access when we book the job in.
You do not need to clean a sofa first; the cover is coming off and going in the bin. What matters is telling us what a vacuum will not fix: a pet accident, a mould smell, a spill that reached the foam. Those change what we strip out, and a workshop that hears about them on the bench instead of at quote time has every right to revise the price. Leave a recliner mechanism attached; we service it while the piece is open.
Your four-sided photo is the condition record of every scuff on the show-wood before transport; a careful workshop takes its own set when the piece lands on the bench. Ask whether furniture is covered in the workshop's care and in transit (goods in custody and transit cover, not public liability). We confirm what applies to your piece when we quote.
Photograph it before it goes; a photo costs nothing and settles everything.
Strip-down takes off dust cover, top cover, Dacron, foam and usually the hessian, down to bare frame and springs. That is the only moment the truth is visible, so a careful workshop photographs the stripped frame before anything new goes on, and sends the pictures with any change to the quote. Ask for them; we show you what we find.
When we open a 10-year-old lounge the layers have nearly always failed in the same order: the Dacron has flattened, the foam has lost height, the elastic strapping has stretched and on sprung seats the clips have cracked, not the springs. On a fair share of the lounges that come in for sagging the fabric is still fine, which is why the sagging sofa repair page exists.
The surprises worth planning for:
A careful workshop stops here, sends the photos and gives you the choice; a quick one covers it up.
The stripped frame photo is the only honest picture of a sofa you will ever see.
Fabric usually lands one to three weeks after you choose it, imported ranges can run longer, and the job cannot move until it does. When the roll arrives we check it for flaws and dye lot, measure it against the order, and lay out every panel before cutting. The old cover panels are the pattern.
Every old panel is unpicked, pressed flat and used as the template for its replacement. On a shaped arm, that old panel is worth more than any drawing. A careful workshop keeps the old panels until the new cover is sewn, because they are the pattern. After that, ask what happens to them; if you want a piece back as a keepsake, say so before the strip-down. We confirm that with you when we quote.
Matching is where the metres go. A large repeat, a stripe or a velvet with a nap needs every panel running the same way and every pattern centred. Want fewer metres and a faster cut? Choose a plain or small-repeat cloth of 25,000 Martindale or better; on a three-seater a large repeat often adds a metre or more and a day of cutting.
The old cover is the best pattern there is, which is why we cut from it before we throw it out.
The rebuild goes back in reverse order of the strip: frame repairs first, then webbing or 9-way hand-tied springs, hessian, Dunlop HR35 foam, Dacron, the new cover, piping and the dust cover last. The final check is physical: sit in every seat, press every seam, line up every pattern, and fit every cushion to its cavity without a gap.
On residential seating the foam is Dunlop HR35, 200 firm in the seats and 165 medium in the backs. Springs are hand-tied nine ways so the seat moves as one; zigzag only if specified, plain webbing where that suits the piece. Fire-grade foam is standard on commercial and venue work and available on any job when specified.
Our machinist, 30 years at the machine, sews every panel of the cover. I fit it, 22 years at the bench. Scratched show-wood goes to our French polisher, 50 years in the trade, while the piece is apart.
The final check is not a glance across the workshop; it is sitting in it the way you will.
At delivery you should be told four things: what was found and fixed inside, which foam and springs went in, how to care for the new cover, and which warranty covers which part. For us that is the 30-year guarantee on the hardwood frame, the 10-year Dunlop warranty on the foam, and the fabric's own cleaning code.
Fabric and foam wear, so they are not covered by the 30 years; the frame is. Before the sofa comes home, measure three points: the doorway, the hallway turn and any stair landing, because fresh foam can sit 2 to 3 centimetres taller in the seat.
The most common thing we hear at the door in Eltham North is a customer pressing the seat and asking whether it is meant to be that firm. It is: HR35 at 200 is firm by design and feels firmer than you remember for a few weeks.
A delivery that comes with no explanation came from a workshop that did not look closely.
A careful workshop photographs the stripped frame, replaces the clips and strapping rather than packing foam over them, uses the old cover as a template, and tells you what it found before covering it. A quick one quotes from the front photo, strips and covers in one movement, and hands back a one-line invoice.
| Stage | Careful workshop | Quick workshop |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | Asks for the underside, prices by line | One figure from one photo |
| Deposit | Explains what it covers and what is refundable | Takes it, says nothing |
| Strip-down | Photographs the bare frame, calls about surprises | Covers over whatever is there |
| Suspension | Replaces clips and strapping | Packs more foam on top |
| Foam | Names the density and firmness | "New foam" |
| Old cover | Used as the template, offered back if asked | Binned on day one |
| Delivery | Explains warranties by part | Invoice only |
Expect at least four photos of the bare frame and a quote that runs to four or five lines, not one.
Retailer FAQs call a soft seat natural wear with no repair path. Every layer in a sofa is a part, and every part can be replaced. On-site repair suits fixed venue seating; for everything else the bench wins, because you cannot photograph a frame you have not stripped. How long each stage takes has its own page.
If a workshop will not show you the frame, assume it did not look.
Good to know
Most workshops take a deposit on booking because fabric is cut to order and cannot be returned once it leaves the supplier. Ask three questions before paying: how much, whether it covers the fabric or the labour, and what is refundable if you cancel before the roll is cut. A careful workshop puts the answer in writing on the quote. We confirm this with you when we quote.
No. The old cover comes off and is discarded, so cleaning it is wasted effort. A vacuum under the cushions is a courtesy, nothing more. What does matter is telling the workshop about anything a vacuum cannot fix: pet accidents, a mould smell, a spill that reached the foam. Those change what gets stripped out and replaced, and a workshop that learns about them on the bench rather than at quote time will revise the price.
Clear a path about 90 centimetres wide to the door, remove loose cushions, throws and anything down the sides, and photograph the piece from all four sides as a condition record. Measure the doorway and any tight turn so delivery is not a surprise. Leave recliner mechanisms attached. Tell the workshop about stairs, a lift, a long driveway or a second-floor apartment when you book, so the right number of people arrive.
The old cover is unpicked panel by panel and used as the cutting template for the new one, so a careful workshop keeps it until the new cover is sewn. After that it is scrap. Most ends up as landfill unless the workshop uses a textile recycler, so ask, and a small piece can be kept if you say so. Ask any upholsterer what they do with it before the strip-down, because once the panels are cut there is no going back.
Yes, if you say so before the strip-down. Once the new cover is cut, the old panels are no longer needed as a template and can go back to you for a cushion, a chair seat or a keepsake. Tell the workshop at quote time how much you want and which panel; the back panels are usually the largest and least worn. We confirm this with you when we quote, so nothing is thrown out by default.
Usually, yes, and it is a sensible time to do it because you are not living without a lounge. Allow four to six weeks door to door: fabric usually lands one to three weeks after you choose it, imported ranges can run longer, and the bench work is about a couple of weeks after that. Choose and order the fabric before you go, settle the deposit, the delivery date and who can let the workshop in, and ask how surprise findings will reach you while you are away.
Ask this before pickup, not after. A workshop should be able to tell you whether it carries cover for goods in its custody and in transit, which is separate from public liability. Your four-sided photo before pickup and the workshop's photo on arrival are the condition record both sides rely on, so ask whether the workshop photographs the piece when it lands on the bench. We confirm what applies to your piece when we quote.
Three photos (front, side and underside), the width in centimetres, the number of cushions, the age and maker if known, the problem in your own words, and whether you want fabric, leather or vinyl. Mention pets, smells, previous repairs and tight access. From that a workshop can quote from the photo and firm the price once the fabric is chosen. A quote given from the front photo alone is a guess.
Up until the roll is cut, usually yes, subject to whatever the supplier charges to take the fabric back and the delay while the new roll arrives. After it is cut, the fabric is yours and a change means paying for it twice. The strip-down and frame work are unaffected either way, so a change of heart in the first week rarely costs more than time. Ask the workshop the cut date and decide before it.
Ask to see where the piece sits between strip-down and fabric arrival. A stripped frame is stable and does not mind waiting the one to three weeks a roll usually takes, but it should be off the floor, under cover, away from damp. In a Melbourne winter bare hessian in an unheated shed can take on a damp smell within a fortnight. We keep stripped pieces inside the workshop, and visitors are welcome by arrangement if you want to see it.
You should expect to, without asking. A careful workshop photographs the bare frame at strip-down and sends the pictures with any change to the quote, because that is the only honest view of what was under the cover. If a workshop will not show you the stripped frame, assume it did not look closely. Ask for the photos; we show you what we find.
Measure the narrowest point the sofa has to pass, usually the door frame or a hallway turn, and compare it with the sofa's height and depth, not its width. Most sofas go through on their side or end. Add 2 to 3 centimetres for fresh foam in the seat. If it came out of the house, it goes back in, unless a renovation has changed the path since pickup, so mention any building work when you book delivery.
Send a photo or the dimensions of your booths, banquettes or venue seating and we'll come back with a rough price and turnaround.
Send us the drawings or details and we'll come back with a straight quote, no clout needed, just a great job.
Enquire about a job Call 0425 832 619