Office chair troubleshooting guide

This guide will give you information about extending the life of your chair, making sure it is safe and ensuring it is giving you the best posture and comfort.

Re-upholstery

Back Centre can provide you with a quote to fully or partially reupholster your chair. This will fix:

• Torn or worn fabric
• Flat seat foam, resulting in the seat feeling hard and the user feeling pressure under their thighs or buttocks

Replacement of the castors

Replacing castors is quick, low cost and can be done at your workplace while your wait.
Replace the castors if:

• One or more castors are broken or not rolling freely
• The chair is rolling away (especially a problem on smooth polished floors). Change to friction castors or glides

Chair service and repairs

A myriad of chair problems, large and small, can be fixed by our skilled technician, including when the:

• Chair is leaning to one side
• Chair squeaks
• Chair seat, backrest or armrests wobble or move too much when weight is applied. (A small amount of movement is normal)
• Backrest adjustments are not working
• Armrests are bent out, broken or worn
• 5-star base is broken

Replacing the gas

Gas lifts (also called gas struts and cylinders) eventually lose their ability to work. Replacing the gas lift is quick and cheap. Do this when:

• The chair is sinking over the day or not holding its correct height
• The chair height is not positioning the user at the right height for correct keying posture

Adding more lumbar support to the backrest

A chair backrest should ideally have a shape which is a good match for your spinal curves. If the chair backrest is not supporting your back correctly you can experience slumped sitting posture and back (or shoulder/neck) pain. There are many lumbar cushions which can be added to chairs to improve this problem. Try this if:

• The backrest is not giving enough low back support
• The backrest is pushing the upper back or shoulders into a rounded or slumped position
• You find it difficult to keep an upright sitting posture

The following seating issues cannot be rectified

Replace the chair if:

• The seat is too deep for the user i.e. the edge of the seat presses into the back of the calves when the hips are fully back in the seat
• The seat depth is too short for the user, i.e. there is 1/3 or more of the thigh overhanging the seat
• The chair armrests stop the user from sitting close to the desk and are unable to be removed
• There are splits, cracks or breakage to shell of the seat or backrest
• The weight rating of chair is not adequate for the weight of the user
• The chair is unstable – it is possible for the user to tip the chair over

To find out more about chair repairs, or to talk over your chair concerns, please call us on 08 8351 0666 or visit our Repair Service page.

Back Centre also offers workstation and chair assessments. Our Occupational Therapist can assess and advise on all aspects of seating, ergonomics and workplace health.