Spent $400 on a salon chair from an online auction and it showed up with a cracked base

Bought it thinking I was getting a steal for my new booth rental in Nashville. The crack wasn't visible in the photos but showed up after two days of use - now it wobbles with every client. Anyone know if welding a chair base is even safe or am I just out the money?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wesley17d ago

I saw a welder on TikTok say you can fix chair bases with a steel plate underneath.

wright.leo16d ago

Whoa hold on @the_wesley, I gotta disagree with that one. A steel plate under a chair base really only works if the base itself is already solid and the floor is flat. Most of those cheap office chairs have the base crack or break right at the plastic hub where the gas cylinder goes in. Bolting a plate underneath just moves the stress somewhere else. I've seen chairs where people tried this and either the screws ripped through the plastic or the plate just bent over time. It's a bandaid fix at best unless you weld the plate to a metal base. By the time the plastic is giving out, the chair is usually ready for the dump anyway. I get the DIY spirit but sometimes its cheaper and safer to just buy a replacement base. TikTok hacks like this can lead to some nasty falls if you aren't careful.

leo_johnson14d ago

The welder on TikTok is probably using a thick steel plate and welding it onto a metal frame, not trying to bolt it onto plastic. Two totally different things. Most cheap chairs have a plastic center hub, and welding anything to plastic is obviously a no go. If the base is already metal and cracking, a plate might buy you a few months but the metal is tired anyway. I've had customers bring chairs in where the plate just bent over time because the chair gets picked up and dropped all day. Plastic bases especially just fatigue around the screws and crack in new spots. That TikTok hack might work for a couple weeks but a full base swap is like 20 bucks and way less risky.