Upholstery · Essendon
Essendon sits across the north of Melbourne from our Eltham North workshop, so we collect and return by arrangement and can take more than one piece in the same trip: period armchairs for recovering, recliners with tired mechanisms, and timber that wants French polishing.
Send a photo for a quote Call 0425 832 619What we do
For Essendon households we recover sofas, lounges and dining chairs, repair frames, springs, webbing and recliner mechanisms, French polish period timber and restore antiques with traditional methods.
Local
Essendon lies north-west of the city, a little over thirty kilometres from our Eltham North workshop by road and around forty minutes allowing for traffic, with most of the northern suburbs in between. It is not a suburb we pass through on the way to somewhere else, so collection and return are by arrangement: we agree a day with you ahead of time rather than turning up on spec.
The housing stock shapes the kind of furniture that is worth repairing here. The older streets hold Victorian and Edwardian houses kept in the family, the blocks further out are largely interwar homes, and closer to the station and along the main road there are apartments where a single good armchair has to earn its floor space. Established families hold onto furniture across a couple of generations, and that is exactly the furniture worth repairing rather than replacing.
Being on the other side of town, it makes sense to start by photo and phone rather than a drop-in, which is how we quote anyway. You send a picture, we come back with a price and a plan, and the first time we meet is on your doorstep when we come to collect.
From the bench
Because Essendon is a trip rather than a detour, the jobs that make sense to send us are the ones where the work matters: a lounge with a sound frame and a worn cover, an armchair that has been recovered once and is due again, a pair of dining chairs from a set of eight that have gone soft while the rest are fine.
Recliners are a job in their own right. A recliner that has stopped locking, jerks halfway through its travel or has a motor that hums and does nothing usually has a mechanism problem rather than a frame problem, and the mechanism can be repaired or swapped without touching the cover. Where the leather on a newer recliner has begun to peel, that is bonded or PU leather rather than hide, and the practical fix is a recover in a close-match vinyl.
Period timber is the other thread. Dining tables, sideboards and the show-wood on Edwardian chairs are prone to a finish that has gone cloudy, ringed or worn through on the arms. Our French polisher brings those back by hand, and because upholstery and polishing share a roof, a chair can be re-covered and re-polished in the one visit without a second trip across town.
Period homes, hard use
On a Victorian or Edwardian chair the fault is rarely the timber. It is the sprung seat underneath: webbing that has stretched and let go, springs that have dropped out of line, a horsehair pad that has flattened. We strip that back, replace the hessian and webbing outright rather than patching the perished parts, keep and re-card the original horsehair where it is still sound, and re-tie the springs nine-way by hand where the frame was built for it.
Interwar lounges and anything newer are a different job. Those seats want foam, and we use Dunlop HR35 high-resilience foam in 200 density for a firm seat or 165 for something you sink into, backed by Dunlop's ten-year warranty. The cover matters as much as the foam: for a family lounge we suggest at least 25,000 Martindale rubs, and 30,000 or more if a large dog shares it. Our guide to pet-friendly and kid-proof fabrics goes through the ratings.
Apartment pieces bring their own constraint. Where a lift or a narrow stair is involved we check the piece can be carried out before we quote for collection. For a small leather repair on a single cushion we would point you to Austex commercial-grade vinyl in a close match, because leather is sold by the whole hide and a small patch can mean buying far more than the job needs. There is more in our leather versus vinyl guide.
How we work
Three trades share our Eltham North workshop: a restorer and French polisher with fifty years at it, a machinist with thirty, and an upholsterer with twenty-two, close to a hundred years between us. For an Essendon job that means one collection, one return, and no waiting on a subcontractor in between. Frames are re-glued, springs re-tied or webbing replaced, seats rebuilt on Dunlop HR35 foam, covers cut and sewn, timber polished, all under the one roof.
Hardwood frames we build carry a thirty-year guarantee on the frame itself, and we are fully insured for the collection, the work and the return. The workshop is a residential address rather than a showroom, and Essendon customers are welcome to make the trip over to see the bench and go through fabric samples, though it is best to call first.
Worth knowing
Essendon has upholsterers closer to hand than us, so it is fair to ask what you get for the extra distance.
A proper quote spells out what is being replaced and what is being kept: foam grade and density, whether springs are re-tied or webbing renewed, what happens to the frame, and the fabric metreage and its wear rating. We price the actual work in front of us, which is why on some jobs we come in lowest and on others we do not. What we aim for is a high-end finish at a mid-tier price. If a quote lands well below what quality foam and fabric cost at wholesale, something has been left out, usually the part you cannot see once the cover goes on.
If you are comparing several quotes, our guide on how to choose an upholsterer in Melbourne lists the questions worth asking each one.
Good to know
Yes. By road it is a little over thirty kilometres from the workshop to Essendon, call it forty minutes in normal traffic, and we collect and return there by arrangement. It is a dedicated trip rather than a suburb we pass through, so we book the collection day with you ahead of time.
Take a photo of the piece, including any worn or damaged spots, and send it through the form on this page or text it to 0425 832 619. We reply within 24 hours, and the quote is firm once you have chosen your fabric.
Two quotes for the same sofa can differ because one includes new foam, re-tied springs and a re-glued frame and the other only replaces the cover. Fabric quality and metreage move the price too. Ask each upholsterer to list exactly what is being replaced; a quote below the wholesale cost of good materials has left something out.
Yes. Loose covers, open seams, foam that collapsed within a year or springs that were never re-tied can all be put right. Send a photo and we will say honestly whether it is a small correction or a full redo. Our guide to fixing a bad reupholstery job covers what to look for.
Usually not. A recliner that will not lock, sticks partway or has a dead motor almost always has a mechanism fault, and mechanisms, manual or electric, can be repaired or replaced without disturbing the upholstery. If the cover is peeling too, that is bonded leather and we can recover the arms and seat in a matching vinyl at the same time. See our recliner page.
Yes. Tell us which floor and whether there is a lift or stairs when you send the photo, and we will plan the carry-out. For tight access we may ask for a doorway or stairwell measurement first.
If the frame is hardwood and the joints are tight, almost always. A period chair rebuilt with new webbing, re-tied springs and its original horsehair re-carded will outlast most new furniture. Our is it worth it guide walks through how to judge a piece.
We do, under the same roof. Our French polisher has fifty years at the trade and handles dining tables, sideboards, chair frames and show-wood arms. A chair from Essendon can have its timber restored and its seat recovered in a single collection and return.
Drop-in dining seats can be turned around the same or next day with notice. A sofa or lounge is usually about a couple of weeks once the fabric arrives, and fabric lead time is outside our control.
We also collect from Moonee Ponds, Strathmore, Aberfeldie, Essendon North and Niddrie by arrangement, and cover the rest of the north through Ivanhoe and Eltham. If you are anywhere in that stretch, send a photo and we will arrange a collection.
For one damaged cushion or a scuffed arm, vinyl is normally the sensible answer. Leather is sold by the hide, so a small repair can mean buying a whole hide. Austex commercial-grade vinyl in a close-match colour is wipeable, hard-wearing and costs about the same per metre as entry-level leather.
Yes. We build bed heads, ottomans, window seats and bench cushions to measure, so a piece fits a bay window or an alcove in an older house exactly. Hardwood frames we build carry our thirty-year frame guarantee.
Nearby
Work in Essendon is run out of the same Eltham North workshop as the rest of our furniture reupholstery work across Melbourne. For the full range of what we take on, start at the Dylberry Design upholstery workshop.
Local to Essendon, send a photo of your sofa, chairs or piece and we'll come back with a rough price. Pickup & delivery by arrangement.
Send a photo of your piece and we'll come back with a rough price, no obligation, no pressure.
Send a photo for a quote Call 0425 832 619