Patio chair sling sagging, baggy or split

A sling that sags, feels baggy or has split is worn-out fabric, and the fix is a new sling: typically $85 to $120 per chair and $105 to $160 per chaise lounge in Tucson, fabric and labor included. Before you replace it, a two-minute check tells you whether the fabric or the frame is the problem.

Check this first

1. Tighten what you can. Look under the seat for the bolts that hold each side rail and any spreader bars across the frame. Tropitone’s care guide says hardware should be tightened regularly. If they are loose, snug them up and sit again.
2. Press the fabric. Push a thumb into the mesh near the front edge. If it feels stiff, papery or crunchy, or you see fine cracks in the coating, the fabric is breaking down.
3. Look along the rails. If the fabric is fraying or pulling out where it enters the channel, that is a different failure; see mesh tearing at the rail.
4. Check the frame. Rock the chair. If it wobbles or a joint moves, see wobbly chair or cracked weld before buying fabric.

What is usually wrong

Full ranges are on the pricing page.

Why slings fail fast in Tucson

Every common sling fabric, whether Phifertex, Textilene or Batyline, is a polyester yarn coated in PVC and woven into mesh. The coating is what takes the sun. Tucson gets about 85 percent of its possible sunshine and a normal of 68 days a year at 100 degrees or more, so a chair left out all year on an uncovered patio or pool deck is taking a heavy dose. Cost guides put standard sling mesh at about five to seven years and premium fabric at seven to ten or more; full desert sun pushes toward the lower end.

Sunscreen and suntan products do their own damage. Brown Jordan and Winston both say these can permanently stain sling materials, and neither covers it under warranty.

What a replacement involves

New slings are shop work. The end caps and rail bolts come off, the old sling is cut out, the rails are cleaned, and the new fabric is slid into both rails and stretched to length before the bolts are started a little at a time. A spreading clamp gets the tension needed. We pick up the frames and bring them back. The sling replacement page walks through it and covers fabric choices.

When to call

Call when the fabric fails the thumb test, when there is any split, or when the rail bolts will not tighten. Send a front and side photo of each chair and the brand if you know it. If several pieces need it, the sling and strap cost calculator prices the set.