Patio Chair Sling Replacement in Tucson

New slings bring a sagging or split chair back to a tight, flat seat. Typical Tucson pricing is $85 to $120 per chair, $105 to $160 per chaise lounge, and $70 to $80 per ottoman, fabric and labor included. Sling work is done in the shop: we pick up the frames, fit new fabric, and bring them back.

What a sling is, and how it fails

A sling is a panel of woven mesh with a pocket sewn along each side. A rod or spline goes into each pocket, and the pocket slides into a channel (the rail) on each side of the chair. The rails are bolted to the frame, and the bolts hold the fabric stretched between them.

The common sling fabrics are all a polyester yarn with a PVC coating, woven into an open mesh. That coating is what the sun attacks. Tucson averages about 85 percent of its possible sunshine, and as the coating breaks down the fabric relaxes, sags, fades and finally splits, usually along the front edge of the seat or right where it enters the rail. Our sling sagging or split and mesh tearing at the rail pages cover the two failures in detail.

Typical sling replacement prices

These match the pricing page. They are drawn from published price lists of sling shops, which run $85 to $95 for a one-sling chair and $105 to $155 for a chaise, and from a national cost guide that puts the average chair at $75 to $150. Premium fabrics and odd-shaped pieces sit at the top.

Sling fabrics we use

You will hear three names on nearly every sling quote:

• Phifertex. A vinyl-coated polyester mesh. Phifertex Plus is the very heavyweight version, built for the extra strength a seat needs.
• Textilene. Twitchell’s woven PVC-coated polyester. Textilene 80 blocks up to 80 percent of the sun’s rays, Textilene 2x2 is a heavy-duty sling weave, and Sunsure is engineered for resistance to fading, mildew and wear.
• Batyline. Serge Ferrari’s PVC-coated, high-tenacity polyester mesh, made to resist stretching.

All three are the same basic recipe, so the choice is mostly about weight, weave, color and price. Our post on sling fabrics explained goes through them side by side. For a chair that sits in full afternoon sun, we steer toward the heavier weights.

How we replace a sling

1. Measure and photograph each piece, including the rail length, the width at the top and bottom (many seats are wider at the front), and the pocket size.
2. Strip the old sling. End caps off, rail bolts out, rails off the frame. The old sling is usually cut down the middle and pulled from the rails.
3. Check the frame. With the rails off, this is the best moment to see the welds, the bolt holes and the finish. If a weld is cracked or the frame needs powder coating, we call you before going further.
4. Clean the rail channels so the new pocket slides in without catching.
5. Fit the new sling. Splines into the pockets, fabric slid into both rails, stretched to length, then the bolts started a little at a time, alternating sides so every bolt bites. A spreading clamp pre-stretches the rails enough to start the threads.
6. Spreader bars back in, caps on, and the seat checked for wrinkles and even tension.

When the rail bolts are the real problem

Old chairs often have rail bolts that are seized, stripped or rounded off. Tropitone’s own care guide tells owners to tighten hardware regularly because loose hardware leads to bolt failure and breakage. A stripped hole can usually be repaired, but it adds time, and it is listed as its own line on the quote. See rails loose or bolts stripped.

Slings or straps?

If your chair has individual bands rather than one panel of fabric, it is a strap chair, and vinyl strap restrapping is the service you want. Some frames can take either. A strap chair converted to a sling is not a straight swap, because the frame has to have rails, so ask before you plan on it.

Logistics, honestly

• Pickup and return. We pick up the frames, fit the slings in the shop, and bring them back. Any trip charge for the farther towns is on the quote.
• Timing. Phoenix sling shops publish minimum lead times of about four weeks in busy periods. Winter is Tucson’s patio season, so fall is busy here too. We give you a date for your pieces when we quote.
• Cushions. Many sling chairs take a seat pad. If yours are flat or faded, our replacement cushions can be made to fit while the frames are in.

Is it worth it?

A good sling frame from a maker like Winston or Tropitone carries a 15-year structural warranty on the aluminum, which tells you how long the maker expects the frame to last. The fabric is the wear part. If the frame is sound, slinging it again is almost always cheaper than a comparable new chair. If the frame is light, bent or already corroding through, we will say so. The sling and strap cost calculator prices a whole set in a few clicks.