Replacing a Lost Lazyboy Backrest

One of the great conveniences of most Lazyboy recliners is that the backrest can be easily unlatched and removed removed from the base of the chair.

This is really helpful in making the chair lighter and more manageable when you want to move the chair or to transport it to another location.However, if the Lazyboy is being transported with the mechanism of the backrest in the unlatched position, the back can fly off the chair and be lost. Then, what do you do with the remainder of the chair that you still have? Some of your choices are to dispose of the chair, to try to purchase a new backrest for the chair, or (if you are good at woodworking) to buiild a new backrest for the chair, or ????

This article is directed toward another posibility. If you try to build a new backrest one problem is that when you lost the backrest you also lost the upper part of the metal Lazyboy mechanism, which is attached to the backrest.

Also, even assuming that you could get a replacement of that mechanism from Lazyboy, making a functioning backrest is more complicated than just cutting and gluing wood together. You still have to drill holes in the right places at the correct angles.

I would suggest that you get on Craig's List and try to find an old Lazyboy recliner of any condition. (The style doesn't matter because the frames are very similar of most of the styles.) Even if you had to pay $40 to $100 or more for the old junkie lazyboy you would probably be time and money ahead over trying to build the frame of the backrest yourself. You could just take the backrest off that old Lazy boy and put in on your lazyboy. (when you go out to buy an old Lazyboy, take our Lazyboy chair base with and check that the back of the other recliner will fit your recliner. Also, sit in the old recliner and check to see how the backrest fits you.)

Once you have the replacement backrest for your Lazyboy, now what? The next step is to get it covered. You can either do it yourself or take it to an upholsterer. Here we will assume that you will be trying to recover it yourself.

Fabric

You best bet to try to match your existing fabric is to go back to the store where you bought the chair. You can often buy a couple more yards through them. If they are not able order more fabric, then you will probably have setting for a complimentary fabric. Trying to find an exact match is very difficult, but sometimes you might be able to find it, or something close.

Foam

The filling in the backrest is general foam, sometimes it also has a polyester batting around the foam base. Depending upon the style of the chair, The foam in some of the Lazyboy backrests have been molded to shape, so to duplicate it the foam needs to be cut and glued to shape. If you have an old backrest that you are recovering, you can use the old foam as a guide.

Making the Cover

Assuming that you have an old backrest, just take it off the frame and take the cover apart to use as a guide. (Before taking the cover apart, make some lineup marks on the back side along the seams.) Take pictures at the very begining and at each step only the way. Those pictures will be your guide as you put the chair back together.