What do you do?
My 9 person woodworking staff does re-caning of furniture pieces on a continuing basis (we do NOT do ‘wicker’ replacement — ONLY CANING).
What type of caning do you do? And how much?
There are two basic types of caning — ‘pressed cane’ and ‘hand cane.’ Pricing is dependent on the caning type and the size of furniture item needing caning.
Pressed caning is pre-woven caned rolls that require precise cut-out and fit-out to the exact size specifications of your chair. Once fitted and affixed, a caned spline is fitted and glued atop the caning as a protective and cosmetic final touch. The average price range for standard sized seats or backs is $375 to $475 per chair.
Hand caning is individual strands of cane that are interwoven and cross-tied, by hand, between and throughout pre-drilled holes in the entirety of a chair’s framework. The average price range for standard sized seats or backs is $475 to $575 per chair.
As an information item, there is a ‘subset’ of hand caning called ‘French caning’ or ‘blind caning’ that was occasionally and rarely used on antique furniture pieces. It’s very labor intensive and double the work involved in the above two most common caning methods. Very old antique chairs occasionally used this technique and it is VERY EXPENSIVE to reproduce it. The price to do this type of caning generally runs in the $875 to $975 price range (or more) per chair.
What type of material do you use?
All caning uses a natural, uncolored fiber. It ages and darkens by itself over time. Some customers prefer that their new caning have an age-patinated coloration rather than the uncolored appearance of the new caning. If a client wishes to have their new cane colored to match the old cane, there’s a $95 additional fee, per chair, to do so.
Do you provide a free estimate?
My workshop needs to visually see the type of caning on each chair as well as check out the weave design to provide final cost confirmation (no need to send photos as all work is quoted only after visual viewing).
You can call to make an appointment to bring your chair(s) to my Brookline workshop for drop off and a free price estimate (between 10-4 during the workweek).
Alternatively, you can call to schedule an on-site fee-associated home visit. The cost is $100 if within 30 minutes commute time of my Brookline business location). The fee is deducted directly from the job cost if my staff does the repair work.
Do you offer pickup and delivery?
Our staff can provide fee-associated pickup and redelivery services or you’re welcome to make your own transport arrangements.