How To Fix A Wobbly Office Chair?

There is nothing more annoying than going to take a seat at your desk, and all of a sudden, your office chair is moving in all weird and wonderful directions. You might be wondering why your chair is wobbling and how you can fix this.

Below, we are going to share with you reasons why your desk chair might wobble. We will also share ways in which you can fix different types of desk chairs.

Why Is My Desk Chair Wobbly?

Uneven legs.

 

One of your office chair legs might be higher than another. This often happens when you have an office chair with adjustable leg lengths. Turn your chair upside down so that you can see if this is the case for your chair.

Chair joints might be overworked.

Office chairs are designed to hold a lot of weight, but the joints might be getting a bit old and need some TLC over time. Have a look at the joints of your chair. If you find a gap, chip, or any other form of damage, then your joints might need to be replaced or repaired.

Steel or metal parts in the chair might be rusted over.

Any form of metal placed on office chairs has often been treated with chemicals so that the metal does not rust over. Unfortunately, you need to keep up with the lubrication and metal treatments, and if you have not done that, some of the parts might have rusted. This creates gaps in the chair’s design and can cause the chair to wobble in strange places.

The chair is old.

It is sad but true. Office chairs are not meant to last forever. Over time, the chair just doesn’t work and function as well as it should. An office chair that is ten years or older is well-made. You got your money’s worth with that product.

The temperature and humidity might have changed.

If you have an office chair with wooden components, temperature and humidity can cause issues for your office chair. When humidity is higher than expected, the moisture in the air causes the wood to swell. This will force the screws in the chair to loosen.

The higher temperature can cause the glue to become sticky, and gaps will once again form in the design of your chair or can cause parts to become loose. This can cause your chair to wobble.

You may have missing parts, or something might be broken.

This is an obvious problem for you to check. Design flaws do happen. There might be a missing part to your chair, a screw has come loose and fallen out, or something is damaged. Inspect your chair closely and  the area around your chair to make sure nothing is lying on the ground.

Wheels on swizzle chairs might be damaged or clogged.

You might find that when the wheels of your office chair become dirty and clogged, you cannot roll around as well as you used to. If something is stuck inside your wheel, this can cause the height of the one wheel to rise, which will cause your chair to become unsteady.

Turn your chair upside down and scrutinize your wheels. Take out any gunk that might be sitting in the wheels and see if that fixes the problem.

The seat might wobble from wear and tear.

The chair takes your weight as well as the weight of others daily. The stem and base of the chair might be alright, but the seat itself might be causing you some issues. Over time, the seat can shift slightly, causing it to wobble. The office chair seat might also be damaged.

Inspect your seat and see if you can find a crack, missing pieces, or a gap that should not be there.

The surface underneath the chair might be uneven.

Finally, the surface underneath your chair might be unstable. The flooring itself might have an issue, your chair might be placed between a gap in the tiles, or your floor mat adhesives are not positioned correctly. All of these issues can cause your chair to wobble and become uncomfortable.

How Do You Fix A Wobbly Chair?

To fix your chair, you will need:

• The correct screwdriver
• Replacement screws
• A bowl to place the small pieces into
• A piece of paper to write down which element connects
• Clean cloth to wipe down the chair
• Lubricant and or treatment for the correct materials that your chair is made from

Now that we have a better understanding of why your chair might wobble, let’s look at how you can fix the issues.

How to fix a swizzle chair?

If you find that one of the wheels is damaged or too clogged to clean, you can  replace all the wheels.

Go to your local store and buy office wheels that will fit your office chair. Replace them at home, and you will solve the problem at hand.

If the wheels are not the problem, but your chair is still wobbling, turn your chair upside and inspect your base. It is the part where the seat is fitted to the stem and the wheels. Sometimes the seat can move, and the screws can become loose. Tighten the screws, and the seat should stop moving around.

How to fix a wooden office chair?

If your office chair legs are made from wood, there is an easy fix that you can do at home. All you need to do is buy a furniture tack. The tack will help add height to the one leg that might be slightly shorter than your other chair legs.

First, you will need to measure the other leg lengths to know which size to buy. Turn your chair upside down and hammer in the furniture tack to the leg that is shorter. You might need to do a test a few times and make sure you got the correct height.

If it is still too short, you can hammer in the tack more. Make sure you treat the chair’s wood so that the humidity and temperature do not damage the wood and cause it to swell. If the wood is not treated, it will cause further problems in the future.

You should treat your wood once every six months to ensure your wood stays in perfect condition for as long as possible.

How to fix a stationed desk chair?

Office chairs that do not move are harder to fix as there can be several things wrong with the chair.

The legs are the problem.

If you have found that one of the legs is loose, you can take the legs off, replace all the screws with new screws and place the legs back on the chair. Make sure you tighten everything correctly so that nothing falls off or becomes loose once again.

If you have found that one of the legs on your chair is broken, you can fix the leg, but it is suggested that you replace the chair.

If the legs are made from metal and have started to rust, it is unsafe for you to use that chair. You can fall and hurt yourself when the legs finally do decide to give in and break completely.

The seat is the issue.

Your seat might become uneven from sitting in the same position for too long. You can get the seat stuffed with more inner stuffing so that your seat is comfortable once again.

Turn your chair upside down and inspect your seat base. The screws that hold the seat in place might have come loose. Screw in the screws and ensure that they are tight. This will bring your seat back to the correct position and should stop your chair from wobbling.

If the seat’s base is broken, you should not  try and repair the base yourself. You can either call the manufacturers and ask for a base and seat replacement. This might be expensive and can take time.

Alternatively, you can recycle your office chair and buy a new chair. Keeping a broken seat can become dangerous as the base will eventually give in, and you will fall and hurt yourself. It is safer for you to replace the chair instead of fixing it.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many reasons why your office chair might become wobbly over time. If you find that your office chair is unstable and  brand new,  send the chair back and get a new one. You do not want a chair that has issues from the beginning.

There are several different ways in which you can fix your office chair at home. Remember, when you take your chair apart, you should always take a picture beforehand to know how to put the chair back together. Alternatively, label each part so that you know which part connects.