Old church chairs can last for years, sometimes over a decade, but you'll need to eventually repair the chair or replace them. Repairs are a great option when they're justified by cost, but when costs are close to buying new chairs, you might want to think about a full chair replacement.

A few of the reasons to replace church furniture chairs include:

Breaking Components

First, your chair needs to be safe and sturdy for your churchgoers. If the chair has breaking components, it's time to replace it. The breaking components are going to include items that cannot be repaired, such as:

• Arms that are breaking or have jagged edges;
• Major cracks in the leg of the chair;

You should routinely review your chairs to make sure that the components are in good condition. If you find that the chair is beyond repair or is routinely needing to be fixed because it's in such bad shape, it may be time to replace it.

Chairs Are Not Level Balanced with the Ground

A comfortable chair is a balanced chair. If your chairs are not properly balanced, it may be that the legs of the chair are worn down. Some chairs may have been in use for decades or over multiple generations.

Moving the chairs on the ground, kids sitting hard on the chairs and even temperature changes will impact the balance of the chair.

Climate control will help ensure that your chair legs remain straight and intact. However, time will cause most chairs to break down. If the chair is wobbling, it's time to replace it. The sturdiness of the chair will improve overall comfort and also allow congregation members to have a comfortable place to sit.

Unrepairable Rips, Frays, Or Stains in the Fabric

You can research how to clean chair fabric and even sew up rips in chairs, but you will need to replace the chair seat at some point during your ownership. In some cases, the seat itself cannot be replaced and the entire chair will need to be swapped out.

A few of the times when the fabric is so worn that it warrants replacing the entire chair include:

• Rips in the fabric
• Fabric that is beginning to fray and unravels
• Stains on the fabric that won't come out

You can spend a lot of time trying to fix your chair's fabric, but you'll need to eventually replace the chair. Often, patching one chair will make the chair stand out and not look as good as others in the congregation.

Of course, you should try making minor repairs to the chair's fabric, but there will be a time when the fabric or seat simply can't be repaired again. In this case, you'll want to replace the chair.

Chairs Have Unsafe Components

Broken components may be minor, or they may be serious and dangerous to the member. You'll know if the component is unsafe if it:

• Cracks a lot to the point where it sounds like it's cracking;
• Sharp edges may cause injury to the person;
• Pieces of wood are splintering and may injure someone;

Chairs should be safe. You owe it to anyone who comes into your church to provide them with a safe environment where they can worship. If your chair is unsafe, it needs to be replaced.

Uncomfortable Chairs After a Long Term of Use

How long can someone comfortably sit in your chairs? People want to worship without having to reposition often because they're uncomfortable. Congregation members may even decide to go to another church or avoid coming to your service if their chairs are uncomfortable.

If the chairs have too little padding or are uncomfortable, it may be time for an upgrade.

New, padded chairs will provide you with years of use and keep members comfortable when sitting in their chairs. If there's one investment that churches can be confident that their members will love, it's an investment in comfortable chairs - every church member will love them.

In Conclusion

Sometimes, used church chairs must be replaced. If your chairs have any of the above issues, you'll better serve your congregation by replacing the old, tattered chairs. Seating is one investment that will get a lot of use and be appreciated by your congregation.