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10 Common Home Office Chair Problems And How To Fix Them

10 Common Home Office Chair Problems And How To Fix Them

An uncomfortable chair is a nightmare but you don’t need to throw out an office chair because it’s uncomfortable.

You just need to follow our simple guide to fixing the problems that are stopping the chair from being comfortable.

The Chair Shaft Keeps Sinking

The sinking office chair is the worst. You set the chair seat to the right height, jump on the office chair and watch it sink.

This is one of the most common office chair problems and it can be fixed by:

  1. Restoring the chair shaft. It’s a cheap and easy repair but not always effective. Take off the base and then the user should cover the shaft in WD-40 and it’s done.
  2. Replace the shaft. This is easy enough assuming you can get a shaft for your office chair – it needs to be the right size.
  3. Block the passage of the shaft. Not so much a repair as a bodge job but you can use something like a hard plastic wedge to stop the shaft from moving.

The Chair Shaft Won’t Sink

This is the opposite problem to the last one and is also pretty common in office chairs there are three main reasons for this issue – you don’t weigh enough, the lever on the shaft is loose, or the shaft isn’t working properly.

Fix it by:

  • Gaining weight. No. Not really. But ask someone bigger and heavier than you to test the chair – if it moves properly, use a different chair.
  • Fix the lever. Open the shaft housing on the office chair, find the lever, tighten the screw(s) and then close it back up.
  • Fix the shaft. As in the first example – you can either restore or replace the shaft.

The Chair Won’t Recline

Another issue with office chairs is that they often don’t recline properly – this can be fixed by:

  • Loosening the tension knob. The tension knob can get too tight to let the seat move properly. Just turn it counterclockwise and you’ll loosen up the springs inside.
  • Fix the recline knob. Open the shaft housing, find the recline knob and reposition the pin so that it connects with the recliner spring.
  • Fix or replace the recliner spring. Either push it back in place or replace it if it’s broken.

The Chair Leans Forward

This is going to be a problem with the forward tilt knob on the office chair. Fix it by:

  • Tightening it – just turn it clockwise
  • Unsticking it – clean the mechanism and spray with WD-40. You’ll need to open the shaft housing on the office chair to get to it.
  • Replacing the pin in the mechanism – open up the shaft housing and see if the pin is dislodged or broken. Either way, replace it.

The Chair Tilts To One Side

Super common and very easy to repair – replace any broken or bent pins or mounts in the tilt mechanism. If the mechanism itself is cracked and you can weld, you can weld it back together.

Office Chairs That Make A Noise

Clicking and popping noises are really common with office chairs and they’re very easily fixed.

Clean all the shaft, bearings, and washers, and make sure to put WD-40 on when appropriate. On the bearings we recommend Lucas Oil Heavy-Duty Grease.

The Chair Keeps Losing A Caster (Or Casters)

Your office chair will start to suck if every time you take a seat, the wheels (or casters) fall off.

The good news is that wheels are easy to keep attached – you can stick some paper in the gap with a pin to fasten it – this firms up the grip on the caster.

Or you can just go right ahead and use some superglue to get the job done.

The Chair Casters Are Packed With Hair

This is horrible but your office chair spends all day rolling over the floor and your office floor is almost certainly covered in human hair – which will get in the casters.

Fix this by:

  • Clipping out the hair using scissors or tweezers
  • Disassembling the caster and pulling it out
  • Replacing the casters themselves

We’ve got some great tips on dealing with an office chair with casters here.

The Chair Won’t Stop Rolling

There are many types of office chairs and we’d recommend buying one without wheels if you have a shiny floor.

But if you find your chair keeps rolling around after you bought it? You can remove the casters, put the chair on a rug in your office, use a stopper or use lockable casters to fix office chairs with an endless roll.

The Chair Wrecks Your Hardwood Flooring

If your office chairs (by the way, we recommend you buy sustainable office chairs) scratch your floors, then you can place duct tape on the casters, use a rug or replace the casters with rollerblade casters to reduce the damage.

Fixing chairs is actually much easier than you might expect though if you want to install a gas lift, you might be better off outsourcing that to a professional.

Otherwise, just follow the tips above and you should find it very easy to stay sitting comfortably.

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