That day when you ask a quote to repair the cane webbing on your chair and the restorer tells you, sorry, here is a very pricey quote for you chair because it is handwoven…
Yes , handwoven rattan is very expensive for mostly 2 reasons. The chair cane is imported from China and is expensive. Secondly, that is many, many hours of intensive labour. There are no shortcuts weaving a seat. Every line is worked through the holes, line by line. It is a minimum of a 6 step procedure (6 layer of rattan). And if you are in a position where you hire labourers, or you have a house keeper, you should know what labour costs.
Click this link to get an idea of how it is done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23IV6ghWAW4. Now, the are restorers out there, and I call them unscrupulous, who will offer to “soften the blow” by modifying the frame so it accepts the cheaper cane webbing. So, what happens? To start with, you have a wooden frame that is already weakened by 60 to 120 holes drilled through it. So the easy way now is to grab a router and cut a 6mm wide and 6mm deep groove through the holes, where the cane webbing can be pressed into, followed by 5mm spline pressed into the groove on top of the webbing. A perfect idea in theory, but…
Take a look and ask yourself how wood is left to support any weight? You antique chair was just set up to break. It is destroyed. It will break through the groove and the holes.
NEVER EVER fall for that “solution”. If you cannot afford to have it rewoven, rather have a good upholster fit a cushion in such a way that you can in future, remove the cushion and have it rewoven. That way your chair will still be intact.
Please do not be tempted to accept this cheap, but ultimate destructive solution. Not if you value you furniture.
Do you have rattan furniture needing restoration? Contact me with a picture of the furniture in question for an estimate. Yes, it is an estimate because pictures don’t always tell the whole story, and once I see the actual piece, there may be other issues that also requires attention.
Get an estimate by using the contact form here (https://rattanandriempie.co.za/social-media) or the whatsapp at the left bottom corner of the page, or this link http://wa.me/27764989916.