My wife bought a large ottoman (3'x3') from Overstock.com and it was damaged in shipping. We emailed to see if they could send us a new one but they don't have anymore. We really liked the ottoman and thought that since it was just a small crack that wasn't very noticeable we could deal with it. Well the crack has expanded and now it threatens the integrity of the ottoman. I was wondering if I drilled a hole from narrow edge of the wood on the bottom of the ottoman through the cracked piece of wood and place a long screw through it would it reinforce the wood or crack it further? Is there any way to salvage this crack from expanding and falling apart or should I just send it back?
If the crack is not exposed, you can get those truss plates for making deck joints at Home Depot, and screw one in, perhaps with some epoxy cement run into the dammed crack.
Drill small through holes (1/8 - 1/4 dia.) at each end of the crack to keep it confined.
Work epoxy glue into the crack with a toothpick/whatever. Do so with the part horizontal so the epoxy can run down into the crack. Protect anything under the crack or put a strip of masking tape over the under side of the crack.
Drill one or more screw holes as you suggested and pull the parts together as much as possible. If you have clamps, clamp the pieces together before drilling the screw holes. An alternate to screws would be dowels but I like screws better.
If you should use dowels, use 5/16 or 3/8, at *least* two, clamp the parts together before drilling the holes and drill the holes for them at opposing angles.
what are the odds that I'll make it worse by adding the screws. That's the big thing that I'm worried about - drilling the holes and screwing in the screws only to find that the wood cracks the opposite way and then I'll out about $400 because I most certainly violate my warranty. Any tips on how I can be avoid that fate?
Here is a picture of the damaged Ottoman. As you can see the start of the crack is very high up and threatens the integrity of the leg - upon further inspection I noticed that the leg on the opposite side is also slightly cracked.
You have several options depending on how much the piece is worth to you:
1) Send it back for a full refund and spend $400 on something else. It's just furniture and the value of the piece will NEVER increase.
2) Repair at minimum cost with the risk that it may need major surgery to restore it to minimum function. Spend $10 now when the $400 is still available to you.
3) Obtain estimates and have another copy of it made. Take pictures and measurements, then send the broken piece back for a refund. You will spend more for a copy than the original cost you.
4) Take apart what you have, replace the broken parts and re-assemble. Now you have a $600 ottoman.
Suggest you cast a wider net, then. What you have was poorly designed/built, and is likely dangerous to sit on, whatever. You can get some really nice stuff custom-built for a grand. $400 even.
Try printing out the page from the net which says the price. Then take it with you to show the salesman. Say somthing like "I would like to do business locally but you have to give me a big break if I'm to afford it". Be prepared to spend slightly more but also expect to get a huge discount from the list price.
Repairing it will be chancy. If the $400 is the main concern, send it back and hope to find something you like at a price you can afford.
If you really want to try and fix it: it looks like what's cracked is the rail. As others have said, gluing and screwing is the way to go. I would recommend wood glue. I take it you would be installing the screws upward from the bottom of the rail so they will be hidden unless you turn the ottoman upside down. The way to avoid making it worse is by drilling the right kind of pilot holes before installing the screws. First, drill a hole as deep as the length of the screw, or longer (all the way through is fine) with a drill bit that is sized to match the shaft of the screw without the threads. That is, if you put the drill bit in front of the screw, you should still be able to see the threads on either side, but the shaft is hidden. Then, you drill down to the break with a bigger bit that will make a hole that the screw just fits through. That is, you should be able to slip the screw freely down to the break. Then, countersink the hole slightly so that when you install the screw, the head will just fit flush with the surface of the wood. Countersinking means you're making a sort of conical pit surrounding the top of the hole. There's a special drill bit for doing that. Any good basic woodworking book or web reference will have pictures of all this. Anyway when you do all that, then when you install the screw, the action of the screw will be to grip the wood on the far side of the break, and bring it up snug against the wood on the near side of the break.
Cut a piece of wood to fit behind the cracked piece. Get a bottle of Gorilla glue, apply, and clamp the whole thing in place. The stuff is unbelievably strong, but dont overapply it as it expands while curing.
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