Mechanical Repair
Seat & upholstery repair near you
Car seat repair for burns, tears and split seams, plus worn foam rebuilt and covers replaced in fabric, vinyl or leather to match your interior.
- Time at the shop
- 3 h
- about
- Mobile service
- Available
- at your address
- Shops in Canada
- Joining soon
- doing this work
- Your price
- You set it
- shops bid on it
You set the budget
Shops near you send their bids
Free to post, no obligation
Mechanical Repair
What seat & upholstery repair is
A car seat is a steel frame, a foam cushion and a stitched cover, and each part wears out in its own way. Covers split at the seams or burn through, vinyl and leather dry out and crack in the sun, and the driver’s side bolster, the roll you slide over getting in and out, flattens until the fabric wears through to the foam.
The repair depends on what is underneath. A small burn or tear is patched from behind and blended into the surrounding surface, a split seam is re-stitched, and a badly damaged panel is cut out and replaced with matching material sewn to the original pattern. Collapsed foam is rebuilt first, or the new cover will simply follow the sunken shape. A full re-cover strips the seat to its frame and is normally done at the shop.
- For cars, EVs, vans and trucks
- Takes about 3 h
- Can be done at your address
What does seat & upholstery repair cost?
It depends on your vehicle and the shop. Post a job with your budget and compare the bids shops near you send.
Get bids
Name your budget. Shops near you bid.
Shops across Canada that do seat & upholstery repair see your request.
What to expect
Seat & upholstery repair, step by step
What the job normally covers, what to mention in your request, and the signs that it is time. Every shop says what its bid includes.
The job
What’s included
- Seat, cover and foam inspected to choose between a patch, a re-stitch, a new panel or a full re-cover
- Battery disconnected before any airbag, heater or occupant-sensor plug is touched when a seat comes out
- Small burns, tears and splits mended with a backing patch, filler or matching fibre and a colour-matched finish
- Damaged panels cut from matching fabric, vinyl or leather and sewn to the original pattern
- Flattened bolsters and cushions rebuilt or replaced with new foam before the cover goes on
- Side-airbag seam, on seats that have one, sewn as the factory did so the bag still deploys through it
- Cover pulled tight and fixed to the foam and frame with hog rings and clips
- Heaters, power adjusters, seat belt buckle and airbag warning light tested before you drive away
Checklist
Before you post
- 01Send photos of the damage with the year, make and trim; the shop can say whether a patch will hold or a panel or full re-cover is realistic
- 02Ask if the seat has a side airbag or weight sensor and whether the upholsterer has done your model; poor sewing can change how the bag opens
- 03Ask how colour and grain are matched on leather or vinyl; an exact match is hard on an older, sun-faded interior
- 04Confirm what happens to the foam: rebuilt bolster, new cushion or left as is, since a new cover over collapsed foam still feels worn
- 05For a full re-cover, ask how many days the seat is out and whether the driver’s seat can be finished first
- 06Ask what the same repair on the other seats would cost, so a fresh cover does not sit beside three worn ones
Signs
When you need it
- A cigarette burn, pinhole or tear in the seat cover
- Seams splitting or stitching coming apart along the bolster, headrest or seat back
- The driver’s seat sags, or a bolster has worn flat or through to the foam
- Vinyl or leather that is cracked, peeling or catching on clothing
- Foam crumbling into dust, or a seat that sits lower on one side
Sound familiar?Tell shops near you what you need and what you want to spend.
Get bidsHow it works
Get seat & upholstery repair done in four steps
You set the budget and choose the shop. Posting is free, and you pay the shop you hire once the work is 100% done.
- 01
Post your job
Choose the service, describe the job and your vehicle, and set your budget. It takes two minutes and costs nothing.
- 02
Shops compete
Nearby shops that do the work see your request and send their best offer: price, when they can start, what is included.
- 03
Accept the best offer
Compare bids, ratings and distance, then hire one shop. The others are told, politely.
- 04
Talk and get it done
Your conversation with the shop opens right away to agree on the day. You pay only after the job is complete.
Keep exploring
Related services
Detailing & Car Wash
Leather seat restoration
Cracked, faded and worn leather seats cleaned, repaired, colour-matched and sealed, so bolsters and seat faces look and feel supple again.
Detailing & Car Wash
Interior detailing
Car interior detailing that deep cleans seats, carpets, dash and vents with vacuum, steam and extraction, and treats stains, pet hair and odours.
Detailing & Car Wash
Headliner repair
Headliner repair that re-covers a sagging or stained roof lining in new foam-backed fabric, so it sits flat and the cabin ceiling looks clean again.
Steering wheel restoration
Steering wheel repair for shiny, sticky or cracked rims: re-dyed on the vehicle or re-wrapped in leather, with the airbag handled by the maker’s procedure.
Questions
Questions about seat & upholstery repair
General answers for drivers in Canada. The shop you hire confirms the details for your vehicle.
Can a small tear in a car seat be repaired without replacing the cover?
Usually, as long as the material around it is still sound. On vinyl and leather the technician slides a fabric backing under the tear, fills the gap with flexible compound, presses in a matching grain and tints the surface. Fabric burns are mended with matching fibre or a small inset patch. A tear along a seam, or across a bolster that flexes every day, tends to reopen, and then re-stitching or a new panel is the sensible fix.
Is it safe to reupholster a seat that has a side airbag?
Yes, with an upholsterer who has done it before. A side airbag sits inside the seat back and bursts out through a weak seam in the cover, so that seam has to be sewn the way the factory did it and left exactly where it was. The battery is disconnected before any airbag plug is touched. Ask whether the shop has worked on your model and how it treats that seam.
How long does seat repair take?
A burn, tear or seam repair takes one to two hours and can often be done where the vehicle is parked, in a garage or another warm, dry spot. Rebuilding foam and re-covering one seat usually keeps that seat for a day at the shop, and a full interior can take two to four days because each cover is cut and sewn from the old pattern. If you drive daily, ask whether the driver’s seat can be done first.
What is the difference between seat repair and leather seat restoration?
Repair mends the structure: tears, seams, foam and cover panels. Leather seat restoration is the surface treatment for leather that is whole but dry, faded or scuffed, using cleaning, recolouring and conditioning. Old leather seats often need both. Restoration cannot close a split, and repair alone will not bring back a faded finish, so describe what you see or send photos when you book.
Will my heated seats still work after the upholstery is repaired?
They should. The heating mat sits between the cover and the foam, so a careful upholsterer tests it before starting, works around it and tests it again at the end. A needle or a sharp tool can cut the element, though, so mention the heater when you book. A mat that was already dead is an electrical fault and is quoted separately.
Something else to ask? Once you hire a shop, you talk to it directly in your request’s conversation.
Ready when you areTell shops near you what you need and what you want to spend.
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