To remove a gas strut from a bar stool, invert the stool, unbolt or tap off the seat plate at the top of the strut, then drive the strut out of the base socket using a rubber mallet against a block of hardwood. Both ends of the strut are held by a tapered friction fit rather than a thread, so the job is a matter of breaking that friction, not undoing fixings.
Gas strut and gas cylinder describe the same component: the pressurised chrome column that lets the seat rise and lock. If yours has stopped holding height, removing it is the necessary first step before fitting a replacement. Below is the full method, along with the diagnosis worth doing first and the errors that turn a fifteen minute job into a scrapped stool.
It is worth confirming the strut is the problem. A stool that sinks under weight, refuses to rise when unloaded, or creeps upwards with nobody on it has a valve or seal fault inside the strut, and that cannot be repaired or refilled.
A stool that wobbles or rocks, however, may simply have loose seat plate bolts or a base with a worn glide. Tightening four bolts is considerably easier than replacing a strut, so check those first.
A stool that rises on its own can occasionally be fixed without removal at all. Look at the lever arm under the seat: if it is resting on the valve pin rather than sitting a millimetre or two clear, loosening the fixing and repositioning the arm restores normal operation.
If the fault persists after those checks, the strut needs to come out.
Gather a rubber or hide mallet, a block of hardwood or a timber offcut, an appropriate hex key or spanner for the seat bolts, penetrating oil, a pipe wrench, safety glasses and a thick towel.
Work on a hard floor. Carpet absorbs mallet impact and you lose most of the force you are applying, which is the single most common reason people conclude a strut is stuck when it is not.
Lay the towel down to protect the upholstery, then invert the stool so the base points upwards and the seat rests flat. Take a photograph of the assembly before you separate anything, since it saves guesswork during reassembly.
Most stools bolt the seat to a swivel plate, and the swivel plate then grips the top of the strut in a tapered socket. Undo the seat bolts first and lift the seat clear, which gives you room to work and removes the awkward weight.
With the seat off, the swivel plate is your target. Support it with one hand and tap the underside of the plate evenly with the mallet, working around its circumference rather than striking one point repeatedly. Alternating sides lifts the plate squarely off the taper.
Apply a few drops of penetrating oil into the joint if it resists, then wait ten minutes and try again. Patience is far more effective than force here.
Do not strike the valve pin at the very top of the strut. That small protruding pin opens the internal valve, and a direct hit will bend it or vent the strut.
This is the tighter of the two joints, because it has taken every bit of body weight the stool has ever carried and driven the taper deeper each time.
Steady the base firmly, ideally by having someone stand on two of the legs or by wedging it against a wall. Place your hardwood block against the exposed strut body just above where it enters the base, then strike the block squarely with the mallet.
The block matters. Hitting the chrome directly leaves burrs and dents, and a burred strut will not slide into a socket cleanly if you ever want to reuse it. It also spreads the impact so you are less likely to crack the base casting.
Rotate the stool between rounds of tapping so you apply force from several directions. You will feel the taper release suddenly, after which the strut pulls out by hand.
If tapping alone will not do it, clamp a pipe wrench onto the strut body and twist back and forth while pulling upwards. Rotation shears the friction seal far more effectively than straight pulling.
Applying heat is the most serious. A gas strut is a sealed pressurised unit and heating it is genuinely unsafe. There is no situation where heat is the right answer.
Cutting or drilling the strut is equally unwise for the same reason. If a strut must be disposed of, take it to a household recycling centre and tell them it is a pressurised gas component.
Levering the base with a crowbar cracks the casting. The base is usually cast alloy, which is strong in compression and brittle under leverage.
Hammering the replacement in on reassembly is unnecessary. Press the new strut into the base by hand, fit the plate, then sit on the stool once. Your body weight seats both tapers correctly.
Measure the old strut before ordering. You need the collapsed length from the bottom of the base pin to the top of the valve pin, the outer diameter of the tube, and the taper size at each end. Struts that look identical often differ in taper, and a mismatched taper will either sit loose or refuse to seat.
Clean both sockets with a cloth before fitting. Grit in the socket prevents a full taper engagement, which is what causes a new strut to work loose after a few weeks.
Slide the shroud on first if your stool has one, then press the strut into the base, fit the swivel plate onto the top taper, and bolt the seat back down. Tighten the seat bolts evenly in a cross pattern rather than one after another.
Test the lever with the seat unloaded, then sit and test the descent. A healthy strut gives a soft hiss that stops the instant you release the lever.
A new strut is worth fitting when the base, frame and upholstery are all sound. It is a modest part and the labour is yours.
Start again when the base has hairline cracks, the socket has been reamed out by earlier attempts, the seat frame flexes, or the upholstery has worn through. Patching one fault on a tired stool usually leads to another within months.
It is also worth asking whether adjustability is something you need. Stools that get adjusted constantly wear faster, and constant adjustment often means the height was never right. A well measured fixed stool has no mechanism to fail: our modern wooden bar stools UK sale range suits that approach, since timber joints can be reglued almost indefinitely.
Where adjustability genuinely helps, such as a counter shared by adults and children, a current gas lift bar stools UK model with a heavier cast base will hold height far longer than a lightweight one. The wider bar stools furniture UK sale collection covers both routes, with seat heights listed so you can match your worktop. At Furniture in Fashion you can shop modern furniture UK for the whole kitchen, with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.
Yes. Both terms describe the pressurised chrome column that raises and locks the seat. Some retailers also call it a gas lift.
No. It is held by a tapered friction fit at both the seat plate and the base. There is no thread, which is why tapping it free with a mallet and timber block is the correct approach.
Apply penetrating oil, leave it ten minutes, then combine gentle rotation with a pipe wrench and tapping from several directions. Working on a hard floor rather than carpet makes a noticeable difference.
No. Struts are sealed at the factory and have no filling valve. Attempting to refill or open one is unsafe, and a replacement is inexpensive.
Take it to a household recycling centre and declare it as a pressurised gas component. Do not cut, drill, crush or burn it.
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