Hancock and Moore Repair and Construction Questions

I recently purchased H&M sectional couch with Monk Chair & Ottoman for a really cheap price. The set was over 10 years old and in excellent condition - owned by an older bachelor with a cat. After I purchased I noticed that in certain not so visible places the leather is flaking a bit. Not particularly large areas but if you run your hand over it you can feel its a bit rough and it definitely is cracked. Is there any way to care for it that it does not worsen? I know that the previous owner said he used Lexol to condition the leather but I called H&M and they said thats probably why it is flaking.

There is also something with the springs in two places - in one area there is a slight squeaking sound when I sit down (I am a bit large - weighing about 250). In another area there is a clicking sound coming from the spring area. The clicking appears to be coming from the frontmost spring where it attaches to the frame. How would I go about repairing these?

I'm not sure what type of construction was used in this sofa (everything I've read states that H&M uses 8 way) because there is something peculiar that I don't recall ever seeing in any other sofa that I've sat on. There seems to be 2 parts to the frame: directly above the legs is solid hardwood but the next 6 inches or so till the cushions (removable seat cushions) is not solid wood but some kind of suspension system. When I sit on the couch it pushes downward and then moves back up when you get off the couch. When sitting down the leather on the front of frame sags and falls away from the frame as a result of this. It seems really odd. Can anyone comment on what type of frame this is? I actually have some of the original tags - the previous owner never removed them. I believe one of them has the SKU - if that will help I can provide it.

Thanks,
Eli

If the leather is flaking, the topcoat is coming off....nothing you can do about that, just use it until it gets so bad its not tolerable, then recover or replace the chair. Lexol is NOT an approved leather care product for H&M leathers and may be the cause of that, its hard to say for sure. Cracks are non-repairable.

Squeaking is caused either by movement in the wood joints (happens rarely) or metal-on-metal contact. A clicking noise might be a front spring brushing against part of the wooden frame. Not easy fixes, the cover has to come off and the piece taken down to the frame unless you can access the noisy areas from underneath after removing the black fabric dust panel on the bottom and even then its likely you can't get past the base webbing to see it.

Construction is maple frame, double-doweled, screwed and glued, 8[way hand-tied base in most pieces. A few pieces with shallow frame depths cannot use 8-Ways since there is not enough depth in the design to allow for the springs to fit. H&M has a lifetime guarantee on the frame, if you get the chair to their factory in Hickory NC, its likely they will repair any problem areas (but not the leather itself) it may have provided it was from workmanship and not the result of mover damage somewhere along the line.