Upholstery Question

[JohnRuff]

Not sure how to ask this --<br /><br />I took my boat to an upholstery shop to have the interior re-done. What kind of quality of workmanship should I expect?<br /><br />On the side panels -- where there are two different colors of materials -- they are not tightly molded but rather look wrinkled like a poorly made bed.<br /><br />Is a 20' Sea Ray - bowrider (no seating forward)and they did all the panels and replaced the carpeting for a cost of $1800.<br /><br />(Job took them 3 months -- in warm Arizona weather grrrrrrr)<br /><br />Not so much concerned with the cost - but am with the quality of workmanship to expect from an upholstery shop.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Upholstery Question

I would expect it to be as good as or better than the factory upholstery. There should be no wrinkles, all materials should be taught and should be adhered to the underlying foam with a contact type adhesive. The foam should be glued to its backing.<br /><br />Expect no less than a factory quality fit and finish. It the parts do not look or fit right, then it is not acceptable. Make a list of problems you see. Then make an appointment with management to bring the boat back and review the list. Give them a copy and make sure they understand what you expect to be done. Hopefully you have put this on a credit card where it can be disputed. <br /><br />Do not just walk in and complain to whoever is at the counter. Be as professional as possible and point out the problems with the product, and not them. IE say "This panel is not acceptable because the vinyl is crooked and does not mate with the next color properly". Do not say "You guys did a crappy job on this panel. It looks like sh**." Avoid saying "you didn't do..." or "why didn't you catch this..." It will make a world of difference.

 

[JohnRuff]

Re: Upholstery Question

Fortunatly I have only paid the $1000 deposit and not picked up the boat yet. Guess we will have to have a gentle discussion with them.<br /><br />Thanks for you articulate reply.

 

[tengals123]

Re: Upholstery Question

ok, im getting my whole boat done also in a few months. I have already booked it in and seen the companies work. Im getting a 1.5mt lounge seat and 2 buckets done in 2 tone. Costing me $900AUD. The quality is fantastic. The stiching is great, the seams are rolled and the front edges are all rolled also. For that sort of cash you paid, you'd be expecting a super perfect job, nothing less.<br /><br />Cheers

 

[bigbad4cyl]

Re: Upholstery Question

1800 would be a deal here in california .....what sort of vynal did they use did they reuse your old foam ,,,,did they reuse your old wood.....,,,i take it they diddnt do your front seating ....but the side panels of the cockpit ,,,the engine cover ....lower side cockpit covers etc ......let us know...

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Upholstery Question

John, I have to ask if this shop was recomended or if you saw any of their work beforehand ? Did you constantly beat them up on price or did you pick out a cheaper fabric after they recomended otherwise ? Did they recomend replacing the foam and you said no ? The reason I ask the above, is that I have used a shop for several years and have always been thrilled with what they have done.It looked better than factory. I recomended them to a friend, who was totally upset at the job they did for him. I got in the middle of this and found out that he scoffed at any suggestion that they made regarding materials, when they called him and said his helm seating wood was rotten and needed to be replaced, he said no, just recover it. When they explained that his foam was waterlogged and needed to be replaced he said no, just make it work, he wasn't going to pay an additional dime. Well, he got what he paid for. On the other hand, if you went to a professional shop, and agreed to what they quoted, and you are not happy with the results, then I believe you should not accept it. If you wanted to do it yourself, you would have, the reason you agreed to pay a professional is because you expected professional results. There is no reason this should look less than factory.

 

[jamminmaz]

Re: Upholstery Question

I think MARK42 must be in sales. Good call on how to approach people...especially when they have your boat and your cash.

 

[bigbad4cyl]

Re: Upholstery Question

foam is dang expensive ...so is the little parts ,,,and reduing the wood...

 

[swimmin' for shore]

Re: Upholstery Question

I understand that you are saying there's no worry about cash, and I understand that people sometimes opt for lesser options. Why, though? If you're willing to pay the price, pay to do it right. I bought an air compresser. It was about 450 dollars, but it still wasn't quite enough to keep my DA sander up. I cheaped out, and now it costs me time. For just 70 dollars more, I could have upgraded. It just doesn't seem worth it anymore not to do the right thing. As for upholstery, though, I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say that I can't see spending 1800 dollars for carpet and upholstery. I'd be willing to lay my next paycheck that you can do anything that that upholstery shop will do for you, just by researching it first. Yesterday, I went out to the garage and redid my first piece of upholstery. It was a simple enough piece, but it came out with no wrinkles, nice and tight, and brand new wood backing. The price for me to do a good job on everything except the seats? 7 dollars a yardx12 yards for marine grade vinyl from a local fabric store. 4.00 worth of staples for my staple gun, 45 dollars worth of plywood to replace the old wood, and about 30 dollars worth of epoxy from ebay. I don't need foam, but if you do, it's another ebay item for next to nothing. The first piece is done, and it will probably take me not more than about 4 solid working hours to do the whole interior. Now. If you can carpet, you could probably be done with the whole thing for not more than 300 dollars and a weekend of work. Send me the extra 1500.

 

[jlinder]

Re: Upholstery Question

I had cracked vinyl seats that were in terrible shape. Found out the price of having it done and ruled that out. I figured what did I have to lose so full of ignorance I started in.<br /><br />Armed with a plain old sewing machine I made a discovery - it's not hard to do. Look at some of the old posts here - there have been a couple that cover this.<br /><br />Interesting(?) points:<br />1. When wood was bad I took pressure treated plywood and sealed with marine varnish.<br /><br />2. If foam is bad and you need to replace it - that will be your biggest cost.<br /><br />3. Use marine vinyl and thread. I have used these people http://store.yahoo.com/yourautotrim-store/marinevinyls.html and been very happy with them. They also sell the foam and everything else you might want.<br /><br />4. Use staples that won't rust. At the hardware store they sell stables made from a metal called nomel (or something like that) that will do.<br /><br />5. Start sewing. I found the exact original color of vinyl, sewed up the same stripes and everhthing else. Just take your time. If you make a big error you just lost about $6 worth of vinyl at the worst. No big deal.<br /><br />If you decide to try it let me know. I can give you more details on what I found out.<br /><br />I got most of my boat done so far for about $120 worth of supplies. A big savings for the time I have invested.

 

[MrBill]

Re: Upholstery Question

John...that much money and that much time should translate to a new interior that you're totally satisfied with. Four years ago, I had my 19 foot bowrider completely redone in two colors, seats, side panels, dog house, rear lid, etc. All edges were piped, no stitches have given out... and my family of five is really tough on a boat because of the amount of use the boat gets, just from the three who were 16 to 23 at the time.<br /><br />In short...your expectation should be that it looks like it just came out of the factory. In 2000, my job cost $1500, including materials with all seat foam replaced. The old materials were used as patterns. I only wish my carpet were replaced at the same time. Your job should be next to perfect...if not you've gone to the wrong upholsterer.

 

[JohnRuff]

Re: Upholstery Question

It's done. And I am reasonably happy. They re-upholstered both the original lay down seats, all the panels and installed new carpeting. For $200 extra they made a cockpit cover and $175 got the boat polished (It was chalking and it polished out to an amazing shine!) They used a heavy good quality vinal - and marine carpeting. They also cleaned up all the wood flooring and installed two coats of thin epoxy resin (I already had two gallons on hand).<br /><br />Dislikes -- they used what i will call a button fastener to attach the panels to the sides of the boat. The interior of the boat was cream (same as the exterior) and red accents. They even put (at my request) red vinal around the gauge and switch panels - which were badly weathered.<br /><br />Now about the button fasteners they used. There were a total of about 35 of them and they did the buttons in red - same as the accent trim. IT LOOKED HORRIBLE! It looked like the interior of my boat had measels! I took it back today and they are fixing it.<br /><br />Another thing I did not like - was when they made the boat cover -- they put the snaps on the fiberglass portion of the boat with a machine that used a pop rivit instead of a screw.<br /><br />They are a local company (Stitch Master Upholstery, Mesa AZ) and they really took their time getting to the job. They claimed they were just swamped with work and now have added additional help.<br /><br />End result -- It looks better than if I had done it myself and much less aggrivation.<br /><br />Total Cost - $2,225.00<br />Cost for having Mesa Marine check out the boat:<br /><br />Annual Service - (Motor and Stern Drive)<br />Rebuild Carburator<br />New Battery 1000 Crank Amps <br />(everything checked out ok and runs fine, 145-150 lbs compression)<br /><br />Total $1200<br /><br />Total investment in boat $3,425<br /><br />My neighbor left this boat outside in the Arizon sun for over three years and it trashed the interior. It was on a tandem trailer (EZ Loader). He gave both of them to me for free to get rid of them.<br /><br />All gauges work on the boat - all hydraulics and lights. It's finally - ready to go.<br /><br />(Now I am wondering if I was nuts to put all the money into a 21 year old boat.<br /><br />Will post before and after pictures. The wife is definately more pleased with the AFTER picture!

 

[JohnRuff]

Re: Upholstery Question

Forgot - they also reupholstered the front lay down seats. They look nice

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Upholstery Question

John, one thing has me a little concerned, regarding the snaps for the boat cover. I would ask them exactly how they installed the snaps onto the boat, if somewhere in there you do not hear a word like sealant, silicon or something like that, you may have a future problem. I have never seen a rivit type of attachment used on fiberglass. The reason I'm concerned is that it is standard practice to put a dab of sealant on each screw hole before you screw in the snap. Many brands of newer snaps also have a rubber seal on the back side that contacts the boat. Screws will do a pretty good job of staying tight and keeping water sealed out. Most rivits I have seen will flex and become a little loose, not a big deal, unless they are supposed to seal out water from getting in there and causing your fiberglass to delaminate. I'm not saying that rivits will cause this, just that I'm afraid it might. I would ask some questions.

 

[Gbrettforever]

Re: Upholstery Question

I Just Bought An older 79 Vip runabout and the upholstery was completley shot on everything. I also went to autotrim.com where I found they had some good sales on Vinyl. I bought about 10' at 53" wide for about $83.00 including shipping! I also purchased regular plywood and a bunch of Water seal from Lowe's and also some Stainless Steel staples. I was out about $150.00 total. And since my birthday was a few days away, my wife and my mom reupolstered the entire thing for me. (took them about 5 hours) and everything looks good. It's not a factory job by no means but it looks clean and it will last for many years!

 

[Gbrettforever]

Re: Upholstery Question

I meant 10 yrds. not 10 ft.