Speaking of tufting

[Darren Henry]

I didn't want to jack Steve's thread but since we now have tufting on our minds I could really use some feedback.

I hope to be talking to a woman about upholstering her wall next week. I was going through the classifieds on e- Brandon on the weekend and saw a topic on the discussion board side bar "upholstery". I checked it out. Lady wants to decorate with a leather upholstered wall but wants to find some one to do it. All of my competitors got mentioned as well as every second post saying it was easy 'cause they had sen it on a DIY show but she wasn't getting anywhere. I registered for the discussion board but had to wait a few days to get authorized, but followed the thread. She posted a picture of a headboard (?) with the look she wanted. Diamond tufted in 2" foam. I gave her my number and she called yesterday but I was on the roof of a 40' motorhome trying to help put a cover on and had no paper etc... to take down her number.

My questions are; Assuming i do this on 1"foam covered panelling on 6-8" squares and just button tuft
>How long should a 4X8 panel take?
>What weight of leather ( if i can't sell her vinyl) would work best? I'm thinking 3-5 oz.
>Other than the room not being square, the electrical outlets, and the window what do I need to watch out for?

I'm going to call her Monday AM now that I have a number and would like to be a little more specific than "it's gonna be expensive".

Thanks guys/gals.

[sofadoc]

My main concern is.........she saw it on a DIY show, and already had a pre-conceived notion that it should've been fairly easy.

So even if she now realizes that it ain't as easy as it initially looked, she still is probably clinging to her pre-conceived idea of what the job is worth. She may be looking for professional results at a rate just barely above DIY.

And your concerns about the walls not being square, and random outlets make it difficult to predict the completion time. I think I would just quote an hourly rate, and say "it is what it is".

[kodydog]

There are a lot of unanswered questions here. Any way we could see the DIY show. Upholstering the panels is one thing but attaching them to the wall is another. Also 1" foam will not give you a very deep tuft.

When biding a job I've never done before, I figure how long it will take and double it. Whenever a customer mentions my competition (as in price shopping) I lose interest real quick.

[MinUph]

If she wants leather I would go with a goat or sheepskin not cow hide. The price of that depends on your contacts. Vinyl might be harder than you think to tuft with. To do a 4x8 panel in 1 or 2" foam I would figure an 8 hour day. You can probably be faster but it would be a good estimating time. You mentioned a headboard that she showed you. Is this a headboard or wall to wall, ceiling to floor? If the latter I'd make the panels and make sure they lay in place before I covered them. An extra trip but much easier to get right the first time. And while your fitting the plywood you can drill holes where your fasteners are to be and use sheetrock inserts to hold it there. Covering the screws where the buttons will be and put a nail button in where the screws are later. Not a big deal if you use finishing screws as they have small heads.
  1" foam will look OK but as stated above not deep. 2 or 3 will be deep tufted. But 1" is fine. You can show her a sample with 1" and see if she likes the look.
  Don't underprice this one. It won't be easy but a nice job.