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I didn't know there are PM's on this forum. I looked and can't find them. Are you talking about email or something on this forum?

Gene

I assume you are talking about furniture upholstery.

Unless you are going to be doing authentic restoration, I would suggest a pneumatic staple gun. It is faster, not much of a learning curve like tacks, and it does less damage to the wood.

You may get a staple in your eye or leg or finger, but I have never heard of anyone swallowing a staple being shot out of a staple gun.

Search this forum and you will find everything you ever wanted to know about buying a compressor and pneumatic staple gun.

A google search will also be helpful.

Good luck in your new ventures. You are already doing a good thing by hanging around this forum.

Gene

I have learned a lot, A LOT!, from Stephen Winters - both from this forum, Carrscorner, and his web site.

Thanks for the link, tiffanefields.

My business adviser says I can be a nice guy, and give stuff away (my time, expertise, materials, etc.), or I can run a business.

I can run a business and still be a nice guy. The point is that if I put running a business first, my business will not let me, a nice guy, give away stuff for free. I will get paid for my time, expertise, materials, etc.

Gene

I do not compete with China. Or with Walmart. Or with anyone who does volume work. I can't.

I'm a custom job shop. I do one's and two's. I do not have the capitalization,  manufacturing efficiencies, and cheap labor needed to compete on a global scale.

My focus is on 'quality and service'. Not 'cheap'. I cannot compete on 'cheap'.

I have learned to accept the fact that many people want 'quality and service' for 'cheap'. This is OK with me - this is the way it is. It is also OK with me that they will not get it from me.

Wouldn't it be great to buy a BMW at a Hyundai price?

I have a friend who owns a butcher shop. He owns his own cows so he can control their feed and medicines, etc. Without exception, every piece of meat he sells you can buy the same thing a lot cheaper at the grocery store. Without exception, every piece of meat he sells tastes better than anything you can buy at the grocery store. He does not put prices on the meat in his display cases. He sells 'quality'. Not 'cheap'. His business continues to grow. He said it took him many years to accept that fact that not everyone wants to pay his prices for his meat.

My concern is that China will start picking up peoples' furniture, cars, RV's, and boats, then shipping it to China, reupholstering it there, then shipping it back to the customer here in the USA, for less money than what we would need to charge just to break even. This would be a bummer!

Gene

A homeowner buys an expensive sofa. The fabric frays within a year. It is defective. The store calls the manufacturer and the manufacturer wants an upholstery estimate.

The store calls you and asks you to work directly with the manufacturer. You sent your estimate to the manufacturer. They say the work is approved and you will be getting the fabric.

You told the manufacturer that you need 1/2 of the estimate before you pick up and reupholster the sofa. You need the final amount paid before you deliver the sofa.

You get the fabric but no check for the 1/2 deposit.

You refuse to pick up the furniture until you get the deposit.

It seems that the manufacturer is hoping that pressure from the store will get you to do the job, then you can wrestle with the manufacturer to get paid.

When you do the job, the homeowner is happy, the store is happy, the manufacturer is happy, but you, who had nothing to do with this problem in the first place, are unhappy because you did all the work to make everyone happy and you have not been paid.

Have anyone else had these kinds of situations?

I am not going to pick up the furniture until I get a deposit check, and I will not deliver until I get paid in full. Does this sound OK to you? Am I being too unrealistic in dealing directly with a manufacturer? Am I being too strict - cutting off my nose to spite my face? I do not want to damage my relationship with the store, but I guess more than that, I do not want to reupholster a sofa and then have to wait and wait and fight and fight to get paid.

Thank you for your replys.

Gene

A priest, a rabbi, and a protestant minister walk into a bar. The bar tender looks up and says, "Hey, what is this, a joke?"

Yea, I know it's not Friday, also.

Gene

Iruthb,

When you said "Gene, you'd do good at the max prison I worked at!", which side of the bars were you thinking about?

Gene

No, this woman does not represent accurately the culture in some of the northern regions?

An accurate representation of the culture in some of the northern regions is the person who doesn't give a F*** where the F*** they are or where the F*** they have moved to and who the F*** they are talking to and what the F***do you think you are doing to even question the F***ing way they are F***ing talk and if you don't like the F***ing way they are F**ing talking then why don't you go F*** yourself, and the F***ing horse you rode in on. Have a F***ing nice day.

I really enjoyed some of the people that I used to work with who live in some of the northern regions. When you realize it is not meant to be personal, it becomes quite funny. Many times I could not believe that a grown adult would speak like that, and we're talking business conversations. LOL

Oh, and by the way: you always new IMMEDIATELY if the potty talk was meant to be personal. Same language, just a different way of saying it.

Gene

I had asked about the ratios Cheryl posted with her sofa because the sofa skirt did not look like a 2.5 to 1 ratio at first. As I said on the other post, I really like that sofa.

I do ruffles and gathers on slip covers and pillows. I have done several gathered skirts on upholstered chairs, but not a sofa. I use the 2.5 to 1 ratio unless the customer wants more or less gathering, then I will experiment with it.

I get a little bit carried away with details on my gathers. I will cut the fabric 2.5 times the total length I need.

Let's say I need 100 inches. I will then have fabric 250 inches long. I will get a white string and mark with black magic market every 25 inches. I will mark the fabric every 62 inches. I then sew the white string onto the top of the fabric with my zig zag sewing machine, making a knot at the beginning of the string so it does not pull through. The string is in the zig zag stitch and I can pull the string and gather 62 inches of fabric on every 25 inches of string.

I usually pin the gathered fabric onto what ever it will be sewn onto, and then I sew away.

Gene

I never talk about my competition unless it is to praise their work.

I would rather spend my time talking about me and the work that I do.

I have always felt that my service and quality speak much louder than my words.

I also think it makes a positive impression on my customers when I do not criticize my competition.

Gene

NO IT IS NOT OK!!! SPAM IS SPAM!!!

But then, I'm not the moderator -  just someone who has a lot of experience acting like the South end of a North bound horse.

I use 2006. I do not use payroll so I can get away with it. I believe someone on here is still using 2002.

The thing is that QB stops supporting their software every 3 years. Last year I was no longer able to email my Estimates and Invoices directly from 2006. I would need to upgrade in order to still do that. What I do instead is save my Estimates and Invoices in PDF format, then email them to my customers from my business email account. A bit more work, but it works OK for me.

If you do not need QB's internet services and payroll services, you got a great deal. Otherwise, they will end in 2011.

A question was asked once about what tolk has saved you the most time. My answer was QB, without a doubt.

Thanks for the posting.

Gene

Thanks for your post.

I love the antique sofa and the couch with ruffle welting.

"By experimenting with the amount of ruffle on the skirting, we found that a 2.5/3.0 ratio with a single layer of fabric gave us the fullness we wanted. The bottom edge was serged, turned under and top stitched. The cushion trim was a double layer that took about a 1.75/2.0 ratio and created a very thick seam allowance."

2.5/3.0 ratio: Do you mean for every 2.5 yards around the sofa you used 3.0 yards of fabric? Or do you mean for every 1 yard around the sofa you used 2.5 to 3.0 yards of fabric?

The alligator seat really bites.

I would have liked to see the total hours for each of the winning items.

Great pics. Thanks again.

Gene

Thank you for the help, JuneC. That's why I couldn't find the link - there was none. I had seen it on youtube.

I had bought the bright orange straps from Home Depot maybe two years ago. I had the corner of a skirt tear off on delivery so I stopped using them. They were also very unstable when you had to tilt the furniture. They are great for dead lifting things like a refrigerator, though.

Gene

I'm still looking for that web site. I will post it if I find it.

I will also post pics of any bags that I make.

If a sofa is 37" deep, and 38" high, and the door is 36" wide, tilting the sofa at a 90 degree angle gives you 26" to get through that door.

Gene

NO!!! I'm not talking about the female equivalent to the 'couch potato'.

I cannot find the web site, but, there is a web site that sells bags of different sizes to move furniture.

The bags have a big zipper and many handles on the outside. You set the bag on the floor, unzipped. Put the sofa or chair on top of the bag. Zip the bag up enclosing the furniture. Then you grab which ever handles are most convenient for you to use.

Does anyone know if these are sold here in the good ol' USofA?

What type of material would I use if I make these for myself? It would need to be tear proof and not scuff any wood frames.

I love the fact that you do not need to extend your arms when you carry furniture with these bags. You can tilt the sofa 120 degrees, or 33 degrees if you want, in order to get it out the door, much easier than with your arms stretched out and the cushions falling all over the place.

Thank you,

Gene