Dental and Medical Upholstery

[lalen]

I am a new member of this forum. I have been in the trade for 35 plus years and would now like to start doing dental and medical upholstery. Anyone here have any advice and pricing suggestions? Thanks in advance for your input.

[SHHR]

  I've done a lot on My chiropractors equipment; from office chairs, adjustment tables, even some gym equipment they have. Some times they've had the tables already apart where I just take the pads to re-cover and other times I've had to break the tables down and reassemble them in the office. Some medical equipment can be very complex when it comes to removing the upholstered parts and reassembling them, so what ever you do look the items over good and figure in for that.
 A word of advice too would be to discuss all upholstery with the Doctors you'll be doing it for. For example: when doing Chiropractic equipment, My doctor wanted a soft supple material like Ultraleather and a soft topper foam (1/2") directly underneath with a very firm foam foundation. The soft top made it comfortable to lay on but they needed the firmness underneath to allow the adjustments to the bodies on the table.
 I can see where a dentist would pay for a higher end material and a softer foam for comfort while in the chair, where an exam table in the doctors office may just settle for a cheaper contract vinyl.
 As far as pricing. like I previously stated the tear down and reassembly of the equipment will take the most time. the majority of medical equipment upholstery is just a simple wrap and staple into place.
 If the material you're replacing is ripped and in poor shape, you'll want to try and sell all new foam as well with the job. A lot of medical facilities that provide extended stay care have what's referred to as an "infection control" nurse or something to that effect. They may be able to detail what's required for replacement practices. I use to be a maintenance foreman for a state institution and at the time was doing upholstery on the side. I started to do some repairs on Geriatric chairs in the facility and always had to be aware of exposed foam and underlayments on the chairs. Honestly, I found the supplier for those chairs and could buy the replacement upholstered pads much cheaper than I could do it for in my shop.
 The best of luck. There's a need for medical equipment reupholstery simply because most doctors can't wait for what can be weeks to order replacement pads from a factory somewhere, also if you can get any inside information of when a doctor has to pass an inspection at their facility, that may be a good time to advertise with them. If a hospital accepts Medicaid, they are audited annually by the government agency and must pass some tough inspections. The shape of the upholstery is one of them.

[MinUph]

A couple of ideas,
  When doing a chair like a dental chair there are many wires and tubes in the unit. Make sure you mark everything as to where it goes and what wire connects where and to what other wire. A process that one guy didn't think necessary and filled the dental office with smoke when he plugged the chair back in.
  There are vinyls made for this purpose. They are contract type for hospital etc. use. There are compounds added to hold up to bodily fluids. A good selling point and a professional person would use these in these instances. Naugahyde marks all their vinyls for its intended uses.
  As SHHR states be sure to charge enough for the tear down reassembly and the fact that they will most always be "rush" jobs.

[Ihavenoname]

Pricing can be a challenge anymore. I do a lot of medical upholstery or should I say, I did a lot of medical upholstery. As of late, price has really been a problem for medical offices, especially chiropractors. My guess is with a down economy and so may  "DC" out there, they are getting pretty reluctant to spend money.

Also, A few weeks ago, I did an estimate and the Chiropractor showed me a new table he bought for less then my price to reupholster a 25 year old table he had. You and I all know that the new table is made with low price consideration and not longevity and quality considerations. The Chiropractor chose to buy a new $300 nice looking cheep table then to reupholster a 25 year old table with better foam, a good metal from, and stronger welds.  In a year or two or less, he will understand what I was talking about. But by then,  with inflation on supplies and labor, it will be $500 to upholster the old table.

Not to worry he will probably sell the old quality table  for $300 on Craigslist thinking he pulled a fast one. "Yep," he will think, "I got his new table for pretty much nothing."  It's like trading in a used Bentley for a new AMC Pacer. 

PS don't think Chiropractors are so bright. In Washington State all you need is a high school diploma and 2 years of Chiropractic College to be a DR.  DR???? Really????

Wow. I must be Master, Master Dr or something then.

It's kinda a thing of mine that when I talk to DC to visit a bit. Sooner or later I find out if they have any other education besides 2 years of Chiropractic trade school. Some do have BA but many don't  here in the North West.  None to date have had Maters Degrees.

It just feels wrong calling them Dr with 2 years of training. Sorry.

yours Truly Mr Dr PHD in Make "S" up medical. Sorry, I've spend to much time to take DC to serially any more once I found I had more education then most I have met or worked for. No one calls me Dr or PhD. I have a hard time being called Mr or Sir.

[RiCat]

Hello Dr. OneBoneHead - Dr. RiCat here. Just wanted to share a remedy from one doctor to another - Put a lime in a coconut and drink it all up     ;D

Rick

[gene]

When I used to travel on business I would drive though many small towns that did not have a gas station, no grocery store, no doctors office, but there was always a chiropractor. LOL

If I had gone to a medical doctor for my dislocated pelvic bone, I would have been given anti inflammatory pills, pain pills, muscle relaxing pills, probably shots in my hip where the pain was centered, and even possible surgery. I have no idea why I went to a chiropractor. But I am glad I did.

If the medical profession were 'health care' oriented, they would have incorporated chiropractic into their arsenal of healing long before there were chiropractors. But, the medical profession is money driven and pharmacology based and biased.

Acupuncture has found it's way into medicine. I think this is only because the AMA did not want to have another major law suit to fight against and loose like they did with chiropractors.

The pharmacy companies do not make money, and the medical profession does not make money, when people are healthy.

gene

[Ihavenoname]

I can see calling a Chiropractor a Certified Chiropractor but not Dr, unless they earn it with post graduate work.

It's miss leading. I thought they had 8 years of schooling behind them not 2 like many do. Physical therapist are certified 4 years of school, Accountants are Certified 5 years, Chiropractors are Marketed to lead you to believe 8 years. 

I've tried Chiropractic with no help except where my wallet was a little to thick putting my hip our I guess.

Yoga been around since before the wheel. Free and helped greatly.

I had a chiropractor ask me once why ambulances take accident victims to the hospital not to his practice?

He figured it was all a way to keep the medical business going and keep him out of the loop. Someone should investigate he demanded. 

[Willie]

only thing I have against working on medical upholstery projects is how filthy they always are ... and we wonder where mersa and all those infections come from.... I have always removed old upholstery outside with mask and gloves then I give the remaining frame a good scrubbing with pure clorox before I bring the unit into my shop.
On what to charge - just figure  your time like any of your other uph. jobs.
Willy

[stitcher_guy]

I'm right now finishing up 6 dental chairs for pick up on Monday. I work with two different dental supply companies who go into office and install/repair furniture and appliances. We do a lot of the Dental-Eze and Belmont chairs because the older ones are well built and the dentists get used to their chairs and don't want to make the swap. Also, the cost of replacing something like a Belmont can run about $3,000 - $4,000, whereas I can recover one (including material cost) for about $650. This also leaves a little margin of profit for my dental supply guy who brings them to me and delivers back to the office as well as installs them. For side chairs and doctor chairs, I normally charge about $50 per cushion (base and back). Although, like the ones in the shop now, they are glued faces with tons of staples into plastic, so there is more time involved in removal and I am charging a bit higher for each of the glued cushions.

When choosing material, I use Patriot 2 or Independence 2 vinyl because of it's antimicrobial and antibacterial coatings. They are also strong and resilients to the disinfectant sprays used for cleanup. Unfortunately, my suppliers are having more and more trouble getting these. Instead of being in stock, they are special order items, and takes me 3-4 days to get in the yardage.

A basic side chair takes roughly 3/4 yard to cover the cushions. And a patient chair like a Dental-Eze (which I refer to as the tongue chair because of it's big, tongue-shaped bottom cushion) can be done with about 5-6 yards of material.

[Steve at Silverstone Fabrics]

At one point during my career, I owned a company that was the upholstery source for over 12 hospitals in the greater Charlotte, NC area.

If you are looking to be a "player" in the healthcare industry, here are a few tips:

   -Look to getting into regional and local hospitals. Find out if they work with independent interior designers or do they have their own in house designers.

      --Hospitals are buying up more and more Doctors practices, so in order to get to the individual practices you must get into the hospital.

   -Find who sells and services dental chairs and equipment...let them know that you can be "their go to man"

   - Look at a commercial account like a 20 year customer, not a one time "score"

       --Negotiate prices based upon volume  ......let them know that you will give them a break if they will not shop your prices around every time someone new knocks on the door.

   -Look to doing some onsite upholstery.

       --If you can do your reupholstery onsite over a weekend you will eliminate pick up and delivery and you will endear yourself with the people in the administration........this does require growing into more than just a "mom and pop" shop.

   -Do the things that your competition, either can't or want do.

If you can get your foot in the door, do not take them for granted.....protect your 20 year customer.

A regional hospital can be worth   can be worth in excess of $200,000 of total business per year.

Good luck with your adventure.......I hope there were a few nuggets in my words. Steve Terry