Bench Seating

[pat]

Hi folks just a question I have 5 bench seats and backs to upholster for new restaurant, looking for pricing and any tips from the people that do this regularly. I have 26 yrs doing upholstery but every bit helps. Thankz PAT

[sofadoc]

"Bench seats" is a little vague.
Could you post a pic? Or maybe link a similar online pic?

Are they screwed to a frame? Do they have any type of diamond, or channel seams? Corded?

The main factors that I always consider when doing a restaurant estimate is:
1) Do I have to remove and re-install them? And if so:
2) Am I going to have to do them one(or 2)-at-a-time?
3) Will I have to do some/all of the work onsite?

[DBR1957]

Another question is, do they have to be taken off when the restaraunt is closed and back on before it opens
the next day?

[pat]

The restaurant is not open till March I am doing the job from scratch, there will be no extras, just top stitching seams,  new foam, new material, everything new.

[Darren Henry]

That said Pat; are these foam on plywood, drop in units---Or sprung and screwed into place?

Who is fraeming the booths? What always give me fits are the retarded ways that people design the backs with no regard to installation and the inevitable repairs that restaurants are subject to.I had my own employer ( at the time) hang me out on that. We were retrofitting a beer parlour and neither he or the guy building the booths could give me any direction or accept my suggestions.I was , of course expected to have the seats and backs done 15 minutes before the "carpenter" with no plan framed the booths.I had one heck of a time completing the project. They both had to have lost $$$$$

[JuneC]

Yep, what Darren says.  I walked away from a very lucrative job on a high-value Italian gentleman's go-fast boat because the seats were built without consulting ANY upholsterer.  The seats were solid as a rock, very well made, but were impossible to upholster.  The customer would have never been happy.  So much for project management.... 

June

[gene]

I started a post in DEC. about a built in corner seat that was covered in vinyl. L shaped. Home made at least 40 years ago.

I used the old vinyl (Naugahyde) for a pattern and wasn't even close.

I used paper to make a new cover and was closer, but not good enough.

I cut the thing in half (Cut the back off the seat) with a rip saw and my helper and I took the two pieces (in two trips because I couldn't get both pieces in my van) back to my studio where I saw how out of square EVERY THING was. I replaced the chicken wire that had been used for the inside back support. I added new foam to the back and seat. I got that thing to look great!

That chicken wire created a totally asymmetrical curve around the inside back. This was the major problem I had.

Good luck on your project, Pat. As for pricing, it's easier to estimate the time involved if it's new construction. But as others said, what style of upholstery you are going to do will be a key factor.

gene

gene

[Darren Henry]

I remember that thread Gene. You did an awesome job;it looked great,but holy cow you must a lost a mint with all that extra work.

[gene]

Darren,

This project was the only time I thought of walking away from a project. I would not walk away, but I did think about it.

I could have given back the deposit and paid for the material out of my own pocket and come out ahead.

I consider it an expensive learning experience.

I'll bet everyone on this board has had a similar "expensive learning experience".

gene

[Darren Henry]

I've had enough of them and underbid so regularly that a slump in the local economy was all it took to kill my shop.

[pat]

So I have now seen what I am dealing with. Benches were made by carpenter, no thought into attachment of pieces made. Seats are 18 and 3/4 by 48, backs are 34 1/2 by 48. Figure I'll use 4 inch foam because base height is already 18 inches, with a 1/2 in plywood underneath, and he will have to bolt or screw them in. I figure my best bet for backs will be 2 inch foam, with hanging cleats and 3/8 plywood. I do not know if seat should go to back of frame or should back come down to behind seat. The client wants everything simple, because we are in cottage country and they will get a lot of use especially in summer months, so we might have to repair them. So i figure top-stitching will be best

[JuneC]

I did some boat seating recently for a ferry that had a basic bench design.  Wish I had taken pictures.  The seat bottom and back were both plywood and both full size - i.e., they met at the back of the base.  The seat bottom was fully foamed and upholstered (stapled underneath) like you'd expect.  The seat back had foam that came to within 4-1/2 inches of the bottom (seat bottom foam was 4" thick).  The upper part of the seat back was cut/sewn/upholstered like any boxed cushion, with a seam at the bottom of the cushion with a wide strip of fabric attached.  The seam selvedge was stapled to the plywood then the strip was pulled around the bare 4" plywood bit at the bottom and stapled behind. 

So, what you ended up with was a completely covered seat back where the foam stopped short of the bottom of the board to make room for the seat bottom to slip in underneath.  Clear as mud? 

I can't take credit for the design, I just copied what had been done before.   I'll get pics next time I'm at the marina if I can. 

June

[DBR1957]

Pat, Just staple Velcro to the seat bottoms and the bench base for the cushions. It will make it
easier for the restaurant to remove them for cleaning (like they ever would). For the backrests
you can use Z-Clips.

http://www.amazon.com/1-1-Z-Clips-Includes-Clips-sets/dp/B001DSY63U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76u5OAiuhNA

[Darren Henry]

It will make it
easier for the restaurant to remove them for cleaning (like they ever would).

I usually can't do fast food for about a week after doing seats for one of their restaurants. If the seats are attached they will never get cleaned and the cost of the next repairs goes up because you will have to go pick them up.Almost all of the booth seating I've seen have the top of the base open and wooden cleats that fit up against the inside edge of the framework to hold them in place. If the cleats on the sides are lined up with the inside edge of the front, the two are all you need but you could add one along a portion of the front edge.

For the backrests
you can use Z-Clips.

Those clips are very slick, but I have a hard time sourcing them around here. What I do is rip a 2X4 in half on the table saw [get the carpenter to do it if you don't have a table saw] with the blade laid over to a 45. Attach one half flush to the face of the booth about 3-4" below the inside of the booth frame with the long edge nearest you and up. Attach the other  half to the lean with the long edge away from you and down. Same principle as what DBR's clips do; but, readily available and "zero-clearance". If you need to tweak the placement of the board on the lean to compensate for the thickness of the upholster etc... it's all good. You don't need the two halves to be fully aligned front to back . And being wedges you can draw the lean down tight to the frame by pressing them down a little more so you won't need a welt to deal with any gaps.

[R.A.F. CaNvAs]

Always tricky this bench seating lark,
      Usually back breaking and filthy too.
         The establishment will want a swift turn around too
    I suspect...... Charge 'em accordingly.
                                                               160ft of fluted back 2 pairs of hands
                                                                  Re-open in 2 weeks     ;D

[/URL]