Worst Canvas Ever

[jojo]

So a guy called today and said he needs his canvas "tightened up". I didn't really know what he was talking about until I saw it. Big boat, bimini with camper enclosure.
The bimini is not darted or seamed whatsoever. The original "fabricator" just sewed two panels together, slapped on a fore and aft sleeve, and had webbing straps on the center bow.  The glass above the windshield is baggy and buckling in towards the boat. Also, it is crispy and feels old. The thread is totally deteriorated everywhere. But here's the thing....he had this done last season! It's only a year old!!
He hired two guys who were working out of a van, paid them cash, and now, of course he can't find them. They don't answer their phone or he would sue.
I will post pics when I go to do the job next week; you guys are not going to believe your eyes.
Oh, and he can only afford to have it fixed as opposed to getting a new one, so I've got to try to put a bow on a pig.

[Mike]

funny he paid them last year for a crappy job. im always worried about small issues and not getting paid so I try not to have any issue

ive got a new shop I rented  a few months ago ive seen that a canvas guy was ib the same industrial building in the past  sence ive been now ive had 2 people say there looking for the guy , he has there canvas and now has disapeered I saw he had a home address nearby  , but the last guy said hes left his family also

[jojo]

Mike, he trusted too much...he paid in advance because he thought it was a "good deal". He paid at the end of boating season and went back home to PA (he keeps the boat in NY). He didn't see the finished product and therefore didn't know how bad it was until a friend called to tell him.

[gene]

I'm a furniture guy and I've never put a Bimini on a sofa, so I will admit up front that things in the marine business may be very different than in the furniture business.

My guess is that he had a buddy with a sewing machine do it for him, with thread that got eaten up by the weather, and now he wants to pay someone cheap to make it look brand new, at a "just tighten it up" price.

Also, I'm also very cautious about attaching my name to someone else's work.

If you make a new top, you know how long it will take you, and what to charge. If you put a bow on a pig, you can only guess how long it will take you unless you are in the business of putting bows on pigs. Therefore, if you are not in the business of putting bows on pigs,  it would seem to me that putting a bow on a pig should cost the customer more than a new top.

Good luck.

gene

[JuneC]

Gene may be right.  I've seen some insanely shoddy stuff out there and I'm sure it was done on a home machine by a rank amateur with no pride in his/her work (the MOST important quality since amateurs can do nice stuff with enough tries and patience).  He, or his wife/friend, may have botched it and now he wants you to fix it at a discount.  It's also possible his story is true, but who can tell.

June

[Mojo]

I just got a large order for slide toppers. The guy took his coach to a marine canvas shop and had them make slide toppers for him. I believe the shop was in the Panhandle but not sure. They are one year old and he just ordered all new ones from me.

The marine guy made his toppers and bound the edges with acrylic binding. He said the slide toppers don't roll up properly......... Really ?.......LOL. You never bind the edges on toppers or anything that rolls into a casing. Geeeessshhh. Fold and sew. It ended up destroying all four torsion springs inside the roller tube ( $ 100 for each spring ) plus the cost of a quad slide topper order with me.

I have seen numerous botched jobs done by wifes. The husband gets cheap, asks the wife to re-stitch their slide toppers with a Suzy Homemaker machine and they use nylon thread. One year later they are calling me for all new toppers and the husband spends two more days removing fabric and replacing with new ( not an easy job ).

I was at a recent rally and a wife came up to me after my seminar and said " I restitched our toppers and will never do that again. I used tenara thread and had nothing but problems ". I asked her " wow, really ? I am sorry. What kind of machine did you use ? " her answer............
" A Kenmore ".

Chris

[jojo]

That's funny Chris...the thread cost more than the sewing machine!

[Mike]

If th canvas is all. Ut wrong its probly junk   Im meen like data in the wrong place you cant get rid of them.  I have people ask me can i use this old cover to make one for a new. Oat maybe. Ill say it would be more work for me then if i just cut new.   It sould be more labor   Then going new and labor is more then the canvas   So for a couple hundred or so in canvas is it reall worth it?

Chris last week i mrold amlady about $200 to take a aw ing off and sew a sem then reinstall. I new it was to cheap and disnt think she wanted to pay it anyway as she was talkiny about hand sewing it i said i dont do that. She walked. 

[jojo]

Yeah, I know. I told him I'd try, but made no promises. At the very least I will restitch everything, and the aft curtain needs to be pulled down about 4 inches to make it tight, so I'm just going to mark, cut and resew and re-snap everything at the aft edge. The baggy windshield curtains will probably have to be redone.
For the top, the plan was to pinch some darts and sew them, but then the side zippers will probably need to be resewn, etc. One thing leads to another, I guess.

[Peppy]

I just had a guy at the shop who was booked for a convertible top, but couldn't afford it so wanted us to fix his 'bimini top' instead. When he shows up it turns out he has a convertible top with no frame and a boat with no snaps (it's about to be painted). You could smell from the bag it was in that it'd been freshly laundered and there were those snap extender things all over it. You could tell it never fit just by looking at it on the table. When you put it on the boat it looked like it belonged on a different boat. I bent a frame, jammed it in and made a god awful monstrous abomination of a canvas structure I've ever seen. We charged him but told him we'd take that off the top when he's got money. But I hope to god when people ask him about his top this summer he doesn't sing the praises of Peppy.

[Mike]

what are you saying it wont make facebook   lol

[Peppy]

Nope Mike. No photo documentation. I didn't even like it in front of the shop.

[Can-Vas]

I'd walk away from it.  These jobs never seem to make money; only headaches...

[Mike]

hi howard,   mojo speaking o husbands getting cheap, Monday I got a call gron a guy who just bough a used boat but not cheap had the boat in the marina at his gated community thr most expensive homes in my area id say . he wanted to add a camper rear section to the front top I after some comments as if its not to much and he said oh we want this and that he choked at my cost wel what if we don't do that?  "well let me talk with the wife"
nice car nice new boat really nice home ,, but cheap its just canvas

[Mojo]

Mike:

I recently had a customer who owned a 1.5 million dollar bus get sticker shock over a topper quote.
I was laughing inside as I was standing there looking at his million dollar bus.

I rarely get a customer who complains about my prices. I have had only one try and negotiate with me on price. For the most part, I quote and they pay with a smile. I have had two this month book jobs and never even ask what the price was. :)

I do not understand some people. I have heard and witnessed multi millionaires bitch over a few dollars. I have seen people drive 20 miles to buy an item that was $ 2.00 cheaper then what he could have got it at the store right around the corner from him. He saved $ 2 but spent $ 3 in gas.

It takes all kinds to make the world go around.

Chris