Boats, marine upholstery

[65Buick]

It was awhile ago that I asked about this. Some people said that marine upholstery is dirty. Others said it was hard due to the curves, etc.
I know of someone locally already doing covers. But there may be an opening for someone to refurbish the seating on these vessels.
Comments appreciated.

[Eric]

Elaborate. Or, call. It can be moldy. No worse than a sofa that had seven cats pissing on it.

[MinUph]

I might be one that called it dirty. Cars and boats are. I find the dirt gets on my work areas and can find its way to white furniture. I also am at an age that I don't want or should I say can't crawl in cars and boats to take them apart. So the excuse that they are dirty helps me fool myself into thinking that is the reason. Knowing ones self is cool.
  Anyway.
  There is good money in boats if you stay away from small ones and gear up for the larger ones. Small boats with the back to back seats are money suckers for the owners and the shop working on  them. Also realize there is always hidden damage on a boat. More so that a car or chair.
  Go for it 65 just be smart about it.

[kodydog]

We did a cushion job for a marina who specialized in salvage. This boat had sunk and the cushions smelled like diesel and oil. The fellow in charge of the rebuild wanted the job done cheap as possible including using the old foam.

Like Eric we have done some nasty furniture too. We walked into one customers house and the smell of cat urine hit us like a cannon ball. Thank god we can now walk away from jobs like those.

65, living in California it seems like boats would be a natural fit. 3 things to consider. Do you have enough room to store several boats while working on them. Will your insurance allow you to store customers boats at your house. Can you get liability insurance in case something happens to the boat while in your care.

There is good money to be made, like everything else start small and work your way up to bigger projects. Put out a top quality product and the word will spread quickly. And lastly when you get really serious, marketing. Boat shows, fishing tournament's, fishing groups and local fishing magazines. It always amazes me how much money people will put into a boat

[65Buick]

You guys crack me up! How fun would it be if we could all get together?

Well, I think I may have been imagining this wrong - I live in coastal Ca, therefore, I have no land. I was thinking to remove the seating frame from vessels, and bring it back to my shop (house). Will this not work?

[MinUph]

You guys crack me up! How fun would it be if we could all get together?

Well, I think I may have been imagining this wrong - I live in coastal Ca, therefore, I have no land. I was thinking to remove the seating frame from vessels, and bring it back to my shop (house). Will this not work?

Certainly it would if that is acceptable with the owner. One other thing to confide and I'm not sure how it works in Ca but marinas like to get into the contractors pocket with fees when you work on the boats. Something you would want to know about so you can add it to the estimates.

[Eric]

You can certainly take off and bring to shop, I do that. Just remember, when quoting, especially in salt water, bolts, screws corrode, allow extra time. I will quote upholstery, then tell client time and materials to remove and install, or you can remove and bring to me. If getting into boats is something you want to pursue, I suggest this forum to join on facebook. Marine Canvas & Upholstery Discussion Centre

[jaxjandj]

It can be nasty and dirty with more then a dash of salt :-)  We take apart most of the cushions out side to keep the creepy crawlers out of the shop.  You never know what is going to come out when you start taking out the staples!  Depending on how old the cushions are we tell the customer we are replacing the foam and don't give them an option.

John