Cost to recover furniture

[HotTommy]

I've been considering the purchase of a newer used 24' pontoon boat in the next year or so. I note that many have upholstery that is starting to split at the seams. I called a local boat upholstery shop today to get an idea of how much it would cost to recover the sofas on a party type boat. He noted that if some seams have split, the others will soon follow. And the covers have to come off to be resewn, so the time is right to replace the 5-7 year old fabric with new. So he ballparked the cost at $5,000 plus or minus $2,000 depending on the details. Of course that means the cost would more likely be over $7k than below. ..... So, has anyone had recent real world experience that says this estimate is high or low?

 

[Keith L.]

I just took my L sofa in and the captains chair in for reupholstering today. The L sofa was about 150 inches total. You can see a pic of it in my thread below your's asking how to remove seat backs from a pontoon. This is off a 2005 20' Northwoods pontoon. The seams were not split and there were no rips or tears in the vinyl but it was so dry and sun faded that it was actually starting to seep water through it.

Anyway the first quote I got was for $1700 to have the two pieces done. This struck me as high considering no foam was likely not needed. I got a second price from a large boat dealership that also has a reupholstering shop and they quoted me $875. I had to drive about 70 miles to drop them off but well worth the savings. So what's the difference between the 2 shops? I have no clue but considering the pontoon is a 2005 I feel better investing $875 over $1700.

I don't have very many options in my area for reupholstering. Actually the guy at $1700 was the only one I could find close by and he was doing it out of his house. Get as many quotes as you can is my advice.

 

[HotTommy]

Thanks for the reply. It's hard to get a quote without an actual piece of furniture. My reason for asking was to help in valuing a used pontoon boat that needs reupholstery. I'm trying to get a better idea of how much to add to sellers' asking prices to see how much it will really cost to get various boats ready for the water. ... Based on Keith L's experience, it sounds like three sofas could cost as must as $5K and the whole job $7K plus. Or with the better supplier, $5K. So those are in the range I was quoted.

 

[captmello]

two years ago, I had my entire interior redone on my 24 footer. $ 4500. two tone, nothing too fancy. I removed and brought it all in on a trailer.

 

[ahicks]

I'm doing my 3rd boat right now (all done over the last 3 years) using furniture supplied by Wise. Based on what this stuff can be bought for, I wouldn't even consider having anything redone. It's less than half of what you're talking. Make sure you shop around! There's a certain company that sells PRIME memberships. Make sure you check pricing there.

No, it's not prime furniture, but it's very servicable, and will likely be shot in 7 years, just like about anything else available.

I would use your estimates to buy the boat, then look hard at Wise.....

 

[legalfee]

I had my 1995 824e Sylvan done two years ago. The upholstery shop said I was better off going with new furniture than recovering. So they replaced all the seats and helm, recovered the sun deck, and put in vinyl floor for 6K.