Upholstery Install Cost $1,000???

NCH20SKIER wrote: John, I purchased some skins for my '96 Sport (observer bottom and entire rear bottom's and back and had installed locally roughly 3 years ago. Think I had just over 1k total in the job. Within 2 months the rear seat looked like it had a bad case of chicken pox. I sent pictures to Christine's and while sympathetic on the phone would offer no relief or suggestions on what may be wrong with the skins (yes I followed the recommendations for cleaning and treatment). A couple of weeks ago I had Townsend at White Lake look at the seats and he said the foam contained a fungus - not the first time he had seen this. So where the fungus come from - who knows but the rear seat did still displays the symptoms of the chicken pox. Be careful to inspect your foam and consider replacement at the same time you install the skins. On the bright side for me I do not worry about my Golden stepping / lounging on the rear seat.

Did you wrap your foam with plastic? I have always seen boat cushions from the factory wrapped with thin plastic. I think it helps for several reasons, easier install, keeps the foam from absorbing water and I guess it could prevent fungus from growing or blending through. I'm not an expert, just guessing here.

John,
I purchased some skins for my '96 Sport (observer bottom and entire rear bottom's and back and had installed locally roughly 3 years ago. Think I had just over 1k total in the job. Within 2 months the rear seat looked like it had a bad case of chicken pox. I sent pictures to Christine's and while sympathetic on the phone would offer no relief or suggestions on what may be wrong with the skins (yes I followed the recommendations for cleaning and treatment). A couple of weeks ago I had Townsend at White Lake look at the seats and he said the foam contained a fungus - not the first time he had seen this. So where the fungus come from - who knows but the rear seat did still displays the symptoms of the chicken pox. Be careful to inspect your foam and consider replacement at the same time you install the skins.
On the bright side for me I do not worry about my Golden stepping / lounging on the rear seat.

Ive borrowed an industrial upholstery machine off my old folks and am going to have a go at making the skins myself.
I'm not expecting them to be great, but more than likely a temporary solution, plus however they turn out they will be better than whats on the boat at the moment.
Its a long shot but I take it there are no seat patterns out there in the public domain??

moon wrote: im in michigan and had the amish make and install complete interior on an 82 nautique 800 bucks for every thing turned out awesome i will try to post some pics.

+1,the mennonites (NY) re-did the interior on our Century years back, a great job.

if it were just flat pieces I'd be inclined to give it a try, but I think I'd be way out of my league with the curves sections. I'm gonna try a few more shops and if nothing else maybe I'll just haul it back down to Christines and let them do it. I thought I remembered them saying they could do it for cheap.

Very simple, the guy priced you high because you didn't buy the skins from him.   An upholstery shop makes a profit on the material, sewing and installation. Y ou can't take away 2/3 of the guys income and expect him to give you a deal.

That just seems ridiculous to me. Is that way out of line or am I just unrealistic. I have all the skins from Christine's for a complete replacement and the local shop said it would be $1,000 just for labor and didn't include if I needed foam or anything. And I have to remove the cushions and bring them in.