Our 1975 13' Boler so far, with questions

[Naomi P]

I have been reading through many topics on here about cushions and I see there are lots of you folks who have replaced your cushions and covers.

I'm planning on going to see if they sell foam at our local upholstery shop and wondering if 4" is the recommended size? Also is it best to have some kind of vinyl on the back side to guard against moisture?

Our poor little 75 came without cushions for the dinette but I'm going to replace them all anyway as they smell and look horrible.

My husband and his dad are currently working on the rest of it in the garage, hoping to have it livable by spring

Here she is Our Boler Album no name yet, suggestions are welcome

[kevin61]

I have been reading through many topics on here about cushions and I see there are lots of you folks who have replaced your cushions and covers.

I'm planning on going to see if they sell foam at our local upholstery shop and wondering if 4" is the recommended size? Also is it best to have some kind of vinyl on the back side to guard against moisture?

Our poor little 75 came without cushions for the dinette but I'm going to replace them all anyway as they smell and look horrible.

My husband and his dad are currently working on the rest of it in the garage, hoping to have it livable by spring

Here she is Our Boler Album no name yet, suggestions are welcome

I redid mine without the vinyl and haven't had any problems. For a pattern I took the old ones apart and then traced it onto the new material. If I remember correctly you will need about 12-13 metres of fabric.

I think my foam was 4" RV cushion foam 2 or 2.5 lb density

Your trailer looks in pretty good shape. Nothing a little elbow grease and $$ can't take care of.

[Doug Mager]

Here she is Our Boler Album no name yet, suggestions are welcome

: Some 'suggestions' ...well ONE anyway!! I saw B.C. plates of your Boler, are you close to Vancouver? ...and IF so would you consider attending our G E M held twice yearly in Ft.Langley?? Next one is this coming May, the weekend before the long weekend. LOTS of other eggs to drool over and get ideas from.
With regards to your foam, you'll find going to an upholstry shop for foam is expensive, as the foam (in whatever 'density' you buy) is EXPEN$IVE. For the extra couple $$ you may as well have them recover the cushons for you. BE sure to add zippers. Vinyl backing is a good idea for one side, it not only helps (a bit) against condensation intrusion, it wears better than just fabric. The drawback with vinyl is that it sort of negates flipping the cushions over to get a 'new' face up.

You might try getting cushions recovered at a local 'Tec-School' where they have various trades learning crafts. We elected to have our front bunk bed converted to a full time couch/sofa and we elected to have it done professionally at a shop over in Abbotsford.
To get a good fit, especially in the corners, some foam had to be built up to a little over a foot thick ....THATS when foam really gets pricey....

[peterh]

I'm planning on going to see if they sell foam at our local upholstery shop and wondering if 4" is the recommended size? Also is it best to have some kind of vinyl on the back side to guard against moisture?

4" is the right thickness. We re-did our dinette foam in three layers, assembled by a local foam shop. 2" of firm foam, 2" medium foam, and a layer of batting. Much more comfortable!

Lynne took a class on how to make good-fitting seat cushions from a local fabric shop before making them. They had lots of hints on how to make a better-fitting cushion.

[Carol Ann in TO]

Nothing that can't be easily fixed. Just do it one job at a time and it will get done.
And if you ever get to Ontario, our Rhodesian Ridgeback pup looks to be about the same age as Crosby so there's a playmate waiting here.

[Rick M]

Hi and welcome to Bolermania, I have a 1974 that I restored last spring and then took on a 10 k jaunt to the USA, anyway I see that you are from BC, Yes Doug is right you should come to the Fort Langley Egg meet if possible,I went to my first and had a great time and got some great Ideas,but as for your cushions I had mine redone last spring we kept the old foam ,we just had them steamed worked great for our holiday ,but I think that I will get the new high density foam at least for the main bed and as for the covering of your cushions, the person that did mine well they look like they came out of a factory she used to work in a car shop where they do hot rods and stock cars and now she is trying to go on her own she does beautiful work and the best is you get to pick the type and colour of material you like as I went with vinyl on one side and Zippers as it gives you the chance to change foam anytime you want,anyway if you would like her website I can give it to you,also go slow have fun and enjoy the BOLER ...
Rick and THEBCBOLER................

[Rick M]

Hi it is Rick I see from your Pics Yeh I lost all mine on my resoration somehow they went off the camera anyway I see from your pics that you have a seam problem well have a great fix for that it is acrylic latex DAP one coat at a time mine took four coates but I am going to do another coat this summer,and then when you are done you paint it with acrylic/Latex/Enamel goes on great ,covers great after 2 or 3 coats and after the great west coast weather we have had it still looks great,anyway just some ideas have lots ,could go on forever about resorastions but you have to have your own Ideas ,but just remember first was the BOLER then came the rest .......
Rick and THEBCBOLER............

[Donna D.]

If you're interested in recovering your own cushions, Diann James has written a brief tutorial and provided pictures here: Diann's Cushions Open each picture to view the text tutorial.

[Bailey]

Congrats on you new arrival,I must say you scored excellant project with tons of potential.I recently said good bye to my little 13ft 1974 Bailey Boler after many long hours of elbow grease. (I upgraded to a 17ft Casita after attending the Bandon Oregon gathering)One of the upgrades was new cushion covers that after much research I ordered from the Scamp factory.I purchased the 4 inch foam locally and custom cut it myself with a electric knife.The link below is to the Scamp factory parts store.Should you decide on to buy new this is one option you might consider.Good Luck Bailey Boler
http://shop.scamptrailers.com/p-203-cushio...en-no-foam.aspx

[Naomi P]

Hi it is Rick I see from your Pics Yeh I lost all mine on my resoration somehow they went off the camera anyway I see from your pics that you have a seam problem well have a great fix for that it is acrylic latex DAP one coat at a time mine took four coates but I am going to do another coat this summer,and then when you are done you paint it with acrylic/Latex/Enamel goes on great ,covers great after 2 or 3 coats and after the great west coast weather we have had it still looks great,anyway just some ideas have lots ,could go on forever about resorastions but you have to have your own Ideas ,but just remember first was the BOLER then came the rest .......
Rick and THEBCBOLER............

Thanks for the tip about the seams... I've been asking around and people have been telling me about some kind of seam tape, but my seams are so big that I think it's just going to look horrible. Does the acrylic latex DAP go on like caulking?

Nat (Naomi's husband)

[Roy in TO]

my seams are so big that I think it's just going to look horrible. Does the acrylic latex DAP go on like caulking?

Nat,
DAP is a name brand that makes many products.
http://www.dap.com/docs/catalogs/catalogs.aspx#canada

From your pictures, your seams don't look that bad. It appers that some of the edges are loose. There was a recent thread on how to glue the Ensolite.

Some fill the seams in a few layers to compensate for shrinkage of the material. When you work with caulking it is helpful to have a spray bottle with soapy water. A light spray before smoothing with a plastic body fill applicator is helpful. You can clean the overfill with a soapy rag. I found that as the surface starts to set, one more light spray then lightly run over the surface with a small foam roller that has been wetted with the soapy water will give you a textured surface similar to the ensolite.

Some like the looks of their seams that way. I prefer the original taped look. I did fill my seams as described above as the gaps were much wider than yours. Then I applied the seam tape. I used one wider than the original.

If using seam tape, you will find some of the seams are curved. You will get a better bond compressing the inner part of the curve, rather than stretching the outer part. I stretched the first couple until I noticed the tape wants to lift on the edge.

Sorry I don't have a picture handy to post at the moment, the trailer is in storage. If I can scrounge up a picture of the finished product soon, I will post it.

Roy

[Roy in TO]

Link to regluing ensolite

Wish I had seen some of this before doing mine.
Some very good suggestions and techniques.

[Roy in TO]

Here is a picture of ours shortly after reglueing the ensolite, filling the seams, seam tape and painting. The paint is a little too high gloss, I've since found a way of flattening out the sheen with this paint product. I plan on doing so, with the second coat, once I finish most of the other work and finish marking up my paint job.





Personally I like the seams, they keep the original retro look of the trailer. I've seen a few botch jobs on filling the seams, and to tell you the truth, they don't look as good.

You can see where the ensolite started to sag again, hopefully we have corrected that by holding it up in place using memory foam and a pole to help keep pressure on it. We will know better in the spring when we get the trailer out of storage.

[Raya]

I see that Scamp has the seam tape in their parts store. As far as I know the original was just your basic double-sided foam tape and then the builders dusted the outside (which was still sticky) with talcum powder.

I'd hope that the stuff Scamp has is single-sided, but have not checked. I think U-line or any other supplier would carry something similar; although since I am planning to buy a few other things from Scamp, I may just buy the tape from them too, if it's only single sided. Might as well support them.

Raya

[Donna D.]

I've always liked what Jaye580 did in her trailer. Check out her post with pic here:
Jaye580 covered the seams! The whole topic has all kinds of tips.

[Roy in TO]

I see that Scamp has the seam tape in their parts store. As far as I know the original was just your basic double-sided foam tape and then the builders dusted the outside (which was still sticky) with talcum powder.
...
I may just buy the tape from them too, if it's only single sided. Might as well support them.

Raya

Using the double sided is very simple. The coated paper that keeps the tape from sticking to itself actually holds the tape straight to apply.

Once it's on, you peel the paper off and give it with a light dusting of baby powder or similar using a make up brush or shaving brush. It only takes a few seconds for each section of seam tape and you would be surprised at how little powder it takes to stop the stickyness. I had my doubts till we did it ourselves. I then painted over the seam tape to keep it from yellowing like the original. Used the same paint as for the ensolite.

Been there, done that and would do it again.

[Rick M]

Hi it is Rick again using the seam tape might work but it will just come off again when you use the DAP just do small coats at a time fill the gap than use a one inch putty knife to spread out smooth let dry and do another coat, do this until you think it is level and looks good, then apply paint, on my BOLER I used the ceiling seam as a paint line and I painted my walls tan and my ceiling white, looks great and had lots of comps at the Egg Fest,anyway stay in touch and keep having fun .
Rick and THEBCBOLER

[Roy in TO]

using the seam tape might work but it will just come off again

Perhaps - but I don't think it will come off as easily.

Adhesive technology has improved since the 70's. Back then it was common for car body side moldings and rear view mirrors to fall off all the time, now they don't.

The seam tape was applied over a filled and painted gap thus increasing the surface area available for adhesion.

By painting over the tape and edges, the paint helps hold the tape in place and seals both it and the adhesive from exposure to the air.

Here's to individuality while respecting differing opinions.