Cost to reupholster

[Dan Simon]

I've been getting quotes from professional shops to redo my Bolers cushions. So far, the best is $800 from a shop thats been in business for 35 years and he even came to the house to measure. I had another for slightly more and yet another for $1000+

Keep in mind these are professional businesses that will custom fit using my choise of fabric an provide new zippers. There were several types of fabric that he brought that he uses in trailers/RV's a lot and they were very sturdy and had cool patterns.

Does the $800 sound reasonable.

Any thoughts before I pull the trigger?

Dan

[Nancy]

What is worth something to one is not worth something to another. If this value is worth it to you and you can do it go ahead, but if you go to sell your unit I don't think future buyers would think that improvement is worth that kind of money. If the going rate doesn't include new foam I think it is rather high.

No way could I spend that kind of money on a trailer. I looked at a year old Scamp parts list and a full set of 7 cushions is $480. If only only wants the covers (no foam) the price was $265. That price was from a year ago. Not sure how different your trailer cushions are from a Scamp. The Scamp foam is a bit firm (but lasts) and the first thing I did was make memory foam toppers for the Scamp cushions....which was nearly the same as doing the whole job myself.

I presume you want the dining table to be used, and you aren't going to make that a full time bed. If one makes it into a full time bed a do it yourself job is even easier.

From your other post it looks like you don't want the back on the front bench, so you wouldn't want the Scamp front cushion (I hate that banana piece).

The way Keith and Dee did theirs you don't even need to sew. I can understand why you got bids so high, it is labor intensive. I have made cushion covers with zippers and it isn't fun. That was why I liked the way Keith and Dee did it.

Nancy

[Nancy]

Dan, I just had another thought. Maybe the fabric you are looking at is quite expensive (I tend to shop for upholstry fabric at remnant tables). If the fabric you want has plaids that need to be matched or other patterns that have a repeat that needs to be considered the cost can get quite high. Notice again Keith and Dee's cushions on the other thread. They chose a fabric that is easy to work with, no pattern repeat, etc. When the fabric gets old or they get tired of it there is little cost in replacing it.

Nancy

[Dan Simon]

Thanks Nancy,

I agree, cost is realitive. I didn't even think that I could order them from Scamp, I'll give them a shout tomorrow. I want/need new cushions and feel I will have it for some time to enjoy....now that I have come to grips with the fact a 17 is not in the future....for now!

With that, I did talk to the guy at the local foam shop. He says they have an in house sew shop and they are "a lot cheaper" than other places. I sent him dimensions and will hopefully hear back on Friday.

More to follow.

[Sharon Herman]

I've been getting quotes from professional shops to redo my Bolers cushions. So far, the best is $800 from a shop thats been in business for 35 years and he even came to the house to measure. I had another for slightly more and yet another for $1000+

Keep in mind these are professional businesses that will custom fit using my choise of fabric an provide new zippers. There were several types of fabric that he brought that he uses in trailers/RV's a lot and they were very sturdy and had cool patterns.

Does the $800 sound reasonable.

Any thoughts before I pull the trigger?

Dan

Dan,

I am in the process of having my cushions recovered. The foam is still good and I have already bought the fabric. (denverfabric.com) I am going to have the egdes piped (that almost doubled the price). I figured I'm only going to do this once, I want it nice. I will be paying close to that $800 price tag. If that price is for new foam, fabric and labor...I think it's a good price.

Sharon

[Doug Mager]

We did away with the bunks in the front of our Trillium and had a 'polstery shop redo a foam sofa with seperate seat an back. The seat also has a 50/50 split in it to allow for easier access to storage unnerneith the seat. The fabric is 'spensive and has custom thread work on it all plus custom matched piping! Total cost, about $1200 Canadian with the major costs beind in the custom fitting of the foam which in the corners is EASILY over a foot thick. Next up on the list is something to recover the rear "double" bed, with matching colors n threads.....
P.S. the front seat now closely resembles a sofa with solid arms, etc.!

[Rick and Shannen]

Doug - Photos, please! This sounds very interesting!

[Dan Simon]

Has anyone actually bought new cushions from Scamp and put them in an older Boler....say a '75?

I just called them and got dimensions, they are all slightly different an inch or so here and there. I'll need to go home tonight and remeasure the Boler to see if it would actually work.....

any do this before?

Dan

[Doug Mager]

I have a few pix (and equipement) but not the knowledge how to post them...still learnin'!!

[Penny Taylor]

My upholsterer is also an insurance agent, and just as mine were to be reupholstered, Katrina and Rita blew in !! That stopped progress on my bed cushion covers !

I had already bought the fabric, memory foam and regular dense foam, and the foam glue to stick them together. As I had to leave with the camper, before he had time to do the covers, I had to quickly do it myself. The bed is always made up, as I have another dinette, which he had already upholstered. So I used the same spray glue for the foam, and glued the fabric all around the mattress. It was still all in one piece. It is really stuck, and doesn't move, but I will be able to PEEL . off the fabric when he has time to get back to upholstering, and do it properly, with the piping all around the cushions.

Just letting you know that there is a quick fix.

[Rob S.]

Dan, I would buy your own fabric and post an ad on the bultion boards around your town looking for experienced seamstress to make cusion covers. I'll be willing to bet you could get a very nice job for a fraction of the price and probably help someone out in your community who needs a little extra cash.

For fabrics check out the remnants and end of bolt racks in the back of your local fabric stores. I have found some really nice stuff for about $5 a yard.

[Tom Trostel]

I spent $130 for 10 yards of fabric at Cutting Corners (a discount drapery and upholstery fabric store) and paid $264 at an upholstery shop to cover my cushions. The cost at the upholstery shop included adding extra thickness to the back cushions to make them the same as the seat cushions. Tom Trostel

[Gary Lynch]

Dan,

You get what you pay for in most cases. If you want state of the art foam ( the right stiffness for you) and top quality fabric that will wear great and can be cleaned well, and is made for such an installation with professional sewing, yes, it costs at least the figures you are speaking of.

If the pre made Scamp cushions fit, that would be close to half the price.

[MyronL]

I am nearly finished with a complete re-upholstering of all our Burro cushions. Bought discontinued fabric locally at $9 per yard for the first cushion, front, which is also the biggest one.

Starting out, I removed the old fabric and used it as a pattern. That made making the new cover easier, but when it was done stuffing the old foam cushion into it became a battle royal, a fight to the finish, a death struggle, etc etc. That foam resisted to the end. It lost that battle, and is now inside my new homemade cushion. But leaving the old fabric on it would have made it slide much much easier into the new cover. A lesson was learned. We decided we didn't need patterns for the rest of the cushions. I also found out along the way those 6 inch thick seat cushions are extremely expensive, so additional advice is....if you got 'em, keep them! I think if you are not up to doing it yourself finding a local seamstress is a great idea. Otherwise, go ahead and drain your savings account.

We saved a bundle doing it all ourselves, and I had fun learning how to do piping. Wife Nancy was my very patient teacher. She never chastised me though I broke several needles and whined mightlily when I couldn't get the machine to do what I wanted.

[Donna D.]

Starting out, I removed the old fabric and used it as a pattern. That made making the new cover easier, but when it was done stuffing the old foam cushion into it became a battle royal, a fight to the finish, a death struggle, etc etc. That foam resisted to the end. It lost that battle, and is now inside my new homemade cushion. But leaving the old fabric on it would have made it slide much much easier into the new cover. A lesson was learned.

I've HEARD putting the foam inside a plastic bag really helps to slide the new upholstery over it..then I guess, you reach inside and cut the bag out

[Benny K]

If the plastic bag was large enough you could put the foam inside and then use a vacuum cleaner with the open end of the bag wrapped tightly around the nozzle to suck the air out of the foam and the bag and then close off the end of the bag....this way it would be real simple....removing the air would probably reduce the size to half or even less....put it into the cover, and then you open the end of the bag and "Voila" .......everything back to normal size... ..Benny

[christineb]

If anyone lives near Springfield OR, "Factory Fabrics" store people told me exactly how much fabric, poly cover, zippers, foam were needed to reupholster our Scamp. They even told me exactly how to lay it out and cut it and which seams to sew first. All I did was measure carefully. I do sew, but had never done upholstery before. The way they explained it all was a total breeze. I now have beautiful cushions with top on the line foam and good fabric (don't forget to Scotch Guard) for under $100. Learn to sew!!!
Christine

[MyronL]

Great! Lets see some pictures.

[Christi V.]

Pics would be great!! If I knew how much yardage i needed for my 16 side dinnette i might go look for some fabric then one of these days have it re-upholesterd.. I am not a seamstress by any means.... Being able to do it yourself and under $100 is Terrific!!!

[christineb]

Well now I'm really embarrassed
I grossly minimized the cost of the upholstery..............I actually paid $280.00. I went poking back into the bills to check. AND the store was "Econo Sales" Springfield, the incredibly helpful sales clerk was Pat
Sorry................still, not a bad price and about 4 hours max work. Really.I also didn't say, but in the original Scamp cushions, the back rest part were in 2 separate pieces, so that they would curve around the walls. The join ( and hole) was exactly where my hip rested when trying to sleep. A real encouragement for getting new ones. So........I just made the new ones with one piece and leave it to just bend around naturally. I'll get pictures as soon as I put the cusions back out in the trailer.
Christine