Average cost for reupholstery

[Dawn S]

Hi - I have a 17' boler and I am looking to have the cushions reupholstered. There are 7 cushions. Approximately how much should I expect to pay to have new cushion covers sewn?

Do I need piping?

I have a quote for $500 with piping, which the seamstress says I need to keep the cushions with the proper shape.

Feedback would be great.

Thanks,

Dawn

[Robin G]

Dawn, Reupholstering is expensive. I can't help you with cost. But I know a love seat that my Mom is getting reupholstered is over $500. and it's just a little love seat. The cushion covers will they be removable so you can take off and wash them? Hopefully someone will have had this done and be able to at least give you a comparison.

I do agree with piping, but only cause I think it gives a finished look.

[Doug Mager]

Dawn, the addition of piping IS a personal choice. In threads in here you may find pix of our custom thread job done in a shop near the Abby airport. Expensive YES, but only to the trailer owner and hugely depends on your planned usage of the trailer. We 'show' our trailer at car shows as well as in/at trailer meets so we wanted something special. We converted the front bunk in our Trillium to a sofa. the additional foam needed to form the contours in the corners turned out to be over a foot deep. THAT was costly..... The results (IMHO...) spectacular! What you are looking at here is basically a $1500 job. There are cheaper ways to go, but the question remains, HOW durable will the job be? You DO get what you pay for.....

[Greg A]

Hey Dawn,

Scamp sells the upholstery sets without the foam for around $380. I've heard they work in the Bolers, but someone may chime in here. Based on that, sounds like $500 is in the ball park from a custom shop.

[Doug Mager]

Greg, you ARE talking U.S. dollars with a 'stock' replacement job, correct???

[Joe Z]

Dawn....
I used to fabricate boat cushions and piping will make it look better in my opinion also and have the seamstress show you the different size pipings and try to go with the smallest .... It is possible to do it without piping but it requires two passes instead of one which would make it more expensive... the first pass joins the two pieces together on the inside and the second pass folds the seam down inside and it is sewn again about 1/8 " away from the original seam sewn... If i remember right it was called a "Double Felled Seam"...Cushions and Upholstery is expensive and i priced new foam lately and it really skyrocketed (it's a petroleum based product) so if you are using your original foam the price seems about right.
Joe

[Robin G]

Wowser Doug, that's one beautiful couch you have there. Very nice!



I think I have heard the same as Greg mentioned that the Scamp Set's fit. Only problem there is your limited to the few fabrics that they offer. And their basic, (Ugly, IMHO fabrics) But if you can live with that and they actually fit, you have a great alternative to custom work.

Personally I wouldn't have the bed area cushions done if you keep that area as a full time bed. Waste of money. But if you tear down your bed and use the area as a table then you would want them to match. Please show pic's of your new cushions when you get them done. Thanks!

[brendadave]

I paid close to C$300 for our fabric, and did the work myself, if I could have had someone else do it for another $200 I would jump at it. It is a lot of work, and ours is only a 13' so it would be less work.

[Dawn S]

Hi - I have a 17' boler and I am looking to have the cushions reupholstered. There are 7 cushions. Approximately how much should I expect to pay to have new cushion covers sewn?

Do I need piping?

I have a quote for $500 with piping, which the seamstress says I need to keep the cushions with the proper shape.

Feedback would be great.

Thanks,

Dawn

Thanks for the feedback. So, it doesn't sound like this seamstress is out in left field with her pricing, so I will go for it then. My boler was $4900 for a 17' - which was a decent price, but now I am looking at spending $700 on cushions and I have already spent $1000 on repairs and upgrades. Mmmmm... I guess this is how it goes! It is like a house that way - spend spend spend. At least this is a solid investment. There will always be someone looking to buy a nice boler!

I will post picks. I will take before and afters and post them next week. Still contemplating painting the exterior...

Dawn

[floyd]

Hi - I have a 17' boler and I am looking to have the cushions reupholstered. There are 7 cushions. Approximately how much should I expect to pay to have new cushion covers sewn?

Do I need piping?

I have a quote for $500 with piping, which the seamstress says I need to keep the cushions with the proper shape.

Feedback would be great.

Thanks,

Dawn

I know it is not the same thing, but just for comparison, a factory set of cushion covers for a Scamp costs $290 + shipping. So you are over $350 with no custom work or installation and limited color/fabric choices. I think that a proffessional quality set of cushion covers for your Boler for $500 sounds like a fair price, and I think you will enjoy your trailer more with the upgrade and personal touch that comes with the purchase.
Just a personal opinion , but I think the piping will enhance the appearance of the cushions.

[Dawn S]

I know it is not the same thing, but just for comparison, a factory set of cushion covers for a Scamp costs $290 + shipping. So you are over $350 with no custom work or installation and limited color/fabric choices. I think that a proffessional quality set of cushion covers for your Boler for $500 sounds like a fair price, and I think you will enjoy your trailer more with the upgrade and personal touch that comes with the purchase.
Just a personal opinion , but I think the piping will enhance the appearance of the cushions.

Hi Floyd, thanks so much. I want to do this, I just needed a vote of confidence that I wasn't overpaying. I am going to go for it and I will post pictures of the before and after

Dawn

[brian m.]

I too think the price is about right. We had our Casita done a few years ago with a solid color on both sides, piping, and zippers for removing. Good luck with your project. New upholstery can make a world of difference!

[Jaclyn W]

I don't have a pic to post but when we did ours a few years back, we bought the upholstery fabric for approx $120(clearance car upholstery at fabricland), and we had a guy make NEW foam cushions as well. We just gave him the old inserts to get the shape he needed. Once every thing was done it cost us $1100(CDN).

The old cushions were old, and gross looking(once uncovered). The thought of years of someone else's sweat from sleeping etc grossed me out, and we tried sleeping on them once.....never again. We sunk right into the old cushions and could feel the plywood underneath, so we decided to slpurge and get some slightlly stronger/thicker new foam inserts to go with our new fabric. We're soooooooo glad we spent the extra bit of money at the time. Our bed is so comfortable now. They included zippers as well, so that we can remove and wash if needed.

[james kent]

We found a roll end of upholstry fabric on sale at Fabricland for under $50. I cut patterns from the old covers and my wife sewed the new covers together. Walmart had bedding on sale for about $5 each and she made the matching sheets, pillow covers and curtains for about $20. Add a cover and....I know that this is a 13 footer but a 17 shouldn't be that much more.

[Donna D.]

If you're interested in DIY, check out Diann James pictures and tutorial here:
Diann's Cushions

[Dawn S]

Thanks everybody. The boler and casita look soooo cosy!!

I have my cushions being sewn now. My mom did the curtains yesterday and today - wow - big job!!

I will be excited to see how it all looks and I am going to take some pictures of the swatches and the "before" interior tomorrow before I paint the inside and lay the flooring.

[Roger C H]

We just had a one piece 'mattress' made for our Trill; 3" foam - cut to shape, rounded corners, notched for the table support, and zippered at the back and it cost $350. You might look at the size of your bed. If it is 48" x 75", it is a "3/4 size" and there are standard mattresses and bed clothes made for it.

http://www.us-mattress.com/abspecsizmat.html

If, however, you want to use the rear table as a table, you have to stay with the segmented cushions.

Good luck. Looking forward to some neat pictures when you have it finished.

[mish p]

Dawn, I think you got an awesome deal. I just got a quote from one shop here for vinyl backing + labor (I would provide my own top fabric) the price was $1430. I don't believe this even included foam!!! Geez! You will see me up in BC handing over my cushions to your seamstress in the next year! Admitedly we have a 17' burro, but come on. There is one full bed and 2 bunks. Not a whole lot of yardage there....

I am going to make slipcovers for them, the best effort I can make with my home sewing machine.

Is labor just over the top in SoCal? Anyone else here try to redo their upholstery and get reamed? Maybe I should take the cushions to TJ?

[Bill and Jacquie G.]

We had the cushions recovered in the Trill a few years ago. I don't remember what it cost, but it wasn't bad. We used a tapestry on one side and a plain color on the other, so we can mix n match.

I have been a seamstress for 45 years, but didn't have time to tackle the cushions. I did make the curtains & lined them with black-out fabric to block the light from the all-night lights in campgrounds. It works very well.

I do want to say: Unless your fabric has been pre-shrunk before cutting, DO NOT remove it from the cushions and wash it. The zippers are there for the convenience of the manufacturer in getting the cushions put together. If they are made of upholstery fabric, they may not even be washable: they may distort, shrink and/or shred in washing. You will not be able to get them back on the foam.

It is best to surface clean them, using a foaming product made for that purpose, or make a thick foam from soap and use that. Rinse gently.

Ask your provider what the fiber content is, and how he/she recommends cleaning it.

If you are making your own covers, one trick to getting them on the foam is to wrap a piece of heavy duty Saran Wrap type plastic around the foam so they slide in. Then pull the plastic out.
I once made all the cushions for a 50'Grand Banks Trawler - one side fabric, the other Naugahyde, all different shapes & sizes. Boy, was that fun!! NOT! <_<

Good luck with your projects.
Jacquie

[Jake Jacobson]

Dawn -

I do upholstery professionally, and the price from your seamstress seems very reasonable. I would guess the materials are at least half of the pricetag, and that is a bit of labor to do for $250. She is correct that piping will make them fit and stay in place better - it helps keep the covers from "wandering" on the foam.

Mish -

I live in Los Angeles and do RV upholstery - please feel free to contact me directly about your cushions. The quote you got is outrageous. You can get quality work without being fleeced.

Here is a sample of the work I do for trailers....