Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

Gvec

Cadet
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
6
Hey everyone,

Des anyone rent outside space to store their pontoon? I live in Las Vegas and the HOA's make life difficult, so I need to rent from a third party. Some places have a 20-30 ft uncovered spot for like $70-90/mo. But to get covered storage it's $150-175. Don't even ask about indoor.

Anyways, my question is, if you have a new pontoon and you have a boat cover, would ou be concerned about it being out in the direct sun year round? My biggest concern is the leather fading. But I assume that if there is a boat cover, the leather should be ok? How about the rest of the pontoon?

Thanks in advance.
 

calvinator

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Messages
286
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

Sun will take it's toll....

If you are going to keep it outside, I would get a *good* cover that covers the side panels too. Just the toons exposed. The paint on the panels and any vinyls stripes will fade over time too. Check into Sunbrella fabric for the cover. It will be expensive. I also don't know if Sunbrella is good/bad for Vegas, but 'round Ohio, it is the good stuff.

If you go that route your interior will stay clean too.
 

Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

The Las Vegas sun would cook a factory top, and your upholstery would have a relatively short lifespan.

Go for the covered storage.

If properly maintained, a pontoon boat is a very solid value. My Starcraft is 27 years old with the original upholstery. The seats are showing signs of age, but are still good. Had I had stored it in the desert sun, my upholstery would have to have been redone long, long ago.
 

MH Hawker

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,516
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

Where you are at the sun will fry your interior in a very short time make no mistake about that. A good dock cover will save the interior. In the sun out there it is a lot better than nothing and I don't have any direct knowledge of what cover fabric will hold up, a covered storage would be the best of course but dock covers are a easy replacement, and the interior is harder and a lot more expensive. So it is a toss up.

My boat is stored out side in the weather, on the slip or at home on the trailer. I had a custom Sumbrella cover made last year just to save the new interior I installed. Where I am at that will protect it for at least 10 plus years. Where you are at I simply don't know what the life expectancy is. But it is safe to say with out a cover a year or maybe 2 and your interior will be trashed.
 

Old Screwball

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
240
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

When we bought our Pontoon last year we specifically stayed under 20 feet so the whole unit would fit in our garage. Next door neighbor bought a 22 footer. Dan uses the stock cover AND covers that with a cheapo plastic tarp. The cover cost a couple of hundred bucks, the plastic tarp is about $30. He figured if he gets a year out of the cheapo it will save him lots of bucks by not having the stock cover fade and rot under the Laughlin Nv. sun.

Good Luck!
 

Cubbyblue22

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
220
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

The one thing I always look at when thinking about storage is moisture too. If your parking it inside and especially in the summer months, concrete tends to sweat and accumulate moisture. Once it dries it will rise and go right to your pontoon deck. So I always like to store mine either on gravel or a dirt floor myself. I've also known people to shrink wrap their boats when they are putting them in storage but that wont protect you against the Las Vegas sun i'm sure. I'd recommend a nice tarp and you shouldn't see any other problems especially being in las vegas.
 

smclear

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
626
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

I understand about HOA's. They can be a real pain. I would vote for outside storage with a good cover.

12 months @ 70.00 = 840.00 annually
12 months @ 150.00 = 1800.00 annually

Difference of 960.00/year.

I have not priced covers lately, but I would think you could easily buy one every other year and save money. Maybe even buy one every year.
 

Silver Eagle

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 16, 2010
Messages
852
Re: Storing pontoon outside - covered vs non-covered storage

Iboats Deals with a custom pontoon boat cover maker they make the cover your way. I bought one from them custom made athree or four years ago my way.. It's heavy duty and fit's a 24 3 Starcraft.I leave it out all year. There price was about half the Dealers price. Very heavy duty.Any color too. Give them a call.
 
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