sundeck reupholstery

[Dave-R]

I am in the process of reupholstering my 2001 Rinker Captiva. I ripped the cover off of the sundeck (engine cover) and found that the foam was cut into pieces that matched the shape of the various strips of colored vinyl on the cover. It then had pull strips (I don't know what else to call them) sewn into the seams and the strips were stapled onto the plywood in the middle of the plywood along the edge of the middle pieces of foam. My question is would there be any known problem if I just cut the new foam into one big piece and not use the pull strips. I would still make the cover in various colors and then just staple the cover onto the plywood just along the edges. Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

Hello and welcome Dave-R,
I can't help with your upholstery questions, but there are a lot of really good upholstery guys here on the forum that will jump in soon and give you some sound advice.
Just give it a bit of time, because most of them are either busy with life or helping others out on the forum...
The other tip I would suggest is to post up some pictures of what you are talking about so that they can see what you need. Here is a link that will help you do just that...http://forums.iboats.com/non-boating-technical-topics/how-posting-pictures-videos-533219.html and you can use a free photobucket account, too...Photo and image hosting, free photo galleries, photo editing | Photobucket
Best regards,
GT1M

 

[tpenfield]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

I am in the process of reupholstering my 2001 Rinker Captiva. I ripped the cover off of the sundeck (engine cover) and found that the foam was cut into pieces that matched the shape of the various strips of colored vinyl on the cover. It then had pull strips (I don't know what else to call them) sewn into the seams and the strips were stapled onto the plywood in the middle of the plywood along the edge of the middle pieces of foam. My question is would there be any known problem if I just cut the new foam into one big piece and not use the pull strips. I would still make the cover in various colors and then just staple the cover onto the plywood just along the edges. Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge.

the downside of not replicating those 'anchoring' strips is that the vinyl covering may become 'baggy' and not stay flat to the sun pad cushion . That is probably why the manufacturer did it that way. They probably would not have done it if it was not really needed.

 

[JDA1975]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

I would not recommend making it in one piece, replicate the manufacturers method, those tufting strips give the vinyl a tighter look....it is not that tough to add the strips, just do it at the same time you sew your seam. plus being able to reuse the old foam will save you money, foam is not cheap right now, and with shipping its even worse.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

I am just starting my reupholstery project and can agree with reusing the hold downs. Many of the ones in the center of my sunpad were loose and when I would shut down my motor hot the sundeck cushions would rise up from the heated expanding air in the space between the cushions and the wood!

 

[Dave-R]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

Well, we finally got her done. It turned out okay for being a beast to do.. i have tried to attach a picture. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

WOW!!! Very Nice!!!! For a "First Timer" ya dun RITE GUD!!!!!!!

 

[JDA1975]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

Looks good, I see some wrinkles near the bottom of the picture on the blue, you can use a heat gun or steamer to remove those, or if you do not have either of these, you can use this old trick with some towels and a microwave

West Coast Customs - Removing Upholstery Wrinkles with Ish - YouTube

wrinkles like that are very common in vinyl and leather and without heat or steam to finish it off none of my jobs would look as good as they do, so please don't take me pointing out the wrinkles as a bad critique!

 

[Dave-R]

Re: sundeck reupholstery

I appreciate all the tips I can get. I will try the hot towels.