seat upholstery

Cutwater28GG

Cutwater28GG

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
1,996
Location
seattle
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Non-Fluid Motion Model
Cutwater 28
Vessel Name
Living The Dream
Hi, has anyone engaged a seat upholsterer to supply new seat covers for their tug or cutwater?

with the success of ranger and cutwater boats, the factory is not in a position to supply new covers from their production line.

any recommendations in the PNW?
 
Same question here. I have a 2011, R27 which needs a replacement helm seat & forward facing passenger seat. Would be interested in options.
 
I did the passenger seat. Cost me a $1,000. Seemed a bit steep. I need the helm done too so I'm looking for another shop.

-martin
 
Who did you use?
 
I have the same problem on the helm seat of my 2012 Cutwater 28. Completely delaminating and flakes of plastic covering the floor after 5 years. Are Cutwater absolutely no help at all here? I would have to find someone in the Kingston, ON area, if anyone has any ideas. Thanks, Roger
 
I used Jamis upholstery. He did a good job, great color match. They are in central New Jersey, Point Pleasant I think.
 
I called the factory a couple of days ago. its not just related to seat covers, in general I think the team is struggling with the growing back catalog of parts inventory and service load supporting the older boats. I wonder if a few owners got together we could convince the factory for a one time. It seems like this part is something that a number of owners are interested in.

I would definitely welcome a more detailed spec of what we can expect from the factory for older boats and what timeline ranger consider a boat to be "older" and out of direct service.

for those who have flaking seats, (mine is just the pilot and co pilot seats that need replacing) would you want the newer style with multiple fabrics or the solid single fabric version that is currently installed?
If I change to the new style it means I have to replace all the inside cabin seats to match - more money. I would leave the outside ones alone as they are fine. but i definitely prefer the new style as it brings up the cabin to a more modern look.
 
Might be just me but i would not expect a boat manufacturer to have replacement upholstery for a boat older than 3 years. I think it is pretty common that people would find a local upholstery business in their area. I did that with my last boat. Needed to recover seats and never crossed my mind to order from manufacturer. Models and colors change too much for them to stock it. Good time for a fresh look.
Same for a car. If 5 years later i needed new seat covering i would find a shop that does it. Little chance car manufaturer would stock the material for several years.
If you are near marinas there are shops that do it. Ask around the marina. They will tell you who they use.
 
in general I agree Matt but there is a back story to these seat covers. Boats from the 2012 era had a design flaw for the interior seat covers being susceptible to wear as the vinyl was too thin. there was a factory program to offer at cost, seat covers replacements. this is no longer being offered.

Through careful care I got more time out of my covers and as such I dont expect the factory to offer seat covers still at cost, but I would like to be able to buy replacements as the seat design hasn't basically changed for the new boats. its just another set of the existing part thats currently on the production line.
 
We replaced all seating upholstery plus foam and the fabric on the v-berth bolsters with vinyl and fabric matching the new color scheme. See our album for photos. Our old fabric was in bad shape and the original foam was shot! Labor was about $1,000 for everything. Used a local auto upholstery shop familiar with boats. Really good foam purchased from The Foam Factory was about $200.
We are very happy with the results. Six hours in the captains chair is no longer an excercise in torture!
 
I agree with Cutwater28CG. I don't want a favor from the factory, but if they could recommend an upholsterer based on their experience, that would be interested in selling numerous sets of nearly identical replacements to those of us with failing seatcovers, it would benefit the upholsterer, and those of us looking for replacements wouldn't have to each find someone to do a "one off" replacement - which is time consuming and expensive.

Just my thoughts...
 
Assuming that Fluid motion has the pattern for the upholstery of the C26 and C28 and any other models that Fluid Motion made. If this was given to a reputable upholsterer in the PNW with the understanding that there will be repeat business. The upholster could produce these upholstery skins and send them anywhere in the country. This was a known issue with the upholstery installed. This is not a replacement because of wear and tear. Interior upholstery should have a life expectancy of more the 5 years especially with the with the demographics of owners of Ranger Tugs and Cutwater boats. These are not the boats with kids climbing in and out of the water, skiing, getting wet all the time and then sitting out in the elements. My opinion is different then Matty's, If the couch in my house fell apart in 5 years I would be upset, If the interior of a well maintained boat fell apart in 5 years I would be upset. If the interior of my car fell apart after 5 years I would be upset. Not wear and tear because of abuse. It fell apart! Warranty is warranty and out of warranty means its on your dime. I understand that. No one is asking for a hand out. What is being asked is, can the company provide assistance in providing interior parts that were known to be defective and known to have an integrity issue. If the company is that busy, which is good. A simple outsourcing with patterns to an upholster in the PNW could be done. Fluid Motion can go on manufacturing beautiful boats to excited new owners and present owners can have parts needed for their once new now used boats.
 
For the 25 Classic I was told that the factory did not keep the upholstery patterns. Best pattern solution was using the old material as a template.
 
This sounds like a wonderful opportunity for an entrepreneurial upholsterer. Use the old covers as a pattern and a willing customer as a prototype. Maybe give them a discount? Once they have a good pattern then let the good folks on TugNuts know that replacements are available. No need for Fluid to be involved. Their warranty is long gone, whether it was an issue with one of their sub-suppliers at the time or not.
 
Agree with BB Marine. This was a factory defect - and now out of warranty. Nothing to do with wear and tear. There is virtually no wear on a pilot seat. But a reputable company should still try to take care of their owners in some way, in fact exactly the ways that have been described. I would be a keen member of any syndicate who wants to buy a replacement fabric. Cheers, Roger
 
If anyone is considering replacing their upholstery I would strongly recommend replacing the foam at the same time. Much better foam products out there today than what RT was using in the past. The foam is cheap! Pick a firmness that works for your own body, not the National Average Body!
Also, two of our six seat hinges were cracking. Replace the hinges too if there’s any sign of cracks.
 
We had the same vinyl flaking problem on our 2011 R27. We were initially offered (quite graciously by the factory) a new set of skins at cost, but decided to go with the local option so we could spread out the cost over more time. We opted to use a local upholsterer for the dinette and passenger seats. So far the cost of the two seats is about $1000. Instead of re upholstering the helm seat I purchased a basic folding helm seat off the internet from a manufacturer mentioned in a thread previously at this site, it was $134. The re-covering option allowed for the dusting off my old finish carpenter skills and shortening the aft dinette seat and table by three inches allowing for a wider passage through the galley area. The Admiral didn't want to decrease the length of the forward seat so it is being recovered as is. We chose a quality marine grade vinyl in a solid cream color (also matching the new helm seat) just a bit lighter in color than the original vinyl. No need to replace the existing foam as it was lightly used and didn't need any upgrade. These have been easy fixes on an otherwise pristine vessel that gets a lot of oohs and aahs wherever we go.
 
Anyone ever find a upholstery shop that made patterns for the seats?

Thanks,
Matt Murphy
 
Our R25 was reupholstered last year by a local canvas shop. We took the seats, easily removed, to the shop and they returned them brand new looking a few days later. There was no discussion - or charge - for patterns. Perfectly satisfied is an understatement. They even made a "booster" seat for the helm seat because I'm to short for the boat as designed.
 
All my vinyl fabric on the seats inside flaked off, I went with all marine vinyl, no sunbrella insert, but kept the same style, then covered them with terry cloth covers that slip over the tops like a shower cap. When they get soiled into the washing machine, dryer and back on in a day's time. I travel a lot and don't like the cold or sweaty vinyl. I replaced the helm chair with a LaBron mini chair that reclines and has arms and used the same bolt pattern on the tilt-up board. I did replace the hinges with heavy duty stainless steel front door hinges. (three to a pack, so now I have an extra one :shock: ) The Ranger hinges were not strong enough to take the side loading induced with the chair arms supporting rolling motions. The marine upholsterer charged $1600 for the six cushions, three backs, and three seats. He would do the helm chair for $400, plus shipping if not local. He is honest and reliable and is able to customize the seats to your liking. He is located in West Palm Beach, FL. If interested, PM me for his number, if many are interested I will publish his number. He is open to suggestions; while not cheap he does a proper cushion using the proper material.
If anyone needs an original helm seat and or the navigator seat, I have both for sale, cheap make offer, plus freight.
 
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