Upholstery

Karll

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
Messages
232
Fluid Motion Model
R-29 Classic
Hull Identification Number
TBD
Vessel Name
SEAduced
I have a 2014 Ranger29 and need to reupholster the cushions in the dining area and the reversible copilot seat and back . Last year I had the helm seat redone. I was told that it would save me a lot of money if I removed the cushions and brought them in. It doesnt seem like an easy job, has anyone removed the cushions and if so could you explain the process and tools needed. Any additional insight would be helpful. Our boat is stored at Twin. Bridges so if anyone has a suggestions on an upholstery company they would recommend in the Anacortes area.
 
I did it on my 2013 RT 31…
It is a pain to accomplish but worth it.

The screws holding the seats are accessed in the cave (ceiling)…
the electrical panel has to be removed to access that area - and the wine chiller has to be removed to access those screws as well. To access the chiller there are panels in the cave to be removed.
The screws go through the formed structural fiberglass seat and directly into the removable seat bottoms.

When re-installing, use an ice pick to go through the fiberglass structure to locate the screw hole in the removable seat bottom.

I’ll search for photos.

I’m not that smart - if I can do it, anyone can
 
I’m in the process of removing them myself from my 2013 R-29. I took the copilot seat apart, labeling each piece carefully. The stern seat-back screws are accessible as AG Lyme indicates. The portmost seat-back has 6 screws behind it on top. The middle one has four screws accessible behind it in the cave (pry off the white screw caps to see the screw heads). The starboard-most seat back is accessible by removing the breaker panel—there are 6 plastic caps that pull off concealing 8 screws holding the panel on. Behind that are the screws holding that seat-back in place. After that I was down to just the seat bottoms.

Chat-GPT and I argued for a couple of hours whether the stern dinette cushion was held down by glue, screws or Velcro. It finally convinced me it was glue and I needed to pry it off…which I did…discovering it was really held down by a dozen screws from somewhere inaccessible below. (I will now need to cut the screw ends off.). For the foldable copilot seat bottom I’m sure I’ll need to use AG Lyme’s trick of removing the beverage cooler by first removing its screws behind the forward cave wall—which isn’t too bad to do if your first remove the the screws holding that in (look for the white screw caps in the cave wall).

Chat GPT recommends reattaching the seats using some sort of industrial Velcro, which I’m considering. The seat bottoms don’t seem to me to require the overkill of a dozen screws to prevent against what is mostly horizontal movement as you slide in or out of the dinette. Clearly this was an early design flaw and of course it was with the model years that used poorly made leatherette that fell apart. No one expected to have to ever take those seats out.

I’m in the queue for reupholstering this winter for around $3,800 inclusive but I have to bring them the seats for reupholstering. We had a quote in Everett for ~$6,000 but that may have included removing and reinstalling the seats. I can’t recommend anyone because I haven’t seen the results yet.

Good luck.
 
I am visiting the boat tomorrow to charge the batteries for the winter
- I’ll refresh my memory on what I did… and report back.
Yes it’s all screws. Both the seat bottom(s) and the seat back.

As a starter - go into the cave and visualize where the seat bottom and back are - accessed from the cave… and knowing that screws go through the fiberglass structural cavity UP into the wooden bottom seat structure, and ditto into the wooden seat back and feel around in the fur covering the fiberglass cavity - I’ll bet you’ll find some screws. Use a stud finder too.
 
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