• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Interior cushions

CSMcKillip

Moderator
Moderator
Has anyone replaced the interior cushions? We have a total of 10 that we are looking to be redone, I have the cost for materials and labor but want to make sure we are in the " ballpark" for the quoted price.
 

newpbs

Member III
Tough Question

We replaced ours last year. Our bottom line cost was about $2500. That said, we chose really nice sunbrella fabrics. One of them retailed for $100 a yard. We went with 4 inch, high density foam. Here's the thing, a local friend did the work for a very reasonable price. We were able to purchase the fabric during a half off sale. Our friend picked up zippers at a reduced price and batting as well. The one thing that killed us was the cost of the foam. It is really expensive. I'm sure we could have done the job for under $2000. We could have used cheaper 3 inch foam as well as cheaper fabric.

Shop around and look for sales on fabric. Sunbrella can be found on e-bay, if you don't mind buying your material from a photo.

I'm happy with the result of our project. The cushions are nice to sit on and really make the interior look nice. They're good for sleeping on too.

Good Luck

Paul
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
When we bought our boat the cushions had mold and mildew thruout the foam.
Three washings later the covers were ok. We tossed out the old foam and put in new hi density foam in '95. They still sit and sleep like new.
Ericson was using really good quality fabric in the late 80's. Of course you do have to like the dark blue color with white flecks in it... just like on every Ericson of the era.
:rolleyes:

Loren
 

bayhoss

Member III
Loren, I given some thought to washing the cushions on my 28. Did you do yours yourself, and if so how? Gentle cycle, low det.?
Best,
Frank
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
Factory fabric.

Loren, The E31's had the same fabric but the predominant shades were tan and brown. In years past when getting details of each E31 from the then current owners, I'd always ask if the cushions were original. Most of the time they didn't know for sure. The clincher was when I'd ask if the fabric looked like woven oatmeal and invariably they'd say yes, woven oatmeal, yes!! That's all I needed to hear to be convinced that we were talking about the original, bulletproof fabric. I know what you mean about several washings restoring the look to new. The then owner of E31 hull #33 right here in MDR and now owned by Stuart Mackenzie on Vancouver Island, cleaned them as you did. I knew the before and saw the after, the result truly was night to day, it really did look brand new. Glyn
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Be Gentle....

Loren, I given some thought to washing the cushions on my 28. Did you do yours yourself, and if so how? Gentle cycle, low det.?
Best,
Frank

We washed 'em three times, gentle cycle, mild detergent like Woolite, and a little bleach added.
One more wash would have probably started destroying the stitching...
:)
**One note: today's front-loader washers would be a lot more gentle on the fabric.

While there was a bit of residual musty odor, I later put 'em all in a plastic tent with my ozonator for a few hours. The main secret was new 2.6 density foam, and the upholsterer wrapped it all in a gauzy dacron stuff to make the surface under the flat covers have some loft and softness. He was an old time master upholsterer (boats, custom cars, furniture, etc) that really knew his stuff.

He replaced many of the corroded-away zipper pulls, too. At that time this particular line of fabric was going out of production and he was able to source a few scarce yards of it to replace the seat at the nav table which had the most wear, and also do some fill-in where he split the monstrous aft cabin one-piece cushion into two manageable sections.

He had a button-tufting press to use some new bits of fabric to cover new buttons for he settee backs and seats. (Those old buttons had a steel center and some had let rust stains show thru.)
Our boat had sat for three years in the Alameda estuary, closed up tight, before it was put on the market. :p That's a lotta warm salty air.....

We also added two Beckson ventilators to our boat and always leave the hatches on "vent" position, AND we added a total of nine louvered vents under all the interior closed areas, AND we changed all the solid cloth zip-up locker fronts (it's an Olson thing...) to mesh cloth for even more ventilation.

We are pleased with our upgrades -- But then, everyone's got a story! :cool:

Regards,
(and deposit .02 please)
Loren
 
Last edited:

Rick Laporte

New Member
After receiving several quotes for replacement cushions for my E-27...I purchased an old sewing machine via Craigs list, and fabric and supplies from SailRite...
Total cost to recover seven cushions was around $400...
 
Top