Reupholstery Rate and decision

[timelinex]

I've got a 2007 23lsv and the vinyl is cracking everywhere... Which is probably reasonable considering it's age and that I am in the Arizona heat.

I had 2 questions:

1. What's the estimated going rate for reupholstery? I haven't had any solid quotes, but I got a "it will probably be around $8,500". On the one hand, I know prices on everything have gone up. On the other hand I've seen ~5k thrown around here alot. So I'm not sure if this is a reasonable quote or not. Plus, I imagine if he didn't want to give a quote to stand by, the ballpark figure is the minimum and will likely be inflated once the work starts. (He mentioned 90 an hour plus material).

2. This is more of a "what do you think I should do" type question. I would have upgraded to a newer boat by now to take advantage of alot of the newer tech, but I haven't been using the boat alot for the last few years because I have a 4 and 2 year old. Once my use goes up, I don't mind upgrading. That may still be 2+ years though.... I don't know if it's worth investing ~10k, into such an old boat though. It looks like online, good condition 23lsv's are going for around 43k-50k. If I can sell my boat for a $5k hit because of cracked/bad vinyl, that may be a win for me. It may even be a way if I break even but not have to deal with the hassle of getting things done. Plus since it's an older boat, I'm not sure if I'm just gonna keep having to sink money into it in either ways......On the other hand, I'm not really sure if it will actually be a large hit as most people don't want to buy "damaged goods" sort of speak (everything else on the boat works great). Opinions?

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by timelinex

[hethj7]

I don’t know todays rate, but I was just under $5K on a 21 VLX and that was about 8-9 years ago.  I could see being double that today.  I can’t speak to resell but know that with those new skins, I fell in love with that boat again.  It was a great upgrade!

[oldjeep]

There is a difference between - I want to buy skins and install them myself and I want someone to do all the work.  Which are you asking about?

[cowwboy]

Seeing how more used boats are popping up I think the price difference between one with a perfect interior and one that needs a full set of skins would be quite a bit more then 5k. 
If I am a buyer I don't want to knowingly have to put in a bunch of labor to new skins so I would want a turn key job which sounds to be closer to 10k then 5k.
Also personally, if I see a boat with broke down interior or ones that have been hack jobbed with duct tape repairs. It makes me wonder what else have they deferred maintenance on. Just like a vehicle with a broke down driver seat with foam showing in a truck.

We had our 21vlx redone about 3 or 4 years ago for 6500 but that was fully turn key. I had a discount guy redo it 2 years earlier for 2500 and massively regretted it.  The workmanship was ok but he didn't put plastic under the vinyl so all of the foam got soaked. 

[oldjeep]

12 minutes ago, cowwboy said:

Seeing how more used boats are popping up I think the price difference between one with a perfect interior and one that needs a full set of skins would be quite a bit more then 5k. 
If I am a buyer I don't want to knowingly have to put in a bunch of labor to new skins so I would want a turn key job which sounds to be closer to 10k then 5k.
Also personally, if I see a boat with broke down interior or ones that have been hack jobbed with duct tape repairs. It makes me wonder what else have they deferred maintenance on. Just like a vehicle with a broke down driver seat with foam showing in a truck.

We had our 21vlx redone about 3 or 4 years ago for 6500 but that was fully turn key. I had a discount guy redo it 2 years earlier for 2500 and massively regretted it.  The workmanship was ok but he didn't put plastic under the vinyl so all of the foam got soaked. 

Plastic under the vinyl?  There is no way I would ever do that.  Great way to turn your seats into a mold farm.

[ChadFulton]

I got quoted $5,400 on 10/17/22 for complete interior on my 2001 VLX from a reputable local shop. 

[cowwboy]

2 hours ago, oldjeep said:

Plastic under the vinyl?  There is no way I would ever do that.  Great way to turn your seats into a mold farm.

I may not be using the correct  terminology of the material. But I know there was a underlayment on the factory skins and the second shops used one also. 

The discount shops skins would bleed water into the foam and caused a lot of issues. The back deck would be full of water logged foam after a day tied up / swimming.   

The seats didn't have the issue from the factory nor do they now. 

[06malibu]

2 hours ago, cowwboy said:

Seeing how more used boats are popping up I think the price difference between one with a perfect interior and one that needs a full set of skins would be quite a bit more then 5k. 
If I am a buyer I don't want to knowingly have to put in a bunch of labor to new skins so I would want a turn key job which sounds to be closer to 10k then 5k.
Also personally, if I see a boat with broke down interior or ones that have been hack jobbed with duct tape repairs. It makes me wonder what else have they deferred maintenance on. Just like a vehicle with a broke down driver seat with foam showing in a truck.

We had our 21vlx redone about 3 or 4 years ago for 6500 but that was fully turn key. I had a discount guy redo it 2 years earlier for 2500 and massively regretted it.  The workmanship was ok but he didn't put plastic under the vinyl so all of the foam got soaked. 

X2 on this. Personally I would pay an extra 5k over what a boat is worth with new upholstery rather than save 5k for one that needs it. To me that is a quick sell in the eyes of a buyer.

Now I honestly wouldn't be upgrading to a newer boat with newer tech. IMO the wave is marginally better. If you're buying brand new/still have a warranty that is one thing, but these newer boats have some issues and the older the boat is the harder parts are getting to find.

 

[wdr]

It may have been a different upholstery technique on certain MY boats, but neither my 2010 or my 2019 LSVs had/have underlying plastic below the vinyl. If it would have on my 2010, I probably would not of had the bleed through issues that I did on the back deck panels. Fortunately that UV’d out after a little sun exposure. A cheap closed cell foam would suck up some water which may of been the issue mentioned.

[oldjeep]

1 hour ago, cowwboy said:

I may not be using the correct  terminology of the material. But I know there was a underlayment on the factory skins and the second shops used one also. 

The discount shops skins would bleed water into the foam and caused a lot of issues. The back deck would be full of water logged foam after a day tied up / swimming.   

The seats didn't have the issue from the factory nor do they now. 

Only thing that should have been on the back side of the vinyl was a thin layer of foam - assuming you wanted skins built like the factory ones.

 

[wdr]

$350.00 in 2023 money. I can’t imagine what a rear deck lid would cost. 

 

[justgary]

Back in the day it was common to have a thin sheet of plastic between the vinyl and foam to shed the water. Is modern vinyl able to shed the water without help?  The old stuff was pretty much porous.

[wdr]

6 minutes ago, justgary said:

Back in the day it was common to have a thin sheet of plastic between the vinyl and foam to shed the water. Is modern vinyl able to shed the water without help?  The old stuff was pretty much porous.

I seem to remember that as the norm on my ‘84 Four Winns and my ‘97 Rinker. 

[BillyChinookVLX]

I’m in the middle of replacing my interior on a 03 VLX. I used Gabe’s custom marine for my skins. I’m doing all the labor myself. Skins cost $4500. He quoted me about $7000 if he did all the labor to install. 
 

I’m of the opinion that spending money to keep these boats in good condition is always worth it. A average buyer will likely look at the big stuff that’s easy to see and judge the rest of the boat’s condition based on the maintenance/upkeep items that are readily visible. 

[Joshuntnd]

We have an ‘08 23LSV that we bought last summer. It like almost every other wake boat of all makes and models on the market is/was in need an interior freshen up. We got 5-6 quotes starting in August 2022 through 2 weeks ago. The prices ranged from $15k down to $8k for new skins and install. 

We have opted for a full set of skins from bow to stern! The only vinyl that will not be replaced is on the dash and the side panel next to the captain’s seat. We are right at $5k for the skins. From what we have found as the most reputable Malibu upholstery shop. Gabe’s Custom Marine Upholstery. https://gabescustommarine.com/  I found it to be pretty great that Gabe himself answered the phone when I called. They have been awesome deal with, and extremely patient with me. Any and all hold ups have been on my end. We decided to keep the same patterns throughout, but have changed a the colors. The expected turnaround time is 4 weeks. 
 

Our original plan was to install the skins ourselves, but the more we have thought about it the more we have leaned towards NOT installing the skins ourselves. We have found a local shop that we plan to use. They have quoted $45/hr and 30 hours give or take a few.
 

There is still work thy we are doing throughout the whole process though. We are removing all of the pieces from the boat, and we will reinstall all of the completed pieces. 

[stang233]

We did all our seat cushions last year.  No way it’s takes 30 hours.   You could strip the current vinyls yourself.  They should be able to do each skin in about 30 min if just installing.

[ChadFulton]

@stang233 - how hard was it to install? Would you recommend after the experience?

Local place I have considered using is booked out well into the summer, so if we go that route we'll push it until next winter. This thread has me considering getting skins from Gabe and having a project to do with my wife.

[oldjeep]

13 hours ago, stang233 said:

We did all our seat cushions last year.  No way it’s takes 30 hours.   You could strip the current vinyls yourself.  They should be able to do each skin in about 30 min if just installing.

Depends if that 30 hours includes actually R&R of the stuff that is bolted in. (You bring the boat to them).

[Bozboat]

41 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Depends if that 30 hours includes actually R&R of the stuff that is bolted in. (You bring the boat to them).

 

14 hours ago, stang233 said:

We did all our seat cushions last year.  No way it’s takes 30 hours.   You could strip the current vinyls yourself.  They should be able to do each skin in about 30 min if just installing.

My SSLXI had 26 distinct pieces to be recovered, while that may be more or less than OP's 23 LSV, 30 hours seems more than reasonable to pull the old vinyl off the piece, steam the foam some, install the new vinyl and the staple hiddem.   I spent a lot of time deep cleaning the boat, replacing hard to reach parts and putting the boat back together after the shop finished the individual pieces.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Bozboat

[hunter77ah]

1 minute ago, Bozboat said:

 

My SSLXI had 26 distinct pieces to be recovered, while that may be more or less than OP's 23 LSV, 30 hours seems more than reasonable to pull the old vinyl off the piece, steam the foam some, install the new vinyl and the staple hiddem.   

 

It’s the pulling the staples and fixing the creases on the new vinyl that takes forever. We DIYed some seat cushions before, not sure I’d do it again. 

30 hours didn’t seem unreasonable. It took us about an hour per cushion to do it correctly.  Pro tools probably help, but it’s a labor intensive process. 

[COOP]

There always someone who can do a job faster it seems. Its apparently a flex on this site. 

A 2013 23 LSV (farthest I could go back) has 36 skins (that includes dash and helm pieces). So half hour per skin would still be 18hrs, and thats if everything goes perfect.

Removing panels and cushions from the boat, remove old skin and all the staples, steam the foam, install the new skin, re-install. I bet someone here can do it ALL in one 8hr day. 

 

[Joshuntnd]

I’ve pulled almost all of the pieces out/off of the boat.  I only have the rear hatches left which I decided I need an extra set of hands for. I’ve got about 6 hours tied up so far. I think there is a total of 28-30 pieces for all of my ‘08 23LSV. I fully expect to have 12+ on the install. 

[timelinex]

Thank you for all the advice guys!

I have 2 remaining questions:

1. Are there any specific questions I should ask to know they are using good quality materials and/or to know they will do a good job.

2. Anyone have any recommendations for the Phoenix, AZ area?

[timelinex]

On 3/4/2023 at 8:23 AM, timelinex said:

Thank you for all the advice guys!

I have 2 remaining questions:

1. Are there any specific questions I should ask to know they are using good quality materials and/or to know they will do a good job.

2. Anyone have any recommendations for the Phoenix, AZ area?

Any suggestions?

[oldjeep]

My suggestion would be Gabe for skins and find someone local to install if you don't want to DIY.