Upholstery $?

[Steve Heywood]

We just bought a (new to us) '97 Excella. We have tons of plans for updating it including having the sofa and dinette re-upholstered.

Has anyone had this professionally done and what did you pay?
If you did it yourself was it easy or something you'd hire a professional to do next time?

[Safari Tim]

We paid to have ours done twice...

The first time we just had the three gaucho's redone. I checked all over and found that the prices averaged around $1000 for retail unpholstry shops.

Then we found a little ol' lady who worked out of her house. She was always booked and very busy. But she quoted the same job for $525. Did excellent work with excellent material.

This year I converted one of the couches to a dinnete and had the same shop convert the gaucho cushions to dinette. She did it all very nicely for $125.

So, if you can ask around maybe there is someone in your town who works at home. But if they are good they will be really busy.

Good luck!

[2airishuman]

hi steve
as part of a complete gutting and redo of my 79 motorhome, i had the sofa, swivel rocker and rear gaucho redone by a professional. turned out fantastic, better than i expected because the comfort of each piece was improved with new padding/bolsters in key locations, and i was allowed to select the material. this was done 15 years ago so what i paid isn't relevant but expect to pay essentially the price of a new piece, be it chair or sofa. re-upholstery is damn hard, hands on work and the last thing you want is some important stitch to fail or button to pop off....

there are lots of places to look for the best skills..... furniture shops, auto custom shops and solo masters. rv upgrade shops usually have someone hidden away they utilize so that's another source. antique shops usually can offer suggestions too.

just expect to pay 500-1500$ per piece and it is worth every penny. the labor is the same regardless of materials so select the best textiles that you can afford.

yes you can do it your self and if you are just recoverying big chunks of foam with denim....give it a go. i'm glad a pro did mine and it's held up better than the original, which was avocado, harvest gold and so 70's.....

cheers
2air

[hotLAVA]

I reupholstered our entire Argosy myself with vintage fabric I purchased on the internet. It wasn't as hard as I imagined. Most people, whether honest or just nice (more likely) say they can't believe that It was done by me - I always laugh and tell them not to look at anything too closely. To sum up my sewing skills; I had to read the manual on the vintage sewing machine grandma gave me to figure out how it works. I didn't make patterns or cut up the cushions. I took fabric pieces and pinned them tightly around the pillows, pulled them off and sewed them, then put them back on the correct way. Some of it was pretty tricky.

The upside to doing it myself: I've been told our trailer is somewhat rare so I made covers for everything. If we decide to restore her back to original hideousness, it's just a seam rip away. I spent less than $200 and the fabric is a very nice quality and I have tons left over. I wanted a "funky" fun colorful fabric, which I got. If I used a professional I would have probably tried to pick something more neutral - after all- that is an investment I wouldn't want to remake as my taste changes. As it is, I can decide to reupholster just because I feel like it. And I will definitley do it myself again.

I think ours look great......but I'm not a perfectionist. Good enough is good enough for me. But when I go into a trailer that had a professional do the work, I can see the difference and appreciate the skills that they have.If you're a perfectionist, I recommend having it done by a professional.

[M&M CAPECOD]

Hi Steve,
We had our sofa redone this winter by an upholstery shop. We bought the leather online for around $750 and the labor charge was just over $700. The owner kept complaining about how difficult the sofa was to do so I guess I'm glad I didn't decide to do it myself. Plus with the cost of the leather I didn't want to make beginner's mistakes. I've posted a picture of the finished sofa on our profile along with the valances that I recovered (very easy to do). Good luck in whatever you decide to do and I hope I've been some help.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by HOT LAVA

The upside to doing it myself: I've been told our trailer is somewhat rare so I made covers for everything. If we decide to restore her back to original hideousness, it's just a seam rip away.

If you left the original fabric on, you've technically "slipcovered" - and your description of how you made the pieces is perfect technique. Congratulations. A good slipcover is as hard to do as upholstery - some are harder. Congratulations.

Tin Lizzie

[RiskIt]

Found a woman in ME who worked out of her house. Same deal, very busy but did great work. I had my stuff redone for $450 + I bought the materal @ $150.00

[hickory]

We are removing the front couch/bed in our 96 Excella. Good condition, but we are putting in two small recliners. I would like to get rid of this couch, if anyone is interested.
Thanks

[sparky5]

I am starting a little business doing this for Airstreams on the side...in the past I have done upholstery and slipcovers for "regular" furniture throughout Fairfield County in CT, as well as window treatments. I'm also well versed in dressmaking skills, so I can usually handle the odd cushion shapes here and there (you should see some of the brides Ive made gowns for! some were like sofas!!) I'm currently advertising some simple slipcovers in the Classified section:
http://www.airforums.com/class...&cat=14&page=4
Although these are not the size you need, perhaps I can help you?
Give a hollar or email me with questions.

[mtpalms]

Originally Posted by hickory

We are removing the front couch/bed in our 96 Excella. Good condition, but we are putting in two small recliners. I would like to get rid of this couch, if anyone is interested.
Thanks

Please don't take offense, especially if you have already done this, but forum members would be better served if you offered your couch here:
http://www.airforums.com/class...cat.php?cat=14

[driftwood]

sparky5,

Saw this in a Miami newspaper classified ad, off topic but, thought you may get a chuckle!

"WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE. WORN ONCE BY MISTAKE. Call Mary 555-xxxxx."

[ALANSD]

we spent 2500 to recover 2 captains chairs, the fold out couch, 2 barrel chairs, and all the trim on the walls,etc that had the old fabric on it. Used the best upholstery grade automobile type fabrics, and replaced padding also.
It was more than I wanted to spend, but has looked great and served us well.

[TomW]

My wife tells me she supplied the fabric, and a local shop, using new foam, reupholstered the gaucho & sidearms for a little under a grand.

I would complain, but I have yet to find anyone (who saw the Day 1 pix) that would agree that the original, 1967 fabric & foam did not need replacing.

Tom

[juel]

I took my two couches to a shop that upholsters classic cars and boats. They had me go to their whoesale shop to pick out the fabric (there were hundreds of choices) He did the couches and and that arm thing for $350.00. Of course this is Oklahoma, so I probably didn't pay what it would cost in a larger city.

[TomW]

Juel,

Did that include new foam?

Tom

[FlyFishInn]

Today, we bought nine yards of outdoor grade fabric to recover the gaucho. We also picked up another two and half yards of vinyl (leather look) to cover the arms cushions and the front og the drawer. We got all the materials for $61.85. Everything was 30% off at Hancock Fabric. My mother-in-law is going to put it together for us. What a nice lady... I will post photos as she progresses.

I have another project as well. We are converting our rear twins into a bankette that breaks down into a queen bed. Anyone have a good inexpensive source for foam cushions?

[chikagurl]

Hands down the BEST fabric store in the country
http://www.maryjos.com/

Put together
upholstery, foam, cushions, drapes...the whole sheeebang

A pic of finished product here:
http://www.vintageairstream.com/archives/66GT/66GT.html
The second trailer down...drapes are yellow with palm tree motif
Forest Green heavy duck upholstery.
Our beautiful little '66 GT sitting by our place
This little trailer was desperate when we found her...
Now Im proud of her.

[Swanny]

Well, we just had the 2 couches in our '75 Excella reupholstered. The firm removed and installed the couches. What is really nice is our model has the "L" configuration with a short couch in the front of the AS and a table in the corner. On the streetside wall is the couch that pulls out into a bed.

The original 'stuff' had buttons on it, so we specifically asked that no buttons be put on the new material. We also had the gentlemen stuff the ends of both couches versus using those floppy pieces of material that used to serve as 'pillows.'

Finally we had the foam replaced and doubled in thickness. WOW . I feel like we're sitting a real couch now. I'll get some pictures made and post them on the website.

Anyway....the down-side is that the whole job cost $1500. I believe that I'm reincarnated from a man that lived in the 1920's---1930s because I think it should have cost $150. But wow it's some beautiful work!

Mitch

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by Swanny

I believe that I'm reincarnated from a man that lived in the 1920's---1930s because I think it should have cost $150. But wow it's some beautiful work!

Mitch

When I have those moments, I try to think what I would have charged to do the work myself for somebody else...that plus the 10-15 yards of fabric, the foam and the custom work that's required usually brings be back to the ridiculousness (is that a word?) of our times.

I'm sure it looks wonderful and you will most likely get another 30 years of enjoyment from your 'new' interior. Just think, that's only 13-cents a day!

Shari

[Cedars]

In October we had the gaucho, side chair, and two wall panels done by a professional. All new foam and new backing. Paid a little over a hundred and fifty dollars for fabric, then was charged a cutting fee as we had not bought the fabric from the shop. Total shop bill for foam, padding, backing, dacron wrap, and three sets of extra arm covers for sofa plus chair seat and back covers (two sets) was right around six hundred dollars. So we totaled about seven fifty but had a lot of extras in that amount.
For myself, I suffered terribly from sticker shock when I began pricing out the job! I had thought four hundred should cover labor and foam..... One estimate ran over TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! When that place called with the estimate, I was so taken aback that all I could do was sputtr "I dont THINK so!" and hang up! LOL!!
But for all my kvetching, I am well pleased with the job!
Now, to make the throsw pillows, and tetrim the shades, make tie backs for the drapes, and decide whether to retrim the throw rugs! Just added a lovely fruit bowl, and a basket to hold bread, rolls, and the like on the countertop! Perhaps by Spring, I will have it exactly the way I want.... but wait! That includes redoing the bedroom..... maybe I should just back off and only do the front..... VBG!!

Elizabeth in Iowa