custom bench seat

sewlow said:

You want to use a material that is man-made. No cotton.
Man-made materials are stuff like Polyfin, Olyfin, Nylon & Polyester blends, etc. I highly recommend that because the fibers are too slick to hold stains & are easy to clean.
They breathe so the are cool in the Summer, warm in the Winter, & they wear like iron!
Heavier, more dense fabrics are harder to ignite, & burn more slowly than lighter ones.
There's a lotta different factors that figure into the final cost of a seat recover. Some won't be apparent until the seat is stripped down to the frame. Some will have nothing to do with the actual sewn cover.
I wouldn't give an estimate on any job over the phone or without more than a few detailed pix of the seat. It's like someone phoning a body shop & asking..."How much to fix the dent in my car?"
But some aspects that have to be covered & discussed with the owner before work begins are,
#1. What's your budget?
#2. Stock/original or something custom?
-Stock/original materials can be expensive. Really expensive! Not because they are better, but many times the original auto manufacturer has priority ownership. So many fingers in that pie by the time it gets to the parts counter!
-Custom gets into how intricate the customer wants the project to be. Most times, anything that the customer desires is pretty well possible. But...the more intricate, the more expensive. My shop rate is $60.00/hr. It's nothing to spend an extra 10 hours, 20 hours &/or more working on a custom seat over & above the normal time for a straight recover job. Well that $400.00 quick recover is now pushing up to the $1600.00 to $2400.00 final end cost!
#3. What shape is the main body of the foam cushion(s) & backrest(s)? Repairs take time. Of course, the more experience the upholstery guy has, the less time he'll spend to do these repairs, if required.
#4. What condition are the frame & tracks in? This is usually not apparent until the seat is torn down. The way I do things, I feel that these parts of the seat have to be attended to when a seat gets recovered. Nothing worse than having a 'new' seat, & the tracks don't work a week after the job has left the shop. Or the driver is sitting too low due some broken springs that should of been fixed in the first place. Or a crack in the frame that should of been welded up but wasn't, only to snap a month or two down the road. Hey, it's already apart so it's in my & your best interests to make sure that all is right & correct. I see this as the difference between a GOOD job & a GREAT job! But it's also time on the clock to repair, IF this is required!
#5. The labor rate is the same whether I use a quality high end material that will meet & exceed expectations or a cheaper, less-well performing one. For the amount of material in one of these bench seats (4-4.5 linear yards) the difference between using a low-end material at a cost of, say $15-$20.00/yard, or a better quality of material in the $35-$50.00(+)/yard range is a matter of only around $100.00 to $150.00 or so. That higher end material will outlast the cheaper one 3-5X longer! Why spend that money for labor to have a proper job done, if the materials don't hold up?
#6. What is & what will the market bear in your area, price wise, when it comes to upholstery work. I do this to make money as does anyone else in this trade. You pay for the experience & knowledge of the tradesman. In turn, his experience will generally make for a faster turn-around time. There will always be someone that will do what I do for cheaper! Always! But, I will warranty my work for one year. Those guys that are doing the job for cheaper...are they gonna be around in a year IF some warranty work is needed? Was their quality all that high to begin with? Was the job less-expensive due to short-cuts being taken? Cheaper is not always better! There's a reason behind those low-cost jobs!
All this factors into the final price of an upholstery job.
I take pride in my work. So should whomever does this for you. I'm only as good as my last job, no matter how long I've been doing this! If I wouldn't be happy with your project in my own vehicle, well then, why should you be? You get what you pay for. (At least in my shop, anyways!)

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sewlow said:

You want to use a material that is man-made. No cotton.
Man-made materials are stuff like Polyfin, Olyfin, Nylon & Polyester blends, etc. I highly recommend that because the fibers are too slick to hold stains & are easy to clean.
They breathe so the are cool in the Summer, warm in the Winter, & they wear like iron!
Heavier, more dense fabrics are harder to ignite, & burn more slowly than lighter ones.
There's a lotta different factors that figure into the final cost of a seat recover. Some won't be apparent until the seat is stripped down to the frame. Some will have nothing to do with the actual sewn cover.
I wouldn't give an estimate on any job over the phone or without more than a few detailed pix of the seat. It's like someone phoning a body shop & asking..."How much to fix the dent in my car?"
But some aspects that have to be covered & discussed with the owner before work begins are,
#1. What's your budget?
#2. Stock/original or something custom?
-Stock/original materials can be expensive. Really expensive! Not because they are better, but many times the original auto manufacturer has priority ownership. So many fingers in that pie by the time it gets to the parts counter!
-Custom gets into how intricate the customer wants the project to be. Most times, anything that the customer desires is pretty well possible. But...the more intricate, the more expensive. My shop rate is $60.00/hr. It's nothing to spend an extra 10 hours, 20 hours &/or more working on a custom seat over & above the normal time for a straight recover job. Well that $400.00 quick recover is now pushing up to the $1600.00 to $2400.00 final end cost!
#3. What shape is the main body of the foam cushion(s) & backrest(s)? Repairs take time. Of course, the more experience the upholstery guy has, the less time he'll spend to do these repairs, if required.
#4. What condition are the frame & tracks in? This is usually not apparent until the seat is torn down. The way I do things, I feel that these parts of the seat have to be attended to when a seat gets recovered. Nothing worse than having a 'new' seat, & the tracks don't work a week after the job has left the shop. Or the driver is sitting too low due some broken springs that should of been fixed in the first place. Or a crack in the frame that should of been welded up but wasn't, only to snap a month or two down the road. Hey, it's already apart so it's in my & your best interests to make sure that all is right & correct. I see this as the difference between a GOOD job & a GREAT job! But it's also time on the clock to repair, IF this is required!
#5. The labor rate is the same whether I use a quality high end material that will meet & exceed expectations or a cheaper, less-well performing one. For the amount of material in one of these bench seats (4-4.5 linear yards) the difference between using a low-end material at a cost of, say $15-$20.00/yard, or a better quality of material in the $35-$50.00(+)/yard range is a matter of only around $100.00 to $150.00 or so. That higher end material will outlast the cheaper one 3-5X longer! Why spend that money for labor to have a proper job done, if the materials don't hold up?
#6. What is & what will the market bear in your area, price wise, when it comes to upholstery work. I do this to make money as does anyone else in this trade. You pay for the experience & knowledge of the tradesman. In turn, his experience will generally make for a faster turn-around time. There will always be someone that will do what I do for cheaper! Always! But, I will warranty my work for one year. Those guys that are doing the job for cheaper...are they gonna be around in a year IF some warranty work is needed? Was their quality all that high to begin with? Was the job less-expensive due to short-cuts being taken? Cheaper is not always better! There's a reason behind those low-cost jobs!
All this factors into the final price of an upholstery job.
I take pride in my work. So should whomever does this for you. I'm only as good as my last job, no matter how long I've been doing this! If I wouldn't be happy with your project in my own vehicle, well then, why should you be? You get what you pay for. (At least in my shop, anyways!)

Click to expand...