Upholsterer recommendation

JumbleDuck

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Enough is enough. The worm has turned. No more.

The state of my bunk cushion is intolerable. After ten minutes it compresses to something with the thickness and resilience of hardboard. I ended up moving to the car to get some sleep last night.

I don't have the cash for a complete re-upholster this year, but I would like to find someone who will take the cover off (this probably means removing and replacing the zip) and put it on some nice, new, actually bouncy foam. The cover itself is in generally good nick.

There is, as far as I know, nowhere near me which can do this, and I can't arrange to pass the place in Largs which I have seen recommended here during working hours. So ... any suggestions for an economical mail order place? Because it will re-use the old cover I'm not expecting wonders, but I'd like sturdily competent craftsmanship.

Plan B is to buy foam and an electric carving knife, but I'm busy ...
 

neil_s

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I did the new foam. Stanley knife is fine for shaping it. Get some of the net tube as well - it makes it much easier to get the cushion covers on again. Didn't bother with replacing the zips - just sewed up the slot. It's well worth giving the covers a gentle hand wash, too - they feel so much nicer.
 

JumbleDuck

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I did the new foam. Stanley knife is fine for shaping it. Get some of the net tube as well - it makes it much easier to get the cushion covers on again. Didn't bother with replacing the zips - just sewed up the slot. It's well worth giving the covers a gentle hand wash, too - they feel so much nicer.
Thanks. My foam is not just a flat slab - there is an extra section along the front edge to give a raised bit. Any bright ideas about that? A local upholsterer was willing to do it but backed out when he saw that ...
 

lustyd

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I know it's probably not helpful but I'd generally agree if it's just bunk foam. Get a foam mattress from Amazon and cut it with a sharp knife (chef knives work really well). The extra bit is also just a bit of foam and likely square with the shape coming from the cover. Given the relative costs it's got to be worth a go.
I get the busy thing, but we're probably talking an hour or so
 

JumbleDuck

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I know it's probably not helpful but I'd generally agree if it's just bunk foam. Get a foam mattress from Amazon and cut it with a sharp knife (chef knives work really well). The extra bit is also just a bit of foam and likely square with the shape coming from the cover. Given the relative costs it's got to be worth a go.
I get the busy thing, but we're probably talking an hour or so
Thanks. I've discovered that the name for what I want is a "rolled front". I'll have a look at Amazon's mattresses.
 

JumbleDuck

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If you want fast an cheap, a foam mattress topper often works wonders. A fitted sheet will hold it all together.
Thanks, but it's beyond that. "Hardboard" was dramatic exaggeration, but it really does compress down to practically nothing, so a foam topper would be all the springing.
 

Mister E

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The extra Rolled Front can be shaped from a separate piece of foam.
It is then glued in place using spray contact adhesive on both parts.
The biggest advantage of doing your own is that you can use different layers of different density foams. I found a middle layer of camping sleeping mat the most comfortable.
The quickest and easiest way is to get a Self Inflating camping mat to put on top. "Alpkit" do some thicker ones as well as the standard 2 inch.
 

Quandary

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If you could wait until you move your boat to Crinan there is a guy in Ardrishaig, working in rather cramped conditions in the old telephone exchange beside the club boatyard. He does boat upholstery as well as domestic and has put a zip in a mainsail cover for me. I would regard him as competent rather than stylish and would not ask him to choose fabric patterns or styles but your job does not seem to be too sophisticated. He does seem to understand about foam densities.
If you are interested I can get you contact details, he is always busy so you may need to book a place in the queue.
 

JumbleDuck

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Thanks, everyone. I discovered to my complete surprise today that the zip in the cushion was running freely - it was jammed solid last time I looked - so as a stop-gap measure I have ordered a new piece of foam, as near to the original as I can measure and draw, from foamdirect.co.uk, about whom I know absolutely nothing. However, it's £126.99 for the foam (firm, fireproof) cut to size, wrapped in stockinette and delivered, which seemed worth a go. It'll be here later this week, they say.

If it fits the cover, great. If I can't get it in I can use it with a blanket over it while I get the cover re-foamed. And if it's no use at all it's annoying, but not the end of the world.
 
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JumbleDuck

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Thanks, everyone. I discovered to my complete surprise today that the zip in the cushion was running freely - it was jammed solid last time I looked - so as a stop-gap measure I have ordered a new piece of foam, as near to the original as I can measure and draw, from foamdirect.co.uk, about whom I know absolutely nothing. However, it's £126.99 for the foam (firm, fireproof) cut to size, wrapped in stockinette and delivered, which seemed worth a go. It'll be here later this week, they say.

If it fits the cover, great. If I can't get it in I can use it with a blanket over it while I get the cover re-foamed. And if it's no use at all it's annoying, but not the end of the world.
We had a bit of toing and froing over the shape, because I needed a tapering undercut and they weren't sure how to do that until I sent them sketching showing a triangular wedge cut off one corner. However, they were very friendly about it and the foam is now here and, after a bit of a tussle, installed in my cover. It fits beautifully and from a brief test seems nice and comfy.

So now as a customer I am happy to recommend foamdirect.co.uk to anyone wanting a new piece. To order, by the way, you choose the "random shape" option, choose the dimension of the piece from which your cushion needs to be carved (in my case 74" x 24" x 6") and then upload or post a drawing showing exactly what shape you want. In my case:

lo2IXyd.png
 

peter gibbs

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I know it's probably not helpful but I'd generally agree if it's just bunk foam. Get a foam mattress from Amazon and cut it with a sharp knife (chef knives work really well). The extra bit is also just a bit of foam and likely square with the shape coming from the cover. Given the relative costs it's got to be worth a go.
I get the busy thing, but we're probably talking an hour or so
Shaped parts to the foam inner are made up as described above. An impact adhesive will keep the parts together. I believe an electric carving knife is well rated on most foams for a clean edge. If you use the cushion as a mattress, you will need pretty firm foam; it may seem very dense in your hand but is what is required if you are not to return to sleeping on the boards again! Routing past an upholsterer prepared to sell you a slab and recommend the right density is probably your best bet.

Replacing the zip - this is mostly done by cutting off the old zip teeth and machining a new zip in place - not difficult as I have done it myself.
 

Quandary

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If I received your diagram I would be asking for a dimension for the width (or depth?) of the rear undercut at each end of the cushion.
 

JumbleDuck

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If I received your diagram I would be asking for a dimension for the width (or depth?) of the rear undercut at each end of the cushion.
Hence 2" undercut and 4" undercut. The problem was that they though I wanted something like this

6H4yeAU.png


but I actually wanted something like this

5EgMUj2.png


made like this

NqynXbe.png


and once they had that drawing it was all plain sailing. Basically I assumed that they would be used to tapering undercuts, but it seems they weren't. Still, they were very good at asking for clarification and it was all cheerfully sorted out.
 
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