Allowance for interior refit

[Paul_S123]

I was looking at trading my boat for a Beneteau First 35s5.

It's a 1990 that was sort of redone in 2002. The interior is definitely serviceable but would benefit from a refit.

Just working on the economics of buying this older yacht, or hanging out for a newer one. I am sure some of you have done this.

Obviously it would depend on the extent of what I wanted doing, but I think it would need new fitments in the head, new upholstery & all the wood stripped and refinished.

Ball park????

 

[jwilson]

" ..... all the wood stripped and refinished." - if you are talking about paying a good tradesman to do the refit it will cost too much to be viable. It's almost all labour, plus maybe £50 or so for varnish.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Budget for you using 100% trade and materials
New upholstery (cushions, coverings, measuring and fitting) £2000
Strip back saloon, fore cabin varnish and redo £2000 (7 x days and 6 hour days at £50/hr)
Stuff you don't know about but needs fixed £5000

I bought my Rival41C for less than £50k, I have spent between 1/2 and 2/3 of her purchase price on stuff being repaired and replaced.

I warn you that old boats can cost a lot more money than you think and are not bargains unless you are dedicated to DIY and can search for the bargains. The biggest cost to me was biting the bullet and getting a yard to finish her refit as I was taking too long over it. There are those on here who can take an old boat and refinish her to a high standard at low cost using their own skills but I think they are few in number.

A 1990 boat is an old boat.

Having said that, a bloke at Largs Marina got hold of a low cost Bavaria 32(?) that had flooded up to her saloon berths (on the hard due to blocked cockpit drains and long layup). He did some lining replacement and cushion work between him and his wife and it cost very little. So it is possible.

 

[duncan99210]

Upholstery for a yacht that size would cost in excess of £1000 unless you can do it yourself, when the cost will drop to the low hundreds for new foam and coverings.
New fixtures for the head presumably means new pump for the head plus shower/basin tap. £200 - 250 allowing for replacing the pipework as well, assuming you do the work yourself. Pay a man and you can at least double the cost.
Redoing the woodwork. Do it yourself is not expensive, just time consuming. Pay a bloke to do it and you'll need a second mortgage.
That said, my focus would be on the state of the boat overall, especially the engine, standing rigging and sails. If they're in good order then the rest is something that can be spread over as long a period as you feel like, acknowledging the fact that occasionally things will break and need replacing before you get to them on a planned refit.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I would say:
For all the upholstery upwards of £2500 that would be cheap.

Loo a new bog and pipes etc "professionally fitted £300 to £400 do it yourself £150 tops. what else is there shower fittings £30 to £50, Holding tank and pump could be anything £500 to £1000

Strip and revarnish ALL wood well I don't know how much wood there is on a Benny 35 but it won't be cheap i.e. 3 0s on a figure not starting with a 1

Apart from the upholstery everything is doable DIY providing you invest in some good tools and take your time. ( varnishing)

 

[savageseadog]

I've seen a lot of really poor work done on boats, . The varnishing done on my boat not long before I bought it cost the previous owner some thousands and is really poor job. The electrical work is the polar opposite, a fantastic job.

 

[Tranona]

As others suggest, just not economical to have it done professionally, apart from the upholstery as it is labour rich and low material cost. So DIY, but it only makes sense if the rest of the boat is really good. The big unavoidable costs, in that they are not DIY and are heavy on materials are, engines, sails and electronics. However, you can end up spending so much time on fixing up that there is no time left for sailing.

 

[Kelpie]

Our interior is extremely tired with damaged veneers etc. I am just going to paint a lot of it white which should be easier than replacing veneers and varnishing. So it depends on the standard that you are happy to settle for.

 

[Paul_S123]

I would say:
but it won't be cheap i.e. 3 0s on a figure not starting with a 1

LOL, not what I wanted to hear.

Truthfully I won't be doing very much of it myself...I enjoy fiddling with them, but they tend to end up being worse than when I started.

Not wanting to sound as superficial as this thread probably sounds. The boat had a new engine, electronics, sails and rigging in 2002. Not that it makes it all new, but hopefully I can squeeze a few more years before they need replacing.

The interior just looks a bit tired and I cannot decide if it's worth taking it on or not.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Our interior is extremely tired with damaged veneers etc. I am just going to paint a lot of it white which should be easier than replacing veneers and varnishing. So it depends on the standard that you are happy to settle for.

I have had a lot of veneer replaced this last couple of months. New marine grade Veneer is not cheap but it has transformed old bulkheads. Templates are made with 3 mm low quality ply ripped down to 3" strips. The strips are cut with heavy duty scissors and a glue gun is used to stick sections to the panel that requires the template. The individual strips are then joined up with overlapping strips glued across joints and then the whole template carefully prised off the panel. The new veneer is cut out using the template and then glued on; not sure what glue was used.

It can be very quick to do. The picture below is part of the repair to the bulkhead veneer. Wood strips had been glued and screwed to hold in place curved cushions but removal damaged the veneer (which was in poor condition up at the window anyway). The bit to the right has now been added in. Also the veneer around the grey equipment and behind the steps has been overlain with new veneer.

While I used marine grade from Robbins Timber, lower cost veneers will also be available, so maybe an option for you.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I have had a lot of veneer replaced this last couple of months. New marine grade Veneer is not cheap but it has transformed old bulkheads. Templates are made with 3 mm low quality ply ripped down to 3" strips. The strips are cut with heavy duty scissors and a glue gun is used to stick sections to the panel that requires the template. The individual strips are then joined up with overlapping strips glued across joints and then the whole template carefully prised off the panel. The new veneer is cut out using the template and then glued on; not sure what glue was used.

It can be very quick to do. The picture below is part of the repair to the bulkhead veneer. Wood strips had been glued and screwed to hold in place curved cushions but removal damaged the veneer (which was in poor condition up at the window anyway). The bit to the right has now been added in. Also the veneer around the grey equipment and behind the steps has been overlain with new veneer.

While I used marine grade from Robbins Timber, lower cost veneers will also be available, so maybe an option for you.

You are going to end up with one hell of a nice boat there good job you have deep pockets:encouragement:

 

[chrishscorp]

This year I was given a ball park figure of £2K for new upholstery for a 26 footer which i thought was a bit steep, however they went on to then say that all the foam would have to be thrown away as it is not fire retardant and the new fabric would have to be the same as it comes under furnishing regs. ( we still have the old cushions )

I think in answer to your question, having done my project 26 footer, is do you like DIY and are you reasonably good ?, nothing worse than having to do a job twice.