Interior prices
 

I have been doing boat interiors for about 6 years now and i never really know what to charge. I learned how to do car interior out a Wyo-Tech on 2001 and found upon returning ho,e that i knew alot more people with boats that needed work than cars. The problem i have always had was i never really knew what i could get for the work......I resantley quited a guy with an Active thunder 25 $400 to redo his bolster seats...he jump and the price fast...is that to low? I Never really feel like i'm getting ripped off ...but i tend to think my prices are a bit low. If you guys have any pics of your interiors and wouldn't mind telling me what you paid i would appreciate it.... and if anyone from the souther Chicago area is looking to get something done i would be more than happy to help....I'm not here trolling looking for work just thought i would offer....

thank you for your time
Mike

nobody has had there interiors redone?

I paid $350 for my bolsters, $300 for my back bench and kick panel and $60 for my sunpad solid white with red piping around the perimeter.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ewinterior.jpg

Best thing to do is just be fair with yourself as well as the customer. Establish a budget with the customer and maximize what you can do within it while not giving your time away. Keep in mind this is not your hobby, figure out how many working hours it will take you for a given project and what your overhead will be then go from there. If you can efficiently complete a task once you'll make money, if you have to do things over to achieve results that costs you money not the customer. Also be honest with the customer about what to expect, if a budget of only a few hundred dollars exists then one cannot expect a Lip-Ship style job and you are not obligated to deliver one. Ultimatly there has to be a balance between the budget and the end result that will benifit the both of you and that should be established before you get even started.

I paid $2000 for this interior and was very happy with the results (cost and quality). I had originally set aside $3500 but the local shop i used quoted me "around" $1500, I had seen his work before and was confident. I told him i had budgeted more then that and requested that he take more time and refine it a bit if he could. He was able to get rid of some of the pleating and eliminate the piping that borders all the panels. It was not the nicest in the world but it was, never the less, very nice. But more importanlty it was exactly what we agreed on (cost and quality wise). I was very happy with the results and will use them again.

The sunpads were 100% new made from scratch (with no stitching by my request)
The rear bench had structural work and the bottom pad was a custom piece
Front bolsters were pretty complex and i asked that the least amount of pleats be used wherever possible.
He used a really nice flat lock stitch to eliminate all the piping also by request, looked great.
Some of my requests probably made the job easier allowing the shop to make a better profit and in my thinking allowed focus on a better overall job.
(that pucker on the bottom skirt on the port bolster was my fault on assembly :picard1::D)

Everything dave said is true, you can also call and price shop your competitors. if someone wants a topgun done, call around and see what others are charging and adjust your costs to reflect your skill level and such. Above all Be honest with the customer as far as costs and time to complete job. if you have embroidery to do that costs more, my Tiger interior was 7k+ and that included a sunpad and lots of embroidery, worth every penny.

Dave it looks like who ever did your boat did a real nice job. How come ya don't fix that bolster? Thx for the pics and price post ... i really appreciate your guys help.....Keep em comin

Actually i did fix it that pic was shortly after i put it in, it had to do with the skirt piece and how it mounted under the seat (my bad not the upholstery guys) . I sold the boat soon after and the new owner is still enjoying it today, its holding up well. I need to get the interior in my Scarab done one of these days and i will use these guys again.

Is that flat style of stitch easier to do then using the big piping on all the edges? I know i liked it better then when it had that stuff on it, made it look old/dated.

The piping(welt cord) will help hid a few more imperfections better than the Single reinforced stitch. The piping will cost a bit more and requires more time and labor to put in. I would not conciser it harder to do than the single reinforced. Alot of boats are getting away from the welt cord and i personally like the look of the single reinforced better and feel it is a stronger seem. On most jobs i do i try and get 50.00 and hour but if it going to be alot of hours and a real big job i try to work with the boat owner to stay within there budget. As a whole i would rather lose on some jobs and have a good name

Rookie it sound like you got one hell of deal on that interior...i don't know how big your sun-deck is but i don't think i could get vinyle at my cost for $60 for that let alone build and install it.

I think you need to come up with a variable cost per hour. You should have 3 inputs for pricing. 1) for materials, 1) for overhead, and 1) for labor. For overhead you should total your annual cost of overhead (rent, storage, admin, tools, and depreciation of equipment, etc) then divide by total annual jobs or hourly work. That will give you an overhead allocation variable. For labor take your desired salary net of taxes and divide by how many hours you expect to work in a givin year. If its too much relative to competition then you need to benchmark the competition and learn their competitive advantages.

well the shop is at my house so my overhead is just tool cost. I work in construction and ave alot of days off due to weather. I have started doing a few covers this week and there seems to be a bit more $ in them and not near as much detailed work. I guess what i'm asking is do you guys feel $50 is a fair price?

:Score-101010: Financial Accounting 101. Great advice.

Where did you have yours done? I am in Michigan too, and will need my seats and sunpad done over the winter on my Velocity 260.

Sunpad is 4'x6'x2" Funny thing is, he is making another sunpad for me this week. Last year heading down the highway I lost mine. A couple pulled up next to me and told me that I lost my sunpad about a mile back. I turned around and saw it on the side of the road. I made a U-turn 2 miles down the highway and when I got back to the spot where I saw it, some ba$tard had already picked it up! It was all white with red piping around the perimeter, kinda simple and really made the back look like blahh when I got the new bolsters and rear bench covered.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ne/WKback1.jpg


The new one will match the bottom of my bolster seats. 1/3 white, stripe of red separated by white piping and then the rest of the 2/3's red. This was my first design and I tried to carry over the lines from the original interior.

He is just a local guy in GR and has done interior components for me the last 16yrs. I first drove to his shop 16 yrs ago with my '86 Honda Interceptor and a rotted seat. I asked him how much to recover it. He looked at it, ripped off my red torn seat skin, stretch a new shiny piece of black vinyl over it, stapled it and said $10.

I will be talking to him tomorrow and will let him know that you might be interested in some winter work. He likes to line marine stuff up for the winter months to keep him busy. He does a lot of custom car interiors, and is always swamped in the summer.
Rookie

anybody know where i can get a new ZX for the sun pad done? Even if i had to have the skin done somewhere and installed here. The cover weighs a ton so shipping it somewhere is not practical and no one here is capable of doing the letters. There a few shops around here that are capable of installing it though.

Dave i am willing to bet the only place you can get that is from donzi...or who they crop there interior work out to. I have looked at those sun-decks and thought to myself..."that has to be computer stitched" May be if ya had the pattern to cut from you could have an interior guy do it....and thats a BIG maybe .....but ya never know i'm sure there are guys out there that could do that....i don't feel i'm one of them

Rookie sounds like you have a real good trim guy....and from what i hear from all the guys i do work for thats hard to find

How hard would it be to cut a pattern from what he has? Cant what is already there be traced add a half inch to each side for stitch then pinned together and sewn? I have done some upholstery work in the past. I have never seen one of those pads in person. What makes them so difficult. Looks more time consuming than difficult.

Well if memory serves me right there is no seem in that sun-deck the red/black ZX is made...then ya gott cut the reverse out of the white. If you are using a 1/2 S.A (seam Allowance) you would have to not stretch ether piece one 1/16 of and inch and never veer off your 1/2 S.A. at all not Evan a half a stitch other wise when ya got to the last part you would have a wrinkle. Thats why in all the baja's with flame you see stitches running though all the main colors all the way to the end of the material. If you were %100 perfect you might be able to do it but i have yet to meet a trim guy that is %100 perfect ....the only thing i can think of that could do that so precise is a computer....prob why you don't see stuff like that on older boats we did have the technology to do it....again i could be wrong i don't claim to know everything....if any one else has any incite in to this i would love to here it

Also i never cut a pater out of old material unless it is trashed beyond belief or i'm %110 confident i can make the piece perfect. I'll try and make my own patter out of plastic and make stuff that i'm not sure about that way if i don't like the product i make the old on stays on the customer pays nothing no hurt feelings and my name stay good around the area

thats correct there is no seam, it is done within the top piece of vinyl itself. who ever did it actually had to map out the Zx and cut a hole with the 1/2" SA added in. Its very well done and looks tedious for sure.

i will try and make something like that with some of my spare material net time i have some free time and i will do it on a smaller scale.... i'll post pics of it if you guys promise not to laugh and don't count it against my quality of work.....

I sent you a PM with my phone number, if you could forward it to you interior guy I would greatly appreciate it.

heres a closer pic of the ZX

heres some pics of a skin from a Donzi Daytona i had in the shop recently. The existing cover was re done in white and the customer is wanting to send this out to be re produced and installed this winter. This looks like a tough one for sure, lots of intricate corners with that dark blue drop shadow on the bottom of the letters.

some detail of the inside of the skin. I imagine this is one of those things like big graphics jobs in that you have to think way ahead of the progression on the project. I would have to admire anyone that is capable of this kinda work :cool:

$50/hr is a good price IMO. Plumbers and mechanics are making $100/hr.

Are you wanting to do re-upholster jobs or complete interiors? I took mine to a guy that had made his living mostly doing aircraft interiors. He had nothing to work with so he constructed all of the seats from scratch and then covered. He way underestimated the time it would take and lost his a$$. I have sent him a lot of work since to make up for it. Just be honest up front and give yourself enough room to use more time. If you don't use it... great.

TxHawk.....what is a fair price for something like that if you don't mind me asking?

anyone else got pics of stuff they have had done?

Update:
 

I picked up my new sunpad this week. A couple of weeks behind. I originally gave him $60 to at least buy materials. When I picked it up he would not take anymore of my money cause he was so late on it. After talking to him for a while I left another $50 on his desk and told him I would not take it back.

I only purchased some foam and he supplied the rest. He matched my seats of my bolsters.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...8553515345.jpg

He also put white mesh on the back with a zipper so I can remove the foam.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...8553515555.jpg

Low Psi, I gave him your number and I will PM you his info.

looks really nice rookie...and sounds like you got a great deal.... i have never zippered any of my stuff.....good idea

Twin Marine Miami
ask for Juan and tell him Tony refered u


http://www.twinmarine.com/