CD Cushion Refurbishing

henry hey · Post by **henry hey** » Oct 17th, '06, 01:11

Hi, I have a CD25 that needs some new cushions and covers.

I suppose I could use the original cushions, but I would bet that newer materials will be better than my poor tired (and moist) cushions.

I am wondering if anyone has had an overwhelmingly positive experience with a particular company. I think that I may lean toward some sort of canvas or other resilient material. Any thoughts on both fitters and materials? While we are on it, do people have favorite colors?? I have yet to decide what i'm going to do.

THANKS!!!

H. Hey

1979 CD25 - Homeward Bound, City Island NY

Neil Gordon · Post by **Neil Gordon** » Oct 17th, '06, 05:01

hh wrote:While we are on it, do people have favorite colors??

This could rival the wheel vs. tiller debate.

Steve Laume · Post by **Steve Laume** » Oct 17th, '06, 05:47

I have done home remodeling and woodwork for many years. I have also done a lot of plastic laminate. The color choices are endless. Whenever someone asks me about a color choice I advise them about light colors and glossy material showing smudges more. That is about as far as I will go. Then I tell them when I am done, I will be going home but they will be living with it. I built a center island (kitchen) for a lady once and she was a bit concerned with weather she would be able to get the same color a bit later to redo her other counter tops. I told her it shouldn't be any problem because they never seem to discontinue colors. Well she picked this ungodly orange stuff and a year later I was searching every laminate supplier known to man to find enough of that awful stuff to finish her job. Moderation is not a bad thing in color choice as in many other things in life, including moderation, Steve.

tartansailor · Post by **tartansailor** » Oct 17th, '06, 05:56

A company in the Boston Area specializes in urethane foam. There are many grades. I chose the 2nd firmest (2nd most expensive), sent patterns and ordered the 5" thickness. Back home a local canvas shop added padding for shape and covered the cushions in a nice color in canvas. I use carpet under-lament under the cushions as a moisture barrier and as an anti skid. Works fine for me.
Dick

Duncan Maio · Post by **Duncan Maio** » Oct 17th, '06, 08:10

A number of years ago, we replaced all the interior cushions on our CD27.

A local upholstery shop was having an annual sale - something like 35% off all cushions, in January and February, a traditionally slow time. The selection acrylic canvas was virtually endless (Sunbrella is only one brand) and we found a print that still looks great after eight years, in large part because of the Teflon coating on the fabric - even before the sale price, this fabric was superior to, and about a third the price of, Sunbrella.

For cushions, I would definitely go non-marine, and shop around through the winter. Some shops may give you a good price now, if they know that you don't need the cushions back for six months.

mahalocd36 · Post by **mahalocd36** » Oct 17th, '06, 10:44

hh wrote: I suppose I could use the original cushions, but I would bet that newer materials will be better than my poor tired (and moist) cushions.

Be sure to tell whoever that this is for a boat and that you want foam for that purpose (mildew resistent, dries quickly, etc). For our previous boat when I made them I used Dry-Fast foam and covered the top with a patterned sunbrella - but like Duncan said, there's tons of fabric out there. On top of the foam I put a layer of batting which gave a more rounded appearance and made them not look like square pads. I made the bottom out of a mesh material so they could get air and any moisture would drain.

You want to find a local company, because shipping would be expensive - not because of the weight but because of the size.
(I ran into that when buying the foam, until I found a company
that did free shipping over a certain quantity)
You might want to go with someone non-marine because they'll probably be cheaper, but make sure they have materials/experience with exterior grade cushions.

For colors, all a matter of taste but I would avoid something too light or too dark. Also, if you avoid colors or patterns that are "trendy" your boat won't look outdated 5 years from now.
Most boats look good with something in blues or greens.

Hope this helps.

Ed Norton · Post by **Ed Norton** » Oct 17th, '06, 11:20

Jeans Canvas
780 Route 36
Belford, NJ 07718

732-787-0070

Did all interior cushions in sunbrella fabric, they look great and have had great service out of them. Remove covers and wash annually, look good as new in Spring.
SLLEEK CD 27 #89
Fair Haven NJ

bottomscraper · Post by **bottomscraper** » Oct 17th, '06, 11:20

What Melissa didn't tell you was our previous boat was originally made in 1976 and came with the "Bicentennial" interior. The cushions were red, white and blue and the floor was covered in RED SHAG carpeting. I should have taken pictures before we ripped it all out!

henry hey · Post by **henry hey** » Oct 17th, '06, 11:52

Red White and blue! Nice. . . the austin powers dory.

Does anyone know of a specific company in NYC for any of this? I can certainly (and will) do my own searching. This is not a plea out of laziness. . just looking for the unbiased recommendation.

Thanks again for all of your help.

h

Clay Stalker · Post by **Clay Stalker** » Oct 17th, '06, 18:16

I replaced the v-berth cushions in Yankee Lady two years ago. There are some very cool new foam products out there now that are extremely comfortable. I used a 3" medium density latex topped with 2" of memory foam, and it was more comfortable than my bed at home! Lots of nice coverings available too, I ended up with a nice, soft, navy pattern that I really liked. Did not have a good experience with the company's service and price quotes etc (a very well know marine upholstery company), however, I don't like to trash companies publicly so if anyone is interested I will share it privately.....I would not use them again, but their product was good. A Google search will reveal many places to pursue this, and if you know someone as talented as Melissa Abato, you can save a ton of money by making them yourself...but it can be tricky with the angle of the hull etc.

Clay Stalker

mahalocd36 · Post by **mahalocd36** » Oct 17th, '06, 19:52

Clay Stalker wrote: 2" of memory foam

Good point! We got one of those pads by themselves (cheap, ~$75 from sam's club/costco) and cut to fit the V-berth of Mahalo, and just put it over her old cushions and put a fitted sheet over that --- what a difference! Also got rid of the 'valley' that forms between cushions. It is a lot more comfortable than it used to be.

Thanks for the flattery....I wasn't thinking I was up to making the new interior cushions for Mahalo but I might try it. Might wait another year though. Certainly the foam pad let's us put off the v-berth.

Judith · Post by **Judith** » Oct 17th, '06, 20:47

Melissa~

What do you mean "cut to fit the V-berth" and "got rid of cushion 'valleys'?" Though I've upholstered/re-covered many things in the past, I'm shying off a total re-covering of all cushions--for the time being--but would love to improve comfort in the V-berth.

Did you cut the new layer to size for the entire V-berth, including triangular insert (if the 36 has that)? I can't believe the solution would be so simple--but I'm quite ready to be convinced! It'd be wonderful not to have some portion of one's anatomy go numb after sleeping in the V-berth. . .

Judith

Bill Michne · Post by **Bill Michne** » Oct 17th, '06, 21:12

We had a foam mattress custom made for the V-berth by Handcraft Mattress Co. in Santa Ana, CA. It is the most comfortable sleeping experience either of us ever had on a boat. It's been about 5 years, and the mattress is just as good as when new.

We also had the cushions replaced in the main saloon (by a different company). Here you need to be very careful. Your best bet is to have whoever is going to do it make you a small sample cushion using the foam/fabric combination you choose. Then there will be no surprises. While the job we got was acceptable, I think we would have selected a different foam product if we had seen a sample cushion. There may be a charge for it, but they should take it off the full price if you decide to go with it.

Judith · Post by **Judith** » Oct 17th, '06, 22:08

Bill:

Any idea what kind of foam? Or specs for your mattress? I'd love to know.

Thanks.
Judith

Bill Cochrane · Post by **Bill Cochrane** » Oct 18th, '06, 03:39

On Phoenix, we use a one-piece, 2" thick "memory foam" cover for the segmented cushions. It has an envelope-like cover and we just roll it back with the fitted sheets still in place, covers the forward 1/2 or so of the berth but we can remove the insert to get to the storage beneath. Greatly improved comfort and the base cushions are in good enough shape that we didn't need to replace them. Being one piece, it's better than new base cushions because the spaces where the cushions fit together aren't noticeable through the memory foam.

The Cape Dory Board

CD Cushion Refurbishing

CD Cushion Refurbishing

Re: CD Cushion Refurbishing

Colors?

Boat Cushions

Cushion replacement

Re: CD Cushion Refurbishing

Bicentennial Trendy

RW&B

New Products

Re: New Products

Cushion valleys

Comfort in the V-berth

What kind of foam, what mattress?

V-berth comfort