Upholstery Finder/Guides

Guides

What to ask, what it costs, and how to tell whether a piece is worth saving.

• Does a boat canvas shop come to your boat?Of the 33 marine shops listed here, 21 say they work at the boat and 23 work in their own premises. Most say both, and the reason is patterning.
• What auto upholstery costs in CaliforniaNot one of the 25 auto trim shops listed here publishes a price. Here is what the trade charges, who the figures actually come from, and why the estimate is the only number that binds.
• What boat canvas and marine upholstery costs in FloridaNot one of the 33 marine shops listed here publishes a price for canvas or upholstery work. Here are the figures that do exist, who wrote them, and why the owner forums are better sourced than the cost guides.
• What reupholstery actually costs in CaliforniaPublished figures for a chair, an armchair and a three-seat sofa, why almost no shop will put a price on its website, and why California numbers run double the national averages you have been reading.
• Convertible top replacement: what it costs and what actually failsThe fabric is the cheap part. The frame, the mechanism, the drains and the rear window are what decide the bill, and only some shops will touch all four.
• Reupholster or replace? The break-even on a sofaThe frame decides it, not the price. Here is the ninety-second test, the two cases where replacing is obviously right, and the one that catches people out.
• How long reupholstery takes, and what makes it slowerOne to three weeks is typical, two to four is common, and custom builds run six to eight. The fabric, not the upholsterer, is usually what you are waiting for.
• Sagging headliner: why glue never fixes itThe fabric is not what failed. A layer of foam behind it has turned to powder, which is why pins and spray adhesive buy you a season at most.
• Twelve questions to ask an auto trim shopBuilt from what 25 California auto upholstery shops publish about themselves, and more usefully, from the things every one of them leaves out.
• Fourteen questions to ask an upholsterer before you bookThe questions that separate shops, drawn from what 185 California furniture workrooms do and, more usefully, do not say about themselves.