Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Last season I we were out on the lake. One of my daughters came along and she brought the boyfriend. I will call him a$$wipe
The day was going quite well until Mr. "wipe" ripped a portion of the sundeck. Tore the vinyl and the stitching. I know the boat is older but still, it just aggravated the sh&t out of me.
As the season came and went I had other seats tear on me. Total of 5 now. Had a guy come out earlier today and he said he would take my money but that I would not be happy with the results. Said I would be better off re-upholstering them. I thanked him for his honesty. He would've charged $65 per seat.
Called one place today and they are quoting me $600-$700 just to do 5 lids. OUCH. I'm no money bags so....im thinking of trying it myself.
I hate paying for stuff like this. Last Christmas, on the 23rd, the fuel pump went out on my suburban. Left my wife stranded at night. Good times! Had it towed home. Next morning I started calling shops. One place wanted $800 plus tax AND the tow. Close to a grand total. I did it myself for $300.
I'm seeing this seat thing the same way.
Can anyone recommend from whom to buy new vinyl? I'm sure its on the web, haven't looked it up yet.
Seems like this whole boat thing is a rich mans game!
thx in advance

sounds like your daughter's boyfriend just had the bad luck of being the guy to last touch your rotted vinyl, especially if you had 5 go bad by the end of the season.

Good luck doing it yourself, there's not many things I won't try to do myself, but making vinyl look good on a boat I want to be proud of is one of them.

[quote="Jayjoans"]sounds like your daughter's boyfriend just had the bad luck of being the guy to last touch your rotted vinyl, especially if you had 5 go bad by the end of the season.

Good luck doing it yourself, there's not many things I won't try to do myself, but making vinyl look good on a boat I want to be proud of is one of them.[/quote]

Actually he is the first one. Wasn't his fault. Still and a$$wipe

I'd have to seriously consider just ordering some new seats from pontoonstuff.com.

I know it's money, but it might well be money well spent.

Just an option to consider.

[quote="NonHyphenAmerican"]I'd have to seriously consider just ordering some new seats from pontoonstuff.com.

I know it's money, but it might well be money well spent.

Just an option to consider.[/quote]

I'd go this route. If the seats are ripping the rest isn't far behind. You can get a nice new interior in the 2000 range ad it'll be like a new boat. If you have a builder nearby talk to them too. Sometimes in the off-season they will do it for you pretty cheap. A friend had a local upholstery company redo his boat foam and all, new bimini fabric, covers, and enclosure for around 5k. Basically it' looks like a brand new boat.

I know you guys are right. I've looked at pontoonstuff web site. It is pricey. Hard for me to justify spending that much $$. We'll see how this plays out. In the end, my kids don't care what the boat looks like. They just want to get out on the water, so do I. They keep asking when are we going out again. Breaks my heart to tell them not this weekend.

[quote="rickpo"]

Actually he is the first one. Wasn't his fault. Still and a$$wipe [/quote]

As a father of two girls, I understand.

You can go online and Google upholstery vinyl.

The worst part about the seats rotting is that the foam underneath them will also probably have to be replaced. And that stuff is incredibly expensive.

My neighbor had his pontoon seats rot, and he just replaced them with really nice patio furniture.

[quote="rickpo"]I know you guys are right. I've looked at pontoonstuff web site. It is pricey. Hard for me to justify spending that much $$. We'll see how this plays out. In the end, my kids don't care what the boat looks like. They just want to get out on the water, so do I. They keep asking when are we going out again. Breaks my heart to tell them not this weekend.[/quote]

Why not keep using it. A weekend on a boat with split upholstery is better than a weekend on the couch.

Agree with mpilot, "A weekend on a boat with split upholstery is better than a weekend on the couch."

Don't let a few splits keep you off the water. Duct tape or Gorilla Tape comes in many colors, even clear. Show off that bandaid!

Zoom and Mpilot... That's what I'm talking about!! Hell yeah

[quote="Jayjoans"] As a father of two girls, I understand.[/quote]

I have 7 daughters

Sorry. You must be awash in a$$wipes.

Our boat is pushing only ten years old. Stored outside with only a factory playpen cover. Many places are showing heaving "sunburning" where the vinyl where there is tight contact at the top with the cover are discolored and hard. It has also become very easy to grow black mildew which is hard to remove well. An estimate to replace the full vinyl runs about 7k from a reputable lake area repair shop that only does vinyl repair. A 25' pontoon has a lot of vinyl.

I looked at the seats at Pontoonstuff. What's the quality like? Has anyone done a job using their seats?

Check out the link in my sig.