Boat upholstery NYC: a powerboat cockpit at a marina with fresh cream vinyl seating

Cockpits, berths and helm seats

Nothing on a boat is square.

Boat upholstery NYC owners ask for starts with a shape, not a catalogue size. Every cushion on your boat was cut to the hull beside it, so we take that shape off the boat and build to it.

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Where the pattern comes from

Three ways to catch a shape

There is no drawing of your boat's interior. Boat upholstery NYC work therefore starts by catching that shape one of three ways, before a panel is cut.

An old boat cushion cover unpicked and opened flat on a bench as a pattern

Thin template plastic taped over a bow cushion base and traced to its outline

Cushion dimensions noted on a sketch beside a tape measure on a workbench

One boat, eight patterns

Eight pieces, eight different shapes

Boat upholstery NYC marinas send us rarely stops at one cushion. These are the pieces that come in, and no two of them are patterned the same way.

Bow cushions on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Bow cushions**Two long triangles that follow the flare of the hull, never the same angle twice.

V-berth on a boat, cut to its own shape — **V-berth**Cut to the stem, with a filler piece that has to meet both sides cleanly. Cushion work

Helm seats on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Helm seats**A pod, a back and a flip bolster, each stretched over a different curve. Seat repair

Transom bench on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Transom bench**A long cushion interrupted by hatch cutouts that must line up with the lids.

Sun pads on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Sun pads**Wide, low and rounded, and the piece that takes the most sun on the boat.

Side bolsters on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Side bolsters**Vertical panels that wrap the coaming and finish against the rubrail.

Jump seats on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Jump seats**Small hinged seats where the cover has to fold without binding.

Step pads on a boat, cut to its own shape — **Step pads**Thin, non-skid backed, and the first thing wet feet land on. Yacht interiors

Built into the pattern

Four things the shape has to allow for

A cushion that fits the tape but not the boat is what ordering by dimensions alone gets you. Boat upholstery NYC boats carry all four of these.

A boat cushion notched around an open locker and its hinge

The gap between two hinged boat cushions where they fold together

A drain channel running under a boat seat base

A line of snap fasteners set along the edge of a boat cushion cover

In the shop

Seven moves, one piece at a time

The order matters. Every step after the pattern depends on the pattern being right.

An old boat cover unpicked seam by seam on a workbench

Take the piece apart

Covers come off whole and are unpicked seam by seam. What is under them decides whether the foam stays. Seam work

Pattern pieces chalked onto a sheet of marine vinyl

Lay the pattern out

Panels are chalked onto the new material with the grain running the same way on every piece.

Cut marine vinyl panels stacked in sewing order

Cut the panels

Each panel is cut with its seam allowance, stacked in the order it goes back together. Vinyl

Boat cushion seams being sewn with UV-resistant marine thread

Sew with thread that holds

Seams go together with UV-stable polyester. On a boat the stitching fails long before the material does.

Closed-cell marine foam cut to a cushion template

Cut the foam to the same outline

Foam is cut to the template, not to a stock rectangle that nearly fits. Custom cushions

A new boat cover pulled over foam and fastened underneath

Pull it over and fasten

The cover is worked over the foam evenly and fastened underneath, so the face sits without a wrinkle.

A finished boat cushion test-fitted back in place on the boat

Fit it back on the boat

Every piece goes back on the boat before it is signed off, snaps and all. Pickup & delivery

What comes alongside

Eight boats, eight kinds of job

Boat upholstery NYC covers everything from a tender on a davit to a flybridge, and the boat decides how much of it comes off.

Center consoles with upholstered seating — **Center consoles**Leaning post, forward seats and a console pad.

Bowriders with upholstered seating — **Bowriders**The whole cockpit in one set, bow to transom.

Cabin cruisers with upholstered seating — **Cabin cruisers**Cockpit outside, berth cushions below.

Pontoons with upholstered seating — **Pontoons**Long benches and corner seats with lockers under them.

Sailboats with upholstered seating — **Sailboats**Cockpit cushions that drain, plus the saloon below.

RIBs and tenders with upholstered seating — **RIBs and tenders**Small, hard-used and exposed to spray all day.

Sportfish boats with upholstered seating — **Sportfish boats**Helm chairs and bolsters that take standing hours. Seat repair

Yachts with upholstered seating — **Yachts**Flybridge above, saloon and berths inside. Yacht upholstery

Before and after

Same boat, new covers

Four pieces off four boats, each photographed in the same place and the same light twice.

Helm seat before the work, worn and faded — **Helm seat.** Cracked across the bolster. Same pod, new cover, same snap line. Crack repair

Helm seat after recovering, fitted back on the boat — **Helm seat.** Cracked across the bolster. Same pod, new cover, same snap line. Crack repair

Bow cushions before the work, worn and faded — **Bow cushions.** Chalked out by sun. Cut to the same hull flare in solution-dyed acrylic. Performance fabric

Bow cushions after recovering, fitted back on the boat — **Bow cushions.** Chalked out by sun. Cut to the same hull flare in solution-dyed acrylic. Performance fabric

V-berth before the work, worn and faded — **V-berth.** Foam that stayed wet all season. New foam, and the filler piece re-cut. Water damage

V-berth after recovering, fitted back on the boat — **V-berth.** Foam that stayed wet all season. New foam, and the filler piece re-cut. Water damage

Transom bench before the work, worn and faded — **Transom bench.** A seam that let go along the front edge beside the locker, rebuilt to the lid line. Rip repair

Transom bench after recovering, fitted back on the boat — **Transom bench.** A seam that let go along the front edge beside the locker, rebuilt to the lid line. Rip repair

What it is made of

Seven things in a marine cover

Sun and salt reach every part of it, and the weakest part sets the life of the whole piece. Boat upholstery NYC weather is hard on all seven.

Marine vinyl used in marine upholstery, close up — **Marine vinyl**Wipes clean, takes sunscreen and salt. Vinyl grades

Acrylic canvas used in marine upholstery, close up — **Acrylic canvas**Colour locked into the fibre, so it holds under reflected sun.

Closed-cell foam used in marine upholstery, close up — **Closed-cell foam**Refuses water instead of holding it through the season.

UV thread used in marine upholstery, close up — **UV thread**The part that usually fails first on a boat.

Stainless snaps used in marine upholstery, close up — **Stainless snaps**Set to the holes already in the boat.

Non-skid backing used in marine upholstery, close up — **Non-skid backing**Keeps a loose cushion where you put it.

Piping and welt used in marine upholstery, close up — **Piping and welt**The edge that takes the wear first. Panel work

Worth knowing first

When measurements are not enough

Nothing is square. A cushion with two curved sides and a cutout cannot be described down a phone. That one gets templated.
The piece does not come off. Helm pods, coamings and headliners stay bolted in, so the work happens at the slip. On-site repairs
The set has to match. Recovering three of eight pieces means matching into weathered material, which is a colour job of its own. Colour matching
The foam is the problem. If it has been wet since last season, a new cover over it lasts one summer. Cushion replacement

A helm pod still bolted to the sole of a boat

A curved coaming panel fitted along the inside of a cockpit

New cushions fitted along both sides of a boat cockpit

The test

Sit in it at the dock

A cushion that was cut to the boat drops into place without being wrestled, the snaps reach their studs without stretching, and the seam lines run parallel to the pieces beside them. That is the whole test for boat upholstery NYC owners can rely on, and it happens before we leave.

Questions

Boat upholstery questions

What does boat upholstery NYC work cost?

Boat upholstery NYC work is quoted per piece, after we see photographs or the boat. What moves the number is the shape — curves, cutouts and hinge gaps take longer to pattern than a plain rectangle — plus the material and whether the foam is being replaced. Send us photos for a quote.

Can you work on the boat, in the water?

Yes. Loose cushions travel to the shop; anything bolted in — helm pods, coamings, flybridge seating — is worked at the slip or in the yard. On-site repairs covers how that runs.

Do I have to send you the old cushions?

Not always. If the piece is a simple shape, measurements and photographs are enough. Anything with a curve, a cutout or a hinge gap is better templated, either by sending the old cover or by us taking the shape off the boat.

Will new covers match the pieces I keep?

Marine material weathers, so a new panel beside a five-season-old one will read brighter. We match as close as the material allows and tell you when recovering the set is the better answer. Material matching.

What material do you use on boats?

Marine vinyl for anything that gets wiped down, solution-dyed acrylic where the piece lives in full sun, closed-cell foam under both, and UV-stable thread throughout. Upholstery fabric covers the wider range, and marine seating standards are published by bodies like ABYC.

How long does a boat take?

A single helm seat is a short job. A full cockpit is measured in weeks, and it is worth booking it for the winter layup rather than in June, when the boat is wanted every weekend.

Keep reading

Marine

Related work

Materials & care

A boat at the dock in the evening with newly upholstered seating

Next step

Photograph the Piece, Not the Boat

Shoot each cushion square on, plus a shot of the cutouts and the snaps. That is enough to tell you what it takes.

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