Please help me! 23 feet Hydro-swift Cuddy! Needs interior!?

Question

We just bought a 23 feet Hydro-swift Cuddy, the boat runs great, but here's the thing, we had it gutted out, how much will it be to have the whole interior re-done. And also how long will it take? Any suggestions who we should take it to?

Answer 1

If the upholstery pieces are designed in a complex arrangement, I do not recommend you try to do it yourself.  Especially if you have upholstery covering an engine cover for an inboard engine.

You need to take it to an upholstery professional and get a quote on the cost.  Depending on what it is needing (simple or complex), it could be around $500 to near $1300.

For the worn out and rotted upholstery boards on my boat, most of my rear panels survived enough to do successful traces on them.  This allows me to cut the upholstery board patterns.  

I'm not going to be doing the upholsterying, but I will be providing the plywood cutouts for it.  I have all but the lower two cut and fitted on the boat.  I expect to save at least $300 dollars in labor and materials doing that part myself.  The front of the boat will be a breeze compared to the rear.

A word of advice, if you try to do the upholstery boards yourself, here's some pieces of advice:

Use treated plywood that matches the thickness used on the original upholstery.  If you don't use treated, at least use water sealer on all parts and water seal any holes you make in the untreated plywood.

If you haven't destroyed the old upholstery already, try to save as much of the upholstery pieces as possible that are intact.  Even just having the upholstery itself can act as a guide.

Finally, expect to have to do some trimming and adjusting in order to get the boards to align correctly and fit well enough.  You need to have enough gap between upholstery boards that come together, and you have to have enough clearance from the bottom when upholstery boards come near the boat floor.

Answer 2

Hope when you removed the panels you saved them so they can be reproduced> The cost get high if they have to make forms to make the panels>

Answer 3

Hi,

It depends on a few things. The quality and professionalism, materials used, cabin size. You might have fun doing it yourself. It is usually best to check these things before you gut the interior. Your best bet now is to get a quote from a professional - Its impossible to estimate without knowing where you are and the dimensions of the cabin.

Peter