So my wife and I are currently thinking about getting a Coach sometime in the near future. We have been out to MOT a couple of times to window shop. We have seen some "nice" ones and some "not so nice" ones. So today I starting pondering a question. Hopefully someone can help me.
What would be a rough ball park to get a coach upholstery redone? For discussions sake driver and passenger seats leather. J-Sofa cloth.
Also what about going to wood floor from carpet?
We are discussing this as an option. Just wondering if this approach would work for us. It would get us the interior colors/style that we would want.
Thanks in advance, Mike
When I bought my coach last year the upholstery had be done, everything but the dinning chairs and I didn't care as I put in a
dinette. They had tiled the floor and the perfect thing about what they did is I really like it. I don't know what it cost.
Keith Davis at MOT (Trina is the upholstery goddess) can give you a very competitive price. FT and one other firm in that town also do the work.
It is less expensive in Mexico, some members combine a vacation with upholstery work.
Having seen the Mexico product and I have some of Trina's work in my coach and some of FT's work in my coach, I would say Trina is best quality, Mexico is likely the best value, b ut the quality is down a notch and the hassle factor is up a notch.
Call Keith Davis at MOT, he can give you ball park on all proposed remodel items. So can Dave Flanigan at FT but he doesn't call back reliably, and FT will be more $$ for the same job. I have used them both along with Parliament when they were in b business for remod over the years.
Many buy a coach from MOT (or in the past FT and remodel them before they even take delivery.)
We got a price at MOT on our two captain chairs for reupholstery work; $3600 and change!
A new wood (or wood like) floor can be north of $5000. There are other options. Material cost for reupholstery can be a big chunk of it. Set aside a bushel of $$ for a major remodel.
Twig's got a guy!
Puerto Penasco full body paint and upholstery recover (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=38738.0)
Recovered all furniture, dash, dinette, slide headboard and front window curtain. $3200
Bring it to me for flooring. I kinda know stuff
For vinyl or leather materials, foam, thread, etc, try Upholstery Supplies for Cars, Boats, Poker Tables, and Furniture (https://www.yourautotrim.com/) They are reasonable and have sample rings at $3-5. I have not seen perforated vinyl in Mexico so at $10.95 a running yard for non-perforated and $14.95 for perforated, a pretty good deal. Naturally, the best is MB-Tex as it can't be distinguished from leather and lasts at least 50 years without cracking but it's $45/yard. All these are running yards so 54" or 60" wide for each yard.
Joann Fabric is also a good place to shop if there is a store near you or online at: Official JOANN™ Fabric and Craft Stores Online (https://www.joann.com/)
Checking Craigslist or Marketplace is good for flooring as some shops have leftover amounts after a job. Since I'm tighter than a tick, I found a church with left over high end wood laminate for $30. Enough to do all the old parquet floor area with plenty left over. Matches the existing dark wood perfectly. Royalton's Ernest Hemingway Heritage Collection. So, the deals are out there.
Through the years, I've had a lot of upholstery done in Mexico. Tijuana, Mexicali and Puerto Peñasco. They have all done an outstanding job but for the best price, it would be good to pull the seats, etc out and then go by the shop with everything in the back of your toad. Mega dollar RVs are going to up the price a bit. Also, getting away from a semi-resort town means lower prices too.
Pierce
Thanks for the responses.
I will contact MOT and see what they can tell me.
We are just trying to determine the best approach for us when we are ready.
Mike
Small truck and equipment dealer I bought my 270 from 2 years ago remodeled the interior of the coach to sell.. He lays synthetic wood flooring as one of his businesses.. He did the floor from back to front and recovered pilot and copilot seats and 2 sofas and all vallances in real leather.. The leather cost was a big part of the remodel.. Replaced front and rear tv's. His invoice was $15324.00. It looks factory as it should. Usually a less expensive leather like product is used for upholstery.
Was that the price of the coach hopefully not the upholstery job.
Upholstery , floors and tv's.. Leather was bought from Falcon Jet in Little Rock. Man showed me the invoice for the job but of course he produced the invoice so what it would be if done in Nachogdoches, you tell me because I don't know. And no 15k won't buy the coach.
You got a big perk on the purchase of the coach that's for sure.
European leather costs about $300 for 50 square feet. Europe does not use barbed wire so the difference between theirs and ours. Callisto Leather Collection (https://www.yourautotrim.com/cale.html)
Ultrafabrics, the company that supplies Ultraleather to Foretravel does not make or sell real leather products, only vinyl.
Pierce
I don't know what business planes have for chair coverings as in the name of it or the cost per yard but it sits well.
The man is a professional salesman so I would expect his invoice for money he said he spent to be inflated but anyone including the op who has a complete interior remodel is going to feel the cost if done in a shop In the US.
All aircraft have to use materials that conform to FAA PAR 25.853 specs. The store I linked to above has quite a few approved materials as seen here: Search (https://www.yourautotrim.com/nsearch.html?section=&query=FAA+PAR+25.853+&searchsubmit=Search&vwcatalog=yourautotrim-store)
Ultrafabrics, the home of Ultraleather also supplies materials conforming to FAA PAR 25.853 specs. Here is a link to their site with a link to available fabrics. Aviation | ultrafabrics (https://www.ultrafabricsinc.com/markets/aviation)
As you can see after visiting these sites, the aircraft material is not that expensive per yard.
For cars, the flammability rating of the interior headliner, seats, carpet must meet FMVSS 302. This is why I spent so much time at Mexican upholstery shops with U.S. material as many of the cars I imported had fabric in the seats and since that model was never imported into the U.S., it never had a flammability rating. DOT finally let me do my own flammability test on the fabric. I owe a lot to a former DOT inspector in Washington who, after he retired, was a lobbyist for some of us in the car importing business. Not for free though. ;D
Pierce
"European leather costs about $300 for 50 square feet. Europe does not use barbed wire so the difference between theirs and ours. Callisto Leather Collection"
That is 6.00 per sqft but when you buy leather it IS NOT sold by the yard in 54" wide strips you buy a whole hide or a half hide.
A whole hide with 50 sqft will yield 30 to 40 sqft of usable material. If you have a lot of small pieces you can get more out of the hide.
They may be calling it European leather but it doesn't come from Italy theirs will run you 15.00 per sqft and up.
I had an upholstery business years ago and I have been looking to recover the pilot and co-pilot chairs. Just haven't made up my mind as to what I want to use
Chris
Chris,
As you know, there are many types of leather and ways to buy them. There is the whole hide, split hide and bonded leather plus several others The 50 square feet will come in several pieces not in a bolt.
Here are the choices for cars: The Different Types of Leather used in Vehicles (https://www.z-onetoledo.com/the-different-types-of-leather-used-in-vehicles/)
All about bonded leather: What is Bonded Leather? Pros and Cons Of This Leather Alternative (https://www.btod.com/blog/what-is-bonded-leather/) Frequently, leather sofas are made of this in the lower priced covering.
So, Chris, what advantage are you looking to achieve with leather? You know there is no difference in looks or feel. Ultrafabrics with Ultraleather have fooled hundreds of Foretravel owners since the beginning of time. Even the leather Mercedes, BMW, etc uses in their cars really does not have any smell. Only the English cars have that classic leather smell.
In Germany, you have 4 choices of interior fabrics when you order a new Benz. Fabric with either all fabric or a mix of vinyl sides on the seats with fabric in the middle. This is the standard no additional cost upholstery. Next is the velour interior followed by MB-Tex and then leather. Fabric and velour are the most popular as in cold weather, they are the easiest to warm when you get in the car. MB-Tex because you can's tell it from leather and it lasts forever. Soccer moms with dogs can't hurt of mark it. And last, leather that older folks identify with success order.
What is your reason to consider leather and if so, what kind?
Pierce
Pierce,
I found it very interesting g
Thanks for the education
Mike, After finding a coach with solid bones the upgrades can be done in time.. You find one with solid bulkheads and basement Skelton along with flat laying gelcoat "no delamanation" and no signs of leaks on the ceiling and inside of cabinets then if priced within reason you have one worth spending more money on.. Engine and trans oil samples checked. Roof fiberglass checked for cracks and condition. Use search function for 50 things to check before purchasing a used Foretravel. A number of us have had cosmetics tended to in Puerto Penasco Mex for a fraction of the cost of shops in the US. May or may not be an option for you.
And for those who may think I was exaggerating about the quality of MB-Tex for Foretravel interiors, here is a good article about guitars and straps.
"The Heritage Guitar Company, located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, builds a very small number of guitars using the original Gibson tooling, in the original Gibson factory. Many of the employees are former Gibson people who were left behind when that firm moved to union-free Nashville thirty years ago. One of the founders, a fellow named Marv Lamb, started working at Gibson in 1957 and has been making guitars ever since. Some Heritage owners say that their guitars are "the real Gibsons". I don't know if that's right. I do consider them the proper successors to those fabulous Les Pauls, Flying Vs, ES-335s, and L-5s made way back when.
The brown M-B Tex seen in the above photo is the basis for Couch's most expensive strap. I've placed it here with two of my Heritage H-555 semi-hollowbodies. The strap has "cruelty-free" vinyl ends and Samsonite-style stitching; the guitars have inlays constructed of abalone and mother-of-pearl, ebony fretboards, gold-plated hardware, and Seymour Duncan pickups."
Pierce
This is obviously a CASE OF DWMYH, Just wanted forum members that were unaware of how leather was bought and how vinyl or material are bought are two different things, the least expensive is a good quality cloth upholstery material, but again DWMYH
Chris