Vinyl Seam Repair?

[Captainkurk72]

When I purchased the 05 22V last summer it has some spots in the vinyl where is staring to tear. The front port side seat is the noticeable and will likely grow quickly if not addressed. The port side deck lid as some vinyl damage but just looks bad and likely won't get any worse. The other is very small seams staring to tear where seat gets stepped on (no matter how times I say "don't step there").

Question: Can these be repaired? I have met with two businesses in the St. Louis area and both said it would need to be reupholstered. Has anyone had this before and able to get fixed or are these two business correct and not trying to up-sell me.

PortDeckLid.jpgPortFrontSeat.jpgimage003.jpg

[jimidemo]

We have made some small repairs like yours with a 3M kit part #08579. It just mended them with the glue it comes with...however it comes with a color kit to match any color. It's only $10 at Wal-Mart. Worth a shot over a reupholster any day!!

[boardman74]

I'm going to give you my opinion picture by picture.

1. That is damage not a tear. As tight as that looks I doubt that can be fixed with anything that looks OK. I'd say a patch is the best bet, but thats not going to look good. I'm guessing matching the pattern is going to be tough.

2. Again damage. Also looks tight. White is easier to find a match. You can patch it to stop spreading but like above isn't going to look the best.

3. You are spot on that stitch is pulling. First sign of wear in vinyl on boat seats. Nothing you can do about it. Likely you will see it start in other locations with use this summer.

Your vinyl is showing its age. All of those are likely to grow. If you want to get a few more years patches are my only thought, just to tight to try any stitching I have seen. To do it right your looking at new skins, the shops are right.

[bsgoebel]

I own a company that is a mobile vinyl and leather repair... the first is repairable but will not look very good due to grain and pattern. the corner seam may be repairable but the ones on the seams are not... plus if they are in high traffic areas the repairs will fail.... dry vinyl tears seams .. sad news is you may have to redo the areas in question..

[WakerideN]

We have made some small repairs like yours with a 3M kit part #08579. It just mended them with the glue it comes with...however it comes with a color kit to match any color. It's only $10 at Wal-Mart. Worth a shot over a reupholster any day!!

LOL... wow. this is the best bad advice I have seen yet.

We ARE reupholsters and I can tell you this. your vinyls time has come and gone. The silver material was flawed from the start. There are vey few Tiges that did not fail with that silver material in the first 3 years. The white is just age and use. The people you met with are 100% accurate and not pulling your chain!

[lee]

I do not think the silver snake skin is in production any longer. I have tried to get some before.

[25cents]

Agree with WakerideN. This is a re-do. I have the same issue on my boat and mine is an 06. I am already planning to replace in the next year. Repairs are going to be bad at best and just take your money slowly.

[jimidemo]

Am I seeing something different? A redo because of a couple of 1 inch cuts/damage. The gray area is easily the worst, yes, but the kit that your are laughing at is still holding my cuts from wakeboard fins. If you have that kind of disposable income maybe you should donate some.....the kit WILL work on the first two pics!!! Save your hard earned money.

[Captainkurk72]

I am not reupholstering the seats over what little damage there is. If you were stand in the boat and look at the interior or ask anyone that has ridden in the boat they would say the interior looks new. It is a 05 but has 175 hours and was stored in a dry stack while not in the water and yes the vinyl has very likely reached the end of its life and some was junk to begin with.
I do completely agree with the responses that a seam repair will not hold very long in a high traffic area and reupholstering is best option. It's just not an option that I can afford at this point. I will sell the boat before that happens.
My initial question was trying to determine if the recommendations from the upholstery shops were legit and based on feedback they are and many thanks to those that responded.


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[JLG]

Drop a dab of super glue on those areas and it will help hold them together for the time being. Use a small amount and you won't be able to tell unless right above the spots and looking for them.

[MRMoffat1]

I use a vinyl repair shop that does a good job. At least gets me by year to year. Here is a cushion repaired for $100. Could last a year or more.

Before:
vinyl damage.JPG

After:

vinyl repair 1.JPG

vinyl repair 2.JPG

[Luis_Granda]

Hi Guys! I knew some specific company that could probably give you good stuffs about this kind of issue. It would be good if you could try Creative Carpet Repair. I'm not sure if they can assist you about seam repair, but I guess they have lots of good services out there, or try to visit their Facebook page here.

[IDBoating]

I'll chime in with this: When I had to replace the skin on my rear seat (Big Thanks to Tige for sending me a full replacement under warranty! ), the local shop that installed it specifically said they were stretching the fabric less tight that the original and that I'd probably notice the difference compared to the cushions next to it. They said most boat companies stretch the fabric WAY, WAY too tight because it makes the seats look incredible at first. But it also massively overstresses the fabric and especially the seams, leading to super-premature failure. The shop said that any further rework I have done should also keep the fabric a bit looser, whether they do it or another shop does it.

To be honest, I can't really tell the difference unless I specifically look for it. It's not like there are wrinkles or anything, the fabric looks smooth and feels correct. But if you look at the stitched seams, you can definitely tell they have far less strain on them.

Just something to keep in mind if anyone has reupholstering done. You can trade a tiny bit of appearance for a whole lot longer life.

[Greeko]

I had some vinyl repaired. He glued the seam and rips shut then dyed/sprayed the vinyl to make it match. It looked decent at first but the dye would flake off after a couple months... On top of that it wore differently than the rest of the vinyl.You can probably get a bit of those tears repaired BUT it will show. . You can definitely tell!

[Stingreye]

I'll chime in with this: When I had to replace the skin on my rear seat (Big Thanks to Tige for sending me a full replacement under warranty! ), the local shop that installed it specifically said they were stretching the fabric less tight that the original and that I'd probably notice the difference compared to the cushions next to it. They said most boat companies stretch the fabric WAY, WAY too tight because it makes the seats look incredible at first. But it also massively overstresses the fabric and especially the seams, leading to super-premature failure. The shop said that any further rework I have done should also keep the fabric a bit looser, whether they do it or another shop does it.

To be honest, I can't really tell the difference unless I specifically look for it. It's not like there are wrinkles or anything, the fabric looks smooth and feels correct. But if you look at the stitched seams, you can definitely tell they have far less strain on them.

Just something to keep in mind if anyone has reupholstering done. You can trade a tiny bit of appearance for a whole lot longer life.

X2 exactly what I was told by the vinyl guys I went to. He said you can stretch seat backs more if you want but any seat bottoms that are likely to be stepped on, you want to make sure there is enough material to give. My vinyl is much looser than the factory vinyl and you can tell its stressed less getting in and out of the boat. Visually, I can't tell (but I am also not likely a picky as some people might be).