Interior Cabin Modifications

Docofthebay, I think your stair risers and rise where the dinette is, is different than mine. I don't see any risers in your photos, just the step treads themselves.

Also, do you not have a dinette table? I'm wondering what I'd do around the circular table stand...
 
If you boat in saltwater try to use MONEL staples, expensive but won't rust.
 
I do have a dinette table, I just didnt screw it down yet in the pictures. You can actually see it lying upside down on the front berth. I took it out and put the new floor down, then screwed it back in

There are not risers under the treads, the steps are supported by supports around their edges.

I used stainless staples, they were only $1 more per thousand.
 
@ docofthebay, very nice looking indeed. This is something I think alot of use would like to have in our boats. I have been asking around locally if anybody would be interested in doing this sort of thing on boats. Looks like a possible update for my boat in the near future.
 
tommyc_37 said:
Any tips on reupholstering? I've never attempted that. Will any durable material suffice? Is it mandatory to use a sewing machine? Can't one just staple on the backside?
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This was my first try at upholstering too. I bought fabric labeled for upholstery- it it much tougher. The sewing machine is use to create box ends on the cushions. I have recovered coaming pads that were thin and just required folding over and stapling but on the thicker cushions you need a sewn edge to make it look nice. The hardest part was having to sew it inside out and thinking thru that arrangement.
 
docofthebay said:
This was my first try at upholstering too. I bought fabric labeled for upholstery- it it much tougher. The sewing machine is use to create box ends on the cushions. I have recovered coaming pads that were thin and just required folding over and stapling but on the thicker cushions you need a sewn edge to make it look nice. The hardest part was having to sew it inside out and thinking thru that arrangement.
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Funny, I'm very handy and I have no problem using any type of power saw or drill, yet I cower at the thought of using a sewing machine! Yikes, perhaps I won't attempt the reupholstering.
 
Sundancer said:
Here are pictures of the bamboo floor of Docofthebay's 300 DA! Nice looking I might add! How much did the bamboo cost? I see a project in MY future!!

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What are those two chrome "poles" sticking up to the overhead on the left side of the master berth?
 
Those are for the pole dancers that accompany me on my trips.

Nah- those are the legs to my dinette table. It is lying upside done on the v-berth cushions.



Hey I showed your boat pictures to a nurse who works with me in the ER and he is salivating over it.
He once lived on a 19 and a 25 ft sailboat in Pensacola, then spent 7 years playing nurse in St Croix, then moved back home but his dream is to buy another boat to retire on. I'm not sure if he can afford yours but he couldn't get any work done the other night due to looking thru the pictures and spec sheet. He's always had sailboats but says he's too old to be pulling ropes and heaving things around just to get the boat moving and may have to move "to the dark side" and get a power boat.
 
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docofthebay said:
I did my own reupholstery on a $70 Singer sewing machine from Walmart and fabric from a local Hancock Fabrics store. Pull the old covers off and use them for a pattern.
That's about 16 yards total there in the whole interior.
Pulling the carpet up was not hard. It pretty much just pulled away leaving fiberglass floor. I used a wire brush to loosen and remove the remaining fibers. The underlying floor had a sort of rough texture but it didnt really matter since I was covering it with the new wood floor. The only tough removal areas was where the carpet rolled over an edge and had roughly 3 trillion staples holding it on the bottom side.
I left the vertical surfaces covered with carpet as I really didnt know how I would recover them. I just picked fabric the had some of the blue of the carpet and blue of the fabric walls and also had the browns of the floor and wood walls. This pulled it all together. This was my wife's contribution- picking the fabrics.

My walls/cabinets were already the wood look. That was normal for '88s, '89s changed to the white surface.

The flat part of the floor can be nailed/screwed into as that is not hull but I did not put metal into anything that came up on an angle as that was hull surface.

The floor was made to be a floating surface but I glued it down so in the event of water intrusion, it wouldnt become a "floating surface".

Another tip- spend the $25 to $35 for an electric stapler as there are 1-2thousand to be put back in when putting the new covers on. Home depot has the stainless staples for $12/1000
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Doc,

I can't thank you enough for posting these pictures and answering my questions about the old carpet removal. I have to say I was a bit (strike that very) disappointed in one of your comments about the staples. I would submit that there are NOT thousands of staples on the underside of any piece of carpet...there are MILLIONS :smt021. I can honestly say 1/2 the price of a Sea Ray boat may actually be contributed to the number of staples used to secure the carpeting.

Honestly though, the carpet did come up nicely with the aforementioned minor residual "hairs" of carpet. I used the Dremel Multi-max with a rigid blade to remove that stuff. I did go all the way and also remove the vertical carpet as well as the horizontal. (The admiral says she wants "nothing blue"....and you know how that goes.)

The flooring is still up in the air. I love the way your bamboo looks, but I have a buddy that owns a flooring company who says there's an industrial vinyl product that looks just like wood, goes down like pergo, floats, and you don't have to worry about expansion and contraction....I'll let you know what we decide, once I see how the stuff looks.

This too will be my first attempt on a sewing machine, we are going to officially "retire" the infamous "blue splash" on "everything" (remember the admirals comments). She's ordered 3 or 4 samples of marine vinyl that should arrive on Monday. I think we have something along the lines of 17 cushions to redo (that should be fun).

Well thanks for giving me the confidence to move forward with this project. Our boat is about 1:45min from the house, so getting down there to work on it is tough. I've given myself till the end of April to finish the work. I'd like to spend the rest of my summer enjoying a few frosty beverages with my doc mates....
 
I want to start reupholstering the inside of my sundancer 270 and I have no idea how to get the fabric pieces off the wall and the back rests. It all seems to be screwed down but I cant find the screws. Is it? How does it come off and more importantly how do I get it back on.
 
sean804 said:
I want to start reupholstering the inside of my sundancer 270 and I have no idea how to get the fabric pieces off the wall and the back rests. It all seems to be screwed down but I cant find the screws. Is it? How does it come off and more importantly how do I get it back on.
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I had a hard time with some of mine also. You have to look behind things...inside cabinets...hatches...and along the inside if many of the seams. There is also something like a self adhesive cover strip (not sure of the official name) that they use where they can't hide the hardware anywhere elso. They are REALLY GOOD at hiding the hardware.:smt021 If you post pictures of the parts you can't get off, I and others will take a stab at helping.

Joe
 
I'll take some pictures later today and upload them tonight. I'm gonna try looking in the cabinets and in the storage areas below the seats.
 
Wow you were right. Sea Ray really hides their hardware. I finally got the back rests off. There were screws in the closet and under the foam padding of the wall. I still can't get the upper wall panels off. They are the same material as the back rests. Ugly.http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=5009484&id=503551788 I can't seem to upload a picture. If the link opens, I don't know how to removed the color wall panels.....they are next to the speakers.
 
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sean804 said:
Wow you were right. Sea Ray really hides their hardware. I finally got the back rests off. There were screws in the closet and under the foam padding of the wall. I still can't get the upper wall panels off. They are the same material as the back rests. Ugly.http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=5009484&id=503551788 I can't seem to upload a picture. If the link opens, I don't know how to removed the color wall panels.....they are next to the speakers.
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Glad you were able to get a little further. The link didn't open, but if you're talking about the long panels that run horizontally, that are covered with material, and it has a seam right down the center....the screws are right "in" the seam.

I have one section of "vintage" fabric covered molding on the front edge of my v-berth that I can't seem to find the last two screws. I've got three, but there appear to be at least two more. If I can't find them, I may have to resort to more primitive methods of removal - and deal with the reconstruction dilemma later. I'll post some pics of the process as we get a bit further along.
 
Sean - try using Photobucket and then using this format to have the picture show full size in the post:

photo.jpg


For the side panels - we have the same boat. If it is the ones I'm thinking of - the panels match the seat cushions. Look in the folds of material - you'll find seams where the screws are hidden. Mine had 1 or 2 in each seam and it was a real PITA. I'd love to see pictures as this is my project for next winter!
 
There will be little aluminum angle brackets screwed into the panel and to the top and bottom behind the panel you refer to. Accessing them is usually from a pop out panel of from the anchor locker on some boats.
 
sean804 said:
http://s857.photobucket.com/albums/ab139/sean804/sea%20ray/?action=view&current=DSC04050.jpg

I tried photobucket. I hope it worked. The panels are the ones by the round speakers.
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Congrats on the photobucket venture. You may not be able to get those panels off, but you'll at least be able to send us all pictures of you nice new upholstery with the vintage panels in the background. :lol: It sounds like a few folks with your exact boat have offered better advice than I can give at this point. Best of luck and keep your eyes open for my time laps pics coming soon. :smt024
 
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