Vinyl seat repair

[gim]

Has anyone tried using a patch or kit to fix a rip, tear, hole, or seam in a chair of their boat?

 

I have a seam in my middle seat (its very slight, but there) that is coming undone.  I'm worried that its just going to get worse if I don't address it.  Its one of the bases that is attached and I don't think I can remove it, so the alternative is to bring the entire boat to a shop and have them fix it, which I am not really wanting to do.

 

I've seen patches and kits online.  Just wondering if they are legit or a gimmick.

 

Thanks

[gim]

No one has tried fixing a vinyl seat in their boat?

 

There must be someone who’s tried here.

[mfnew]

Tear-Aid Type B vinyl only repair tape works really well for this . Amazon has it.

[airshot]

At a seam is very difficult.  I would unbolt the seat and take it to an upholstery shop.  They should be able to fix it.  Many old car clubs have access to an upholstery guy for there car interiors, should be able to fix your seat cover.  Not familiar with any repair kit that would work or look good...

[Way2slow]

It's kinda like the old saying, beating a dead horse.  The seams bust the thread because the UV light has destroyed it, same reason the vinyl starts to crack and split.  I have repaired bunches over the years, but not with no repair kit.  I've restored boats and cars most of my life and have a Consew 255 commercial, walking foot sewing machine and order new UV protected thread and Marine Vinyl and replace all of it.  That only requires one repair and usually less than $200.  Five yards of vinyl, five yards of sew foam and one medium spool of thread will cover both pedestal seats and the console seats.

You can take it to an upholstery shop and if he only cares about the dollars he will make and it's just the thread breaking apart, and not the vinyl ripping at the seam, he can restitch it.  If he's straight up with you, he will tell you he can do that, but it won't last very long because the vinyl will probably start ripping at the seam in no time.

 

Granted, I doubt you have a commercial sewing machine, so you are at the mercy of an upholstery shop, but the only way to fix it once and be done is to recover them. 

[GreenPig]

My boat seats are metal but I have sown up a purple dinosaurs neck after a particular brutal Dachshund attack with 50 lb SpiderWire.

[J._Bricker]

On 5/14/2024 at 6:15 PM, gimruis said:

No one has tried fixing a vinyl seat in their boat?

 

There must be someone who’s tried here.

I had my Ranger seat tear @gimruis due to the buttery soft vinyl being stretched at the seam (before pic) and I used Krazy Glue make the repair. It took a few minutes and worked out well enough for me.

[gim]

I will look into the temporary super glue fix but my hunch is that being at the seam, I may need to unbolt the seat and take it to an shop.

 

Luckily, its the optional third middle bench seat and not the driver or passenger seat.  So it could be worse.

[DinkDonkey30]

I did vinyl repair for a living. You are better off calling a pro if you want it done correctly. The products sold to the general public won’t work reliably on marine grade vinyl. It also requires certain types of products to get the colors to blend and stay in the material. If done incorrectly it can cause irreparable damage. Depending on your area and current damage you are probably looking at a minimum of 75 bucks to repair it.  Most vinyl repair companies will come to you and do the repair on site. Stay away from Creative Colors Inc (cci) they are over priced and generally do poor work. If you have a Quality Repair Service (QRS) franchise in your area I would recommend them. They were both competitors when I was in that industry.

[airshot]

If you don't care what it looks like, I have used " goop" to make repairs on vinyl with great sucess....but it looks like crap !!  If appearance means anything, get a pro to fix it.

[Bankc]

I've never tried having a professional repair done to vinyl seats.  But I've done enough DIY attempts to know that there's no way to not make it look bad.  Now the repairs can work in that they stop the cut from getting larger.  And if you're really careful, you make it not noticeable if you just glance at it right quick.  But get up close, and you'll see.  It's extremely hard to match both the color and texture and feather it out to hide the edges.  

 

But if it's tearing at the seams, then either the vinyl is UV damaged, or the threads gave way.  If it's just the threads, you might be able to remove the vinyl and resew them.  It also might be possible to get a curved, upholstery needle and resew them without removing the seat coverings.  I've done that before and once it looked good as new.  The other times, it worked well enough that I didn't throw it out.  The hard part is tying it off at the end.  But if the vinyl is UV damaged and ripped, then I'd just replace it.  A repair might buy you a few more months, but once vinyl starts to go, there's no going back.  

 

However, if you just need one seat replaced, there are specialty shops that can do just the one seat.  It never matches exactly, probably because you're mixing new and old vinyl.  But it can be darn close.  

[gim]

12 minutes ago, Bankc said:

But if it's tearing at the seams, then either the vinyl is UV damaged, or the threads gave way. 

 

Its not UV damaged.  My boat sits inside the garage when not in use and I regularly use Vinyl Sauce to both clean and protect the material during the season.

 

I am pretty sure some threads have begun to come out right at a seam.  I will take a photo tomorrow if I remember to, since I am going fishing.