Contender Boat Upholstery, Including the Hulls Everyone Else Writes Off
Contender built a hull that outlives its upholstery by twenty years. That is the whole story of this page. There are 1990s and 2000s Contenders fishing South Florida every weekend with structurally perfect decks and seating that gave up a decade ago, and their owners have usually been told the boat is too old to be worth the work.
It is not. A Contender that runs well is worth putting seating back into, and the economics are better than on almost any other boat we touch. You are not upgrading a depreciating asset, you are restoring the only part of it that actually wore out.
We do new Contenders too. But the older hulls are the ones we want people to know we will take.
We are not affiliated with Contender Boats. We build upholstery that fits their boats.
Is the substrate still there?
On a ten-year-old boat we ask about fabric. On a twenty-year-old Contender we ask about what the cushions are mounted to.
Plywood backing on older boats delaminates. Seat bases that were fine when they were sealed are not fine after two decades of standing water. None of that is visible until the cushion comes off, and it is why a lot of shops quote these boats high or decline them: they are protecting themselves against what they might find.
We take a different approach. We pull a cushion and look before we quote. If the substrate is sound, you get a straightforward recover price. If it is not, we quote the rebuild with the new backing itemized so you can see what you are buying. Either way the faces go back in Sunbrella Horizon and the seams are sewn with PTFE thread, because there is no point putting a cheap face on a boat you have just decided is worth keeping. Either way the number is fixed before you commit, and the unpleasant surprise happens at the inspection rather than halfway through the job.
If you are not doing the whole boat this year
Plenty of these projects get done in stages, and there is a right order.
- Bolsters first. They are the most-contacted surface, the most visible, and the one where failure lets water into the structure. Doing them first protects the boat, not just the look.
- Leaning post second. The assembly you sit on all day, and the piece guests notice.
- Bow seating third. Cosmetic more often than structural, and it can usually wait a season.
What we will tell you, though, is that staging costs more overall. Every visit carries measurement and mobilization, and color matching a bow cushion to bolsters installed two years earlier rarely lands clean. If you can do the boat at once, do it at once.
Contenders we build for
- 24 Bay, 26 Bay and 29 Bay. Bolsters and leaning post are usually the whole job.
- 24S, 25T and 28T. Smaller packages, and a lot of the older hulls we get asked about.
- 30ST, 32ST and 35ST. The sweet spot for a full exterior package.
- 39ST, 39FA and 44ST. Longer bolster runs, larger helm assemblies, console berth cushions.
Plenty of what we do is on hulls two and three generations older than this list. If yours is not here, it is still a boat we build for.
Full scope and cost detail is on our full boat upholstery page.
Contender Boat Upholstery FAQ
Is it worth reupholstering a twenty-year-old Contender?
Usually yes, and more often than on other boats. Contender hulls routinely stay structurally sound well past the point their seating fails, so you are restoring the one component that actually wore out rather than putting money into a boat that is tired throughout. A full seating package on an older 31 runs roughly $8,000 to $14,000 and typically returns more than that in both usability and resale. We will look at the boat and tell you honestly if it is the exception.
What happens if you find rotten backing under my cushions?
We find it before you commit, not during the job. We pull a cushion and inspect the substrate as part of the quoting visit, and if the backing has delaminated or is holding water we quote the rebuild with new substrate itemized separately so you can see exactly what that portion costs. The fixed price you approve already accounts for it. That is the opposite of how these jobs usually go wrong.
Can I do the upholstery in stages?
Yes, and many owners do. The right order is bolsters first, then the leaning post, then bow seating. Be aware that staging costs more in total, because each visit carries its own measuring and mobilization, and matching a new bow cushion to bolsters installed two seasons earlier rarely comes out clean. If the budget allows doing the boat at once, that is both cheaper and better looking.
Do you work on older boats other shops have turned down?
Regularly. Shops decline older hulls because they cannot price the unknown behind the cushion, so they either quote defensively high or pass. We solve that by inspecting before quoting rather than after. A boat being twenty years old is not a reason for us to decline it, and if we do think the work is not worth your money we will say that directly rather than pricing you away.
Older boat, same standard
Send photos of the bolsters, leaning post and bow seating with the model and year. We will come look at what is under the cushions before we give you a number.
Or call (561) 278-6521