Repair or replace dinette bench frame padded upholstery?

[brians1969]

Sent: 12/25/2007

The black padded vinyl that goes around the back of my dinette is long since missing. Any suggestions on what to do there? Get some vinyl and foam and replace? Paint it, stain it? Get formica and make a small counter?

thanks and Happy New Year!!
brian

[OldEdBrady]

Sent: 12/25/2007

It really depends upon what you want.  A restoration?  Then, in that case, you want to match the original as closely as posslbe.

Just fixing it up?  Then it really is up to you what to do.  There is a world of possibilities out there.

[Oz]

Sent: 25/12/2007

I suggest getting foam and replacing the vinyl with some heavy duty CURTAIN material scrounged from a junkyard or Thrift Store.

- Sob

[OldEdBrady]

Sent: 26/12/2007

Oh, no!!  Sob used the dreaded c-word!

[tiinytina]

Sent: 27/12/2007

We are ripping out the brown padded vinyl 4" wide border around the backs of the dinette benches and replacing it with oak.

You can replace what is there fairly cheaply. Fabric stores all sell thin foam sheets for replacing cushions etc. I just paid $4.99 for a 15x15 1"thick piece at JoAnn's fabric. You can also buy vinyl or "nogahide" fairly cheaply as well. Check the remnant aisle at any fabric store for the vinyl or other material you want. And yes the fabric aisle at Walmart etc doesn't usually stock the foam nor upholstery material so you will have to find a real fabric store. A "Michaels" may have the foam but they don't sell fabric.

In our Tiffin, when I pull out the bench cushion I can see the screws that mount these border pieces. Once removed the material is usually just stapled in on the backside so just pry off the staples. You could actually just recover the whole thing leaving the old stuff in place and reusing the foam but.... I wouldn't. All you need is a good staple gun. When upholstering I staple one side up then kneel on the board after pulling the vinyl tight to staple the remaining side. You may want to roll the vinyle edge over itself so that you are actually stapling through 2 layers which will help the material stay snug if it is thin.....

Tina

[maryk2u]

Sent: 30/12/2007

Hi Brian,
I just remade the bench seat cushions and the vinyl padding that fits around the cushions.  I purchased the foam and all of the material used in our motorhome restoration at a store in AZ that specializes in automobile restorations and upholstery supplies.  They had many sizes and densities of foam and a huge selection of fabric.  The most expensive fabric we purchased was $3.00 a yard. 

I stripped the old foam and fabric off of the wood, then glued the foam onto the wood with Tac-It.  Wrap the foam around the edges and glue, or cut the foam oversize so that when you pull the fabric tightly over the top and staple on the back side of the wood, that the foam wraps around the edges far enough so that there is not a demarkation line visible.  I hope this info helps.
Mary K