Sleeping Berths and Cushions Cruising Corner Forums

We just went through our priority list of things to do on valkyr and one of them was to replace the veberth matress and the salon cushions. We looked at a couple sites like this one http://www.foamorder.com/cushions.html and came up with an estimate of between 800 and 1200 for the foam alone cut to size. This is getting a medium grade foam rated to last under heavy usage for 10+ years. We figured on 6 inch thickness also.

What is the thickness of everyones cushioins in reality and how comfortable do you find them? We don't actually have the original cushons in the salon just some thin 1.5 inch pads down. Also if you have changed out the original cushions on your boat let us know what kind of foam  you used and how thick it was and then a before and after estimate of how comfortable the change was.

We have now finished covering the V-Berth and Salon cushions. Over all we are ecstatic with the results. Time will tell if we picked the right materials. The only error we made I just figured out a couple of seconds ago. Actually it is my error as I was the one doing the measuring and ordering of the foam. Poor Zsanic who did all the sewing of the covers ended up very confused in the process. What happened is that we went 4.5 inches thick on the cushions on port side. I ordered the foam on port side months before ordering the foam for the starboard cushions. For some reason I just assumed we had ordered 4 inch thick cushions and so now the foam on port side and starboard are a half inch different in thickness. In covering the cushions this messed up Zsanic as she assumed they were all 4 inches too as that is what I was saying. However she overcame my error with flying colors and the cushions look brilliant.

As you can see from the following videos we broke all the cushions in both the V-Berth and Salon up into smaller sections. Originally there was one long cushion for the seats and one for the back on the salon settees. We broke this up into 3 cushions on the seats and 2 on the backs. This allowed any one access port into the storage under the seats to be accessed by only having to move 1 cushion. I found we were not using this storage space when we had to move a 6 foot long cushion. You have to clean the whole settee off and or ask everyone sitting down to move. This way we only have to clean one third of the space or ask someone to slide down a bit. The two cushions that you can't see in this video are the ones behind the port side seat cushions that are the extended bed when the seat back is rotated up out of the way. The other reason we went with more smaller cushions is that they are easier to handle when moving them around the boat. With the old cushions if they were not in place they were totally in the way of moving around the boat. They were hard to fit through doors etc.. The new cushions we can stack up on top of each other in one place leaving everything else open and free. They are also easier to put the covers on and off due to the much smaller size. The downside is that covering them was a much bigger task. It took more material and much more time sewing.

The cushions in the salon are covered in a tommy bahama fabric that is an indoor/outdoor acrylic  fabric like sunbrella. We debated going with safe solid color or a simple pattern but in the end decided to live a little dangerously and go for a pattern. We wanted a little color while at the same time keeping it a bit lighter colored overall so that we didn't feel like we were in a cave in the salon. The V-Berth we went with a matching pattern in a darker warmer brown color. Most of the time you wont get to see it as we have sheets on the v-berth but we feel that the warm brown pattern really complements the color of the wood on valkyr. After seeing it in place I was almost unhappy with the color we had picked for the salon. After completing the salon though we decided we liked both equally. They share a common pattern while being different colors. The V-Berth is not made of acrylic though. It is an indoor fabric that is a linen/rayon blend. We will see how well it works out. Our thought was that it would breath better than the salon fabric. The salon acrylic however will be more resistant to spills and wear in the higher traffic area.

We actually have a black version of the pattern in acrylic that will end up being used for outside cushions and covers for outboard,helm,winches etc…We aren't sure that it was wise going with black because of heat build up in the sun but gives some color in the pattern while matching the  black trim used on valkyrs paint job. We haven't used that cloth yet so it will be later that you get to see it:)

The fabric cost us between 8 and 12 dollars a yard. In the salon we actually didn't order enough in the first place and had to order an extra 70 dollars worth. Over all the cost so far for everything.. the foam,the hypervent,and the fabric and misc thread and velcro has probably it close to the 1000 dollar range. It added up quick.

The hypervent we bought in two orders with enough to do the v-berth,the salon and the pilot berth with a little left over to do some shelves and closet bottoms. Total cost on that from defender.com was about 320 dollars. Defender has the best price bar none for this material by about 20 or 30 % that we could find. We felt that it was a very important part of this project though. When we pulled out the old cushions some were damp and really mildewy from condensation building up between them and the fiberglass they sat on. Not to mention on place that a leak had soaked from rain. Now with the cushions sitting 1/2 inch above the fiberglass on the hypervent we have air flow under the cushions to keep condensation from forming. If it does or if there is a leak the water can flow under the cushions and not even touch them. This improves the comfort of the boat immensely.

The fabric for all of this was probably in the neighbourhood of 400 dollars. Even at the bargain prices that we found it at it still cost a lot. I couldn't imagine paying the 20 to 30 dollars a yard retail that it could have cost.

The foam was not as expensive as we had feared but we found a local furniture manufacture that was able to sell it to use cut to our pattern and specified thickness. Total cost was probably in the 300 dollar range for the v berth and salon. However we did not purchase foam for any of the seat backs. We used a 4 inch thick topper mattress that was 1.5 inches of memory foam over 2.5 inches of regular foam. The mattress cost us about 150 dollars a few years before if you want to add that into the cost. It was no longer being used and was in the way at the house so we cut it up into the seat backs. It is significantly softer than the foam we purchased for the seat bottoms. However I think this is a plus as it is a bit comfier to lean back into. The cushions feel better being stiffer to sit on or sleep on. Just an aside based on one of the posts above. We have had one person tell us that they like sleeping on the 4 inch thick foam better than the 4.5 inch foam in the salon. Personally I have slept on both sides and like them both.

So with not a lot of more ado here are the videos of the V-Berth and Salon Cushions.

http://downeasteryachts.com/wp.....hions2.avi

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