Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Is there anybody in the Pittsburgh area that can recommend a good place to go to have an enclosure made? In my research I have found "Canvas Corner" in East Palestine, Ohio but after driving buy the place he seems to be more into home type awning canvas then boat canvas. I have heard of a place called Tumacs but its a pain for me to get my boat there and know nothing about them.

Also there is a place in Canada I have found that makes an enclosure from pics and measurements. I am a bileeryry of using this method as every canvas job I have ever seen has required fitting adjustments as well as this guy being at the high end so far as pricing.

Appreciate any comments or suggestions.

I've seen some of this guys work and it appears to be first class IMHO. Anyway he's located more or less two hours away from you on Buckeye Lake which is east of Columbus Oh. Here's a link to his website Lakeside Canvas

Thanks Bamby, I have an email into him

Keep in mind that the quality of the fabric will play a huge part of the final cost of your project.

My best advice is do not go cheap if you intend on keeping your boat for a while. Ferrari Stamoid is an excellent fabric for enclosures since it is vinyl coated on one side and is easy to keep looking like new with simple periodic cleaning. Uncoated fabrics tend to get dingy looking in short time. It comes in 80 inch widths as well which will cut down on fabrication time. It comes in both a light and heavy version - personally I would stay with the light version for an enclosure since it is going to end up fairly heavy and bulky with sides. Sunbrella brand marine fabric is also worth the money, just be prepared to shell out the big bucks for it, however it does carry a 10 year warranty versus 5 for the Ferrari. I would not even waste my money on a typical canvas product - even if it is outdoor rated. They just do not last very long and will start to loose strength rapidly after just a couple of years of sun exposure. They also stain and mildew easily.

Whatever you do INSIST on them using Tenara brand sewing thread, it is without equal. Do not accept any off brands and specify it in writing on your quote sheet. It's guaranteed for the life of the fabric and seams are notorious for failing first.

Instead of having clear vinyl windows you may also want to consider just using a tight weave vinyl coated fiberglass screening instead. The vinyl windows tend to fall apart fast, and of course don't allow any air flow. Fiberglass will keep out 90% of rain but allow lots of fresh air flow as well as keep the bugs out. The high end option is to have both, but in my experience it is overkill unless you plan on spending a lot of time boating when it is really cold. Dark colored fiberglass screen will also give you lots of privacy and better heat absorption - you can't see in during daylight hours at all but you can still see out. At night if you have a light on outsiders can see in.

Good luck with your project!

I have been emailing a few places asking different questions. The guy at Buckeye Lake has been very uninformative in his responses just wanting me to bring my boat out and get on the schedual. I finally sent him this trying to get some kind of financial answer from him.

Dave,

Can you give me a ballpark figure as to what I would be spending? I don't expect exact, I mean are we talking 2, 3, 4 thousand?

Bill

His response was:

I have no idea what a ballpark price is,, A baseball ballpark is a HUGE place, so a huge price would be 8 to 10 thousand dollars.

you can get prices by using the price page on the website. I posted all the prices on the web site so I would never have to work up prices. I am the only canvas shop that I know of in America that does that,, and you want me ask you 1000 questions to find out what you want..

Guess I won't be dealing with him, sent him thisa reply this morning

LOL, great customer service skills you have, I will spend my money elsewhere and you can stick your smart azz attitude

Ron, great informative post with good suggestions! Thanks for your time and effort posting it.

BiXLL wrote:I have been emailing a few places asking different questions. The guy at Buckeye Lake has been very uninformative in his responses just wanting me to bring my boat out and get on the schedual. I finally sent him this trying to get some kind of financial answer from him.

Dave,

Can you give me a ballpark figure as to what I would be spending? I don't expect exact, I mean are we talking 2, 3, 4 thousand?

Bill

His response was:

I have no idea what a ballpark price is,, A baseball ballpark is a HUGE place, so a huge price would be 8 to 10 thousand dollars.

you can get prices by using the price page on the website. I posted all the prices on the web site so I would never have to work up prices. I am the only canvas shop that I know of in America that does that,, and you want me ask you 1000 questions to find out what you want..

Guess I won't be dealing with him, sent him thisa reply this morning

LOL, great customer service skills you have, I will spend my money elsewhere and you can stick your smart azz attitude

I can't BELIEVE he actually has this on his web site - what an asshole:

"IF you try to Jew me down,
I will point you to the door immediately, I have sent many hagglers to the door..........bye, bye
If you start that out-the-door, tax-n-title stuff, just leave me alone and go CAR shopping. ( I sold cars many years ago, cars are negotiable in price )
I am happy to explain a price and how it adds up.
I might go down in price if there is an actual "boat related" reason for doing so."

I guess you could sum up his business philosophy like this:

"This isn't a Burger King. You don't get it your way. You get it MY way or you don't get the son of a bitch!"

Jerkoffs like him deserve to go belly up.

If I moved there next to him I could put him out of business in under a year, and charge 20% more. He might be exceptionally skilled at making boat enclosures - but with a 'tude like that I'll bet 50% of his business walks out the door within 10 minutes.

Pretty sure my fitted cover came from that place in Canada you first mentioned. From what I have heard they are a big outfit and have most of the boat specs already. I know my cover could not have fitted better if they had the boat, while making mine. Perfect fit and easy to install would not hesitate to order from them again.
doc

Here are some prices I got for my 28' pontoon boat.
Lifetime thread, Sunbrella material. Rear enclosure from console back.

New Bimini top no framework. 850
Front panel with windows. 700
2 piece side curtains with windows. (4 pieces total) 1250.
Rear curtain with cutout and zipper for rear entry
and windows 750.

for a front half cover that will zip to the front panel 900.

For a full 2 piece cover that will zip together in the middle
to make installation easier 1400.

These folks are in NH and are very very good.

http://www.shipshapemarineworks.com/index.php

Bill

I got my Full Enclosure custom made by Tumacs for under $3K. That included the front bimini frame and top, storage boots, new matching fabric for the rear bimini and of course, the enclosure with windows and screens. Completely waterproof as well.

They were great to work with, I would definately go back.

I have been getting mixed reviews on Tumacs. Seems people either really love them or absolutely hate them?

At this point I leaning twords Conneutville Canvas which is a father + son Amish operation or a small place in East Palestine, Ohio called Canvas Corners. Tumac was on my list to check out further, but some people have sort of scared me away from them.