Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

My playpen cover was damaged to the point where it can't be repaired. I can replace it in kind from the original supplier, but I still have to have someone come and install the snaps.
I've talked with a couple of local cover makers and I'm more confused than ever.
Seems as though Sunbrella is the 600 pound gorilla, but it's kind of heavy.
The original cover material on the boat is Surlast, but one guy said he usually only uses Aqualon because of its resistance to moisture and mildew and that it seems to be a lot stronger than either Sunbrella or Surlast.
I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who's replaced their snap on playpen cover the last couple of years and what their experience has been with the material they used.
Thanks!

I had a full cover made last year out of sumbrella. After one summer and the second winter no signs of fading let alone mold.

I'm in same the boat (I mean pontoon ). Thoughts on recommended material appreciated.

Here's where I am today (but certainly not locked in). I can have the original maker of the cover redo it for about $800, plus the cost and labor to have the snaps installed. It's made of Surlast.
I talked with two guys who do boat covers here at Lake of the Ozarks, one of whom was recommended by the local Bennington dealer. He suggested, pretty much insisted, that Aqualon was the way to go. It weighs about the same as Sunbrella, but according to him it's more durable and less susceptible to allowing mildew to form. The mildew issue has been a minor one on the original cover where it touches the seat backs and tops.
The Aqualon guy said his cover will be about 50% more, but it will be custom to my boat.
So, anyone on here who's had experience with Aqualon for a cover, please weigh in.
Thanks!

The question is how expensive is that canvas?

Most of the Sunbrellas are $24.95 per yard, and it takes many yards to do a cover. That's pretty expensive stuff.

Surlast is a "budget" Sunbrella coming out of the Far East, and there are relatively few retail sources. It's commonly priced @ $14.95 per yard, but I found some @ $10.95 per yard online.

My OEM cover is Surlast, and it's heavy enough stuff to deal with. The company that manufactures Bennington's covers installs the snaps on their canvas, and someone at Bennington installs the bottom half of the 5/16" snaps on the fencing.

Installing bottom snaps doesn't appear to be very difficult for someone with strong hands/fingers, but it could be time consuming. I could see here fabrication of a new cover is pretty time intensive. It would be helpful if the old cover was good enough to use as a pattern.

I'm only using my cover for the winter, since my boat's kept inside a boathouse. I'm just looking for Surlast to make simple seat covers to keep the spider poo off the upholstery. Spiders can really stain the vinyl, no matter what dressing (303) is used.

When Bennington replaced my cover because the original cover faded, the new one was sent to the dealer without snaps. The dealer fit the cover and installed the snaps to match the ones on the boat. I think the old cover is sunbrella but i'm not sure. I like the old cover better because the material is heavier.

FYI most (if not all) of the OEMs in this area are using SureLast. Sunbrella is a great fabric, but part of the reason it is so popular is because of it's name. Just like every thing else, people will always buy some thing because THEY say it's the best. I don't know who THEY are but THEY say it's the number one brand so it must be the best...