Yeah the Craigslist guy flaked out, but so did every other shop I contacted including Starbucks in Sausalito. So far i have about twenty hours into this and not a valid quote. And I paid a guy to come look at the job just so he could tell me he's really busy. Either there is a huge amount of money to be made in this business, or everyone in it drinks themselves to sleep every night.
Darn - there goes my wallet in the storm
- Thread starter kevfra
- Start date
Anyone who needs gas money to get to the job probably would lack the resources to correct any honest mistakes he/she might make.
Example: Curt has around $15k of my money for everything on the boat, including carpets and upholstery, but he is not perfect. Curt is a great guy, but you better be satisfied when you leave his place. He means well, but is not reliable afterwards. You can tell Curt I said that because I have told him that myself. They misaligned the front isenglas and the rear isenglas on my flybridge. Curt sets them up so you can unzip the front center piece and the rear center piece on boat. His people misaligned the zipper for the front isenglas. It took me a few months to get his people to drive from his shop over to I-5 up to the Sac City marina. Altogether it took months to get a minor item fixed. That is not fun and not professional. They made an adapter with 2 zippers on it. Not what I paid for, but I got tired of asking. With ANY canvas shop, ask questions and look it over closely before you pay.
He put new carpet in our salon, but the three "access panels" for my engine area were not "level" with the rest of the floor. They had to notice, but I had to fix it. No big deal, but you can tell I still remember it. I bought the heavy duty, 1.5 inch wide rubber "tape" with glue on one side. The carpet is not pretty close. Not as good as it was before. The carpet is nice.
I personally think Curt means well, but when you get twenty people you like all showing up at your front door needing their bimini replaced yesterday .... his big heart gets in the way of his "business sense".
I would recommend Curt, but I would also highly recommend you be sure of what you want and I would unzip and re-zip every single zipper. I would snap and unsnap all the snaps. Make sure your snaps haven't been pulled out of the gelcoat before you get there. Check the alignment of the pieces. I have a couple pulled out, but I am not sure who did it or when it was done. My boat was over ten years old when it went in there.
And timing. Please be patient while Curt and I laugh for a moment. If I want Curt's guys to have my stuff done by June 1, I would take it to them now and put it in writing that the job will be finished by May 15th. I am not exaggerating. You may still get it June 3rd.
Curt has one of the biggest hearts in the business, but he is still a business man. I will take my boat back if it ever needs work.
That said, I am currently ducking Curt as I owe him a couple of platters of those cut and bake cookies. The chocolate chip kind with caramel in the center. Wanna see him grin? Take a platter in and tell him Dave sent you. He will laugh and take the cookies. Then YOU owe him the next platter.
Example: Curt has around $15k of my money for everything on the boat, including carpets and upholstery, but he is not perfect. Curt is a great guy, but you better be satisfied when you leave his place. He means well, but is not reliable afterwards. You can tell Curt I said that because I have told him that myself. They misaligned the front isenglas and the rear isenglas on my flybridge. Curt sets them up so you can unzip the front center piece and the rear center piece on boat. His people misaligned the zipper for the front isenglas. It took me a few months to get his people to drive from his shop over to I-5 up to the Sac City marina. Altogether it took months to get a minor item fixed. That is not fun and not professional. They made an adapter with 2 zippers on it. Not what I paid for, but I got tired of asking. With ANY canvas shop, ask questions and look it over closely before you pay.
He put new carpet in our salon, but the three "access panels" for my engine area were not "level" with the rest of the floor. They had to notice, but I had to fix it. No big deal, but you can tell I still remember it. I bought the heavy duty, 1.5 inch wide rubber "tape" with glue on one side. The carpet is not pretty close. Not as good as it was before. The carpet is nice.
I personally think Curt means well, but when you get twenty people you like all showing up at your front door needing their bimini replaced yesterday .... his big heart gets in the way of his "business sense".
I would recommend Curt, but I would also highly recommend you be sure of what you want and I would unzip and re-zip every single zipper. I would snap and unsnap all the snaps. Make sure your snaps haven't been pulled out of the gelcoat before you get there. Check the alignment of the pieces. I have a couple pulled out, but I am not sure who did it or when it was done. My boat was over ten years old when it went in there.
And timing. Please be patient while Curt and I laugh for a moment. If I want Curt's guys to have my stuff done by June 1, I would take it to them now and put it in writing that the job will be finished by May 15th. I am not exaggerating. You may still get it June 3rd.
Curt has one of the biggest hearts in the business, but he is still a business man. I will take my boat back if it ever needs work.
That said, I am currently ducking Curt as I owe him a couple of platters of those cut and bake cookies. The chocolate chip kind with caramel in the center. Wanna see him grin? Take a platter in and tell him Dave sent you. He will laugh and take the cookies. Then YOU owe him the next platter.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2003
- RO Number
- 12084
- Messages
- 20
http://www.westcoastcanvas.com/
I to would also tell you to go to Curt at West Coast Canvas. He's good at what he does but unlike Dave I did not leave his dock until I had the parts right for the boat. He replaced all the carpeting with wood flooring and built me a screen so in the summer I can take off the canvas and screen in the boat. Parts of the screen did not look right so I left the boat a few extra days at his dock so he could fix it and he hates that since it takes up space and cant bring in the next project. So before you leave make sure everything is to your satisfaction and then there cant be a complain except the monies. He did a great job for a very fair price. Don't expect cheap because he is not be he will always be competitive. Take a couple of other bids in with you when you go and he will beat them.
Lostinthedelta.
Lostinthedelta.