Frequently asked questions.
The fundamentals
What is Great Water Upholstery?
What are you all about?
What is the catch?
Great Water Upholstery is a tech start up with a custom manufacturing service. We physically manufacture custom marine vinyl for our clients boat cushions. We do not install or work on customers boats in anyway. We are a cut and sew factory that does something different.
Two things. Bringing transparency to the market for consumers. And help entrepreneurs to stay in business. As the cost of labor increases and upholstery knowledge decreases in the market.
There is no catch! The price is the price and there are no additional fees except amount of material and sew length. That is it.
If you choose to have someone install the vinyl instead of a DIY installation. That will be a cost between you and the installer.
What is your turn around time?
How to prepare my boat?
Do I need to have a professional camera?
Generally this stays around 2 weeks to ship. But for current times, see our Status page. Remember, if the common carrier has an issue, it could take longer.
All cushions will need to be removed from the boat. Being outside in the sun is the best lighting environment. No need to clean your cushions. In fact, dirty cushions are even better.
No. You smartphone is perfectly fine. If I had a professional camera, will my results be better? Generally, yes. But the most important aspect for success is preparing the environment. A poorly prepared environment will lead to a failed process even with a professional camera.
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Why is your price so low? Cheap vinyl?
Why do you have limited color options?
Will you use my vinyl if I send it to you?
What about shipping costs?
Shipping is included in the cost anywhere in North America!
No. Some people try to lower costs by using sub-par vinyl. This is a bad idea. Sub-par vinyl can't be worked with. Can't be heated and stretched. We use marine grade vinyl that is easy to work with.
No! We use high quality marine grade vinyl. We use a variety of methods to lower cost. But the biggest cost reducer is technology. By embracing technology we can eliminate waste, save time and speed up deliverables.
Why can't you do 1 or 2 cushions?
The reason we settled on $2,000 is there are overhead costs to each project regardless of size. Shipping for example, although changes with weight and size, as an initial start price. For a couple cushions it would not be worth it.
We are a small cut and sew factory. We don't have the investment nor space to house hundreds of colors. One of the ways we keep costs love it to only stock 20 colors from the same brand. Versatility is not our focus. Reliability and quality is.
Do I really need to have a smartphone?
Yes. At this time, all uploads and payments operate through the app as it is the easiest for our customers and us.
Installers
We are always looking for quality installers around North America. We do not employ or partner with third party installers. But if you want your name and location on our app for our customers if they do not want to install themselves, reach out to us.
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How can I work with you?
As an installer, can I use your service like an end user?
Absolutely! Our services are for upholstery shops and end users alike.