New Canvas Installation

D

Darkmann

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2007
RO Number
28565
Messages
64
I'm looking at changing the old canvas on my MY00 SeaRay from gray to black. I've settled on a company called Great Lakes Boat Top headquartered in Vonore, TN. Does anyone know about them? Apparently they make tops for a lot of manufacturers, including SeaRay. Please leave me any feedback you have on them. I'm getting a decent price for the entire canvas set including camper. I plan to make the order early next week.

Also, since this is my first time doing this, I'll take any tips from experienced installers so I do this right the first time.

Thanks.
 
Replaced my bimini with them. IMHO, GLBT is supurb in materials and workmanship. They're not cheap, but well worth their price. If you believe you got a good price from them, so much the better. I give them an A+
 
I bought several canvas pieces for me previous Sea Ray from them. They are excellent and the OEM supplier to Sea Ray. Everything fits as they use the original patterns. You will have to do your own snaps. If you know someone in the industry, they do have comercial pricing. Their consumer pricing was less than the factory pricing by a reasonable margin and their commercial pricing is significantly better.

-Rick
 
Rick, thanks a lot. Yes, I will also purchase the snap tool. I will call them tomorrow and inquire about commercial pricing.
 
When I sold my 1992 Regal it had two sets of canvas from them. The first one was so good that the second set was still new in the bag. This was last year.
 
The price of canvas work is also geographic. Labor is the larger cost. Trying to save on materials is a fallacy. If a pattern is already available, there should be a considerable saving. Formulating a pattern is time consuming.
 
The pattern is already cut to my OEM pattern. All I have to do is install the snaps and then put the new canvas up. It still could be time consuming since I may have to take down all the supporting hardware. We'll see when the canvas gets here.
 
Personally, I would always opt for a local canvas shop, especially in MD or FL (many, many vendors to choose from). You would most likely end up with as good if not better materials and the snaps would already be installed. We had ours made with Sunbrella with Gortex thread. It's been up for 6 years (year 'round) and looks as good as the day it was installed. When things do wear out, I'll either have a local shop come to the boat to replace, or I'll drop pieces off one at a time to have them refabricated.
 
I agree with mixman. I'd be alot more comfortable with a local shop in case anything goes wrong. I'm located in Woodbridge, Va on the Occocyuan River (just south of DC) with a 2000 270 SeaRay Sundancer. Been looking for a recommended local shop to replace my Camper canvas. Unfortunately this will be my first replacement so I have no idea what's a good price. Shop recommendations & price info. appreciated. At my marina the shop never called me back even after called & then stopped by.
 
I have used Great Lakes and they are a great company. For my new boat, I have chosen a local shop with a strong marine reputation and so far I am very happy.
 
Thanks Neal & Barbara, but unfortunately GL doesn't carry my patterns. They e-mailed me to confirm this & you'll note their website doesn't list a 2000 SeaRay 270 SD. Hence I'm out of luck with them. Anybody else have some suggestions for N. VA boater? Thanks
 
Mixman and Dmike, thanks for your input. I couldn't find a local shop for the canvas - actually I may no have looked hard enough and Great Lakes sent me a great e-mail offer. That's why I went with them. Again I'm very new at things boating and from what I've read already, they seem to have a great reputation.
 
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