Interior upgrade

[jelmore]

We're thinking of updating the interior fabrics. At 10 years, they're starting to look a little tired and out of date. There's lots of fabric wrapped items -- window mullions and sills, decorative panels. The sofa could use a different look.

Seems Liberty would probably be a good choice since they built it and would have some other design ideas.

This is what it is like now...
http://2000liberty.info/all_pics/l/P8174570.jpg

Any other places you would recommend, or other advice? Other advice would be good. Maybe there's some pitfalls we should avoid?

Any experience here with doing something like this?

[BrianE]

Jim, Taking nothing from Liberty or their ability to do a fine refurbish job. There are a number of excellent coach interior specialists scattered around the country. Your choice may include your willingness to do some driving to reach them. Would strongly suggest you see other coaches they have completed, whether they met the owners expectations and time requirements and whether they stayed within budget. A good refurbisher will almost always cost more than you anticipated when done, especially if they have good ideas to suggest. Having a refurbisher that is close enough for you to visit from time to time during the process is also a consideration however shouldn't be the primary consideration. The cost of an airline ticket or two could well outweigh the convenience of choosing a nearby vendor.

By the way, listing your general location will almost certainly get you some specific recommendations.

[phorner]

Jim,

Last summer we had the opportunity to talk to a rep from Villa furniture. She indicated that Villa International would probably still have on file the original specs for our sofa from Liberty, and that they could use that info to duplicate it in any number of fabric choices.

Of course, Liberty Coach can handle the entire project for you. A friend of ours just got his back recently after a new floor install and it looks great.

I agree with Brian that there are several companies out there that can meet your expectations, and it's most likely in your best interest to shop around among the quality companies.

Good luck and take plenty of pics! We'll be happy to learn from your experience as we're not far behind you.....

[Petervs]

When we purchased our used Marathon back in 01 we also felt it needed some fabric upgrades. A year or so later we took it back to Marathon and had them redo all the fabric, sofa, window surrounds, bedspread, etc. They did a superb job, it cost a lot, but we remain extremely satisfied.

BUT,

As a new coach owner then, we felt having the "factory" do the job was important because they know the coach best. As time has gone on, I find that to be a less and less important concern, and now I have no compunction about drilling holes, cutting into parts, and otherwise messing around in and on the coach.

I would probably not have Marathon do it again due to cost, and would carefully shop various aftermarket independent shops and choose one based on their reputation, seeing examples of their past work, talking with other customers, etc. What better place to do that than a POG rally?

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Jim, Peg and I ( really me ) spent a long time with an interior designer to redo the fabric on our Dinette cushions. It turned out great and we are very happy with the outcome, except like others have said about this type of work, THE PRICE!

It was very expensive, because the only person I could find locally to look at it did custom homes mostly, and her hourly rate was $$$$$LARGE !

Live and learn. There are several companies listed in the FMCA magazine that do re customization of our coaches, and they would be a good place to start with first.

( on a side note, if you happen to get rid of your wine colored ottoman, let me know I need one just like it and I think the color is perfect for us too )

Gary S.

[GDeen]

Jim,

Villa International did all the interior remodel on my coach including recovering the front two seats, recliner and booth, building a new recliner, and building a custom designed sofa and valences. The quality of the work is very good.

Steve Bennett just drove us up there in the coach and we went through all the fabric and leather bolts in the factory, dragged the stuff we liked out to the coach, and pulled everything together in about 3 hours. 3 weeks later, new stuff!

Let me know if you want contact info. They are not too busy right now and were very reasonably priced. I recommend highly.

[Jerry Winchester]

Jim.

Somewhere on the forum is a thread where we completely updated the interior of our old XL coach. New carpet, tile, wallpaper, lighting fixtures, door hardware and sofa / chair recover.

We had a local trim shop do the sofa, chairs and carpet. My wife did the tile and we both worked on the wallpaper and hardware. It turned out okay and didn't cost us as much as taking it to someone but it was a lot of work.

We enjoyed the outcome, but I don't know if I would do it all myself again.

[jelmore]

Jim, Taking nothing from Liberty or their ability to do a fine refurbish job . . . [snip] . . . By the way, listing your general location will almost certainly get you some specific recommendations.

Well, Liberty isn't returning my calls.

We're in the Chicago area for a while and if anyone knows of someone we could visit with, I'd appreciate any leads. Thanks.

[Jerry Winchester]

I think between Trukman and Brillo Boy, they have all the lines at Liberty tied up dealing with tech issues.

[garyde]

Hi Jim. You definately have to call Joe C.