I only do those for time and material. No set estimates. Those can be extremely time consuming.

So far i am very happy with how it is coming out. In the morning i have to custom perforate the speaker hole with small hollow punches. Im going to be gradually increasing size of thw perforation working into the center, starting at 1mm and i creasing .5mm up to 3mm. I think that small detail will be all the difference. The customer is alteady angry saying they can buy a new one at lmc truck for a few hundred. Its irritating bow people compare pricing of a brand new item produced by machines in a billion dollar factory and compare that to the time of craftsmanship and custom work instead. Sadly its a common thing people do. Do you think im already in it for too much time around 11 or 12 hours to this point? I wish it was more like 8 or 9 at this point

Yeah I know that's super frustrating when customers don't value your skills and time. If he wanted a customer wrapped dash I probably would have recommended we buy a new one and wrap the new one. However sometimes new repops are not available.

I think your making great progress at only 11 hours. Thats a lot of work to repair those and make them look good. You did a really nice job on the fiber glass. I probably would have estimated around 23+hrs to get that thing fixed and wrapped. With no guarantee it wouldn't take longer than 23 hrs.

i appreciate that feedback. I have only been doing this type of work for about 6 years all self taught figure things out as well as using this forum and some videos i have seen from chefaflo on youtube as well as videos from gabes. I love seeing other people work.get good ideas and perspectives too. They do make new ones of these pads for $400 + ship. But the vinyl is still very hard like a shell and it does a bit of damage to the foam when being cautious even heating it slowly. But unfortunately about 90% of customers or people in general love comparing the cost of our skillset and time and quality materials to the very cheap cost of a machine made in a billion dollar factory part thats not even custom to their specific want and the quality is usually lesser. It amazes me that amount of people that think that way.

here is the results. I have some touch up to do around the defrost vents but its not too bad. It was one hell of a stretch

Wow very nice job! I'm impressed you were able to wrap that with out any seams. What vinyl did you use?

Thank you. The right side of it (passenger side) that was a real bear to stretch. Has a tiny bit of stretch mark but its not bad at all.
I used Longitude Morocco vinyl from the Partners catalog at Keyston Bros

Looks great! What foam did you use?

Везде люди одинаковые, хотят за ручной труд платить очень мало! По панели очень круто выходит):сильный:

I filled specific low points with a small sections of 1/8" landau foam, then did a layer of 1/4" landau and then after shaping I did 1 final layer of 1/4" again and did the final shapes

I would love to know how to do that! Awesome work! I just dont quote jobs anymore, its a sure way for someone to end up unhappy. I guess high, the client thinks I'm crazy, I guess low, I get screwed, not happening anymore. It's time and material, period. Every job is unique and hard to guess. Dont let yourself be taken advantage of.

Every upholstery shop is different and you know your shop best, but the way I see it is that we have to remind ourselves that we are not a mechanic shop. Mechanic shops have computer systems with estimated hours for every job and up-to-date pricing on parts and availability. They also have certifications in place for their employees that tell you a decent amount about their skills and ability. For these reasons, a mechanic shop can simply break down a job by hours, parts, shop supplies, everything.

Upholstery shops have none of this! Upholstery is also an art, for a million different reasons every job is different. For this reason, I feel we need to stop estimating hours and prices on materials. Like any artist in the world, we should charge based on our experience, what WE think the job is worth, and the level of detail for that job. Even with step-by-step instructions, no one can make a job look like it would when done by someone with experience. If you look at any type of artist in the world they don't charge based on materials, they charge based on how good the finished product looks. Plus there are way more mechanic shops than upholstery shops, so we can definitely do things a bit different than they do.

Obviously, every shop is a little different. There is a balance to this type of thinking, but I think we may need to adjust our viewpoint a little bit. We also may have to take into account our workload, if we are low on work we can charge less and vice versa.

-Ryan Estrada
Sonny's Upholstery

i was a certified tech at the dealership for years before doing this. Been doing this on the side for 5 years now and full time the last year of those 5. Definitely cant price everything before hand. Unfortunately these people are so cheap its sickening. Its nothing but pure hatred in response. They want the best work out there and want it yesterday and for cheap money. And they love saying its all overpriced and they can do it themselves. And then when they try its horrible craftsmanship done with retail crap supplies from a sewing hobby store. Then everyone thinks its comparable to a professionals job. Its a real mess. People are something. And they love to find anything possible to complain about.

Jesse, I have to agree, some customers are just hard to please. For some reason, cheaper prices tend to attract these types of customers. At the same time, people who pay higher prices tend to be more easygoing. Though this isn't always the case. But, at the end of the day, I try to remind myself that the really picky, hard to please customers, are the minority and the majority of our customers are great to do business with.

-Ryan Estrada
Sonny's Upholstery