2019 Archive : “Floating Palace”

Project Details

Fabric 1

LuxHide II
Producer: Luxury Fabrics
Supplier: Luxury Fabrics

Fabric 2

Solar Fix Thread
Producer: Solar Fix Thread
Supplier: The Miami Corp.

Design Name
Rob Kotowski

Design Company
Lake Shore Boat Top Company

Fabrication Name
Rob Kotowski, R. Flint, G. Phillips

Fabrication Company
Lake Shore Boat Top Company

Subcontractor Name
D. Boskovich, J. Koch, R. Pruett

Subcontractor Company
Lake Shore Boat Top Company

Project Manager Name
Rob Kotowski, Bob Kotowski

Project Manager Company
Lake Shore Boat Top Company

Installation Name
Rob Kotowski, G. Phillips, J. Koch

Installation Company
Lake Shore Boat Top Company

Please describe the project specifications

This project consisted of reupholstering the entire interior of the boat that consisted of a large sofa with ottoman, love seat with the ottoman, kitchen dinette, and two captain seats. There were 37 pieces in total to complete this project. The customer also had some unique fabrics that they obtained and we were able to fabricate them into three accent pillows for their large loveseat and couch. We also had a local embroidery company obtain permission from Sea Ray to use their logos in the captain seats.

What was the purpose of this project? What did the client request?

We were assigned to eliminate some of the fabric that was in this interior that the customer did not like and give them something new and fresh even though the boat is fairly new. The clients wanted to make it their own. They also wanted new foam on their seat bottoms so all was replaced

What is unique or complex about the project?

In this project it was difficult to get all of the backrests to match as they all had French seaming in them. They all had to be stretched and fabricated properly so that they would all fit in together; to form the right puzzle pieces for the project. To disassemble and reassemble this project took hours to make sure that everything fit properly. It did not help that the boat was out of the water so there was a lot of going up and down ladders, taking things to the work van, and then back from the work van for installation. Getting all of the stitch lines to match up properly was one of the toughest challenges that we face as a shop and we had to redo a couple pieces because we were not one hundred percent satisfied with the way they turned out.

What were the results of the project?

The customer is extremely happy with the final results. This project helped land other work on his other boats and his family members boats. This job was a lot of work but with that came a lot of rewards.

Content is submitted by the participant. IFAI is not responsible for the content descriptions of the IAA award winners.