Interior and Cabinetry
RV, Van and Fleet Upholstery Repair, Recovering and Foam Replacement
Typical range
$400 to $6,500
Shop hours
3 to 30
Labor rate
$210/hr
The short answer
Upholstery work covers recovering cushions, replacing collapsed foam, repairing split seams, and re-skinning captain chairs, sofas, and dinette benches in marine vinyl, leather, or performance fabric. Jobs run $400 to $6,500, or 3 to 30 hours at $210 per hour plus materials, at our Yorba Linda facility.
01
What this work actually involves
Two failures account for most of the upholstery that comes through here. The first is UV. Southern California sun through a large windshield or a curbside window will chalk vinyl and break down thread within a few seasons, and the seam always goes before the panel does, because the stitch line sits proud and takes the direct exposure. The second is foam collapse, which is not a covering problem at all. Recovering a cushion whose foam has gone flat produces a nice-looking cushion that is still uncomfortable, so we specify foam density before we specify fabric.
Material choice matters more here than in most climates. Standard marine vinyl in a coach parked in Palm Springs will exceed 160F surface temperature and become uncomfortable to sit on and brittle over time. Perforated or lighter-colored vinyl, or a solution-dyed performance fabric, runs meaningfully cooler and holds color far longer. Bonded leather, which many factory coaches use, is not leather and will peel in this climate no matter how it is cared for. We steer owners away from replacing it with the same thing.
Fleet and commercial work is a separate track. Driver seats in cargo vans, box trucks, and transit buses take concentrated wear at the bolster and the entry-side edge, and the answer there is usually a durable heavy-gauge vinyl with reinforced high-wear panels rather than a full reupholster in matching material. We rebuild the seat foam, replace the failed panels, and get the vehicle back in service without recovering surfaces that are still sound.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Cushion recovering in marine vinyl, performance fabric, or genuine leather
- Foam replacement specified by density and thickness rather than by feel
- Split seam repair and restitching with UV-stable outdoor thread
- Dinette bench, jackknife sofa, and booth cushion rebuilds
- Captain chair and driver seat re-skinning including bolster panels
- Fleet driver seat high-wear panel replacement without a full reupholster
- Headrest, armrest, and lumbar panel recovering
- Zipper, hook and loop, and cushion cover closure replacement
- Slide-out and bunk mattress cover fabrication in custom sizes
- Pattern making for discontinued or irregular factory cushion shapes
03
When you need this service
- A seam that has split along a stitch line rather than through the material
- Vinyl that has chalked, hardened, or cracked on the sun-facing side
- A cushion that stays compressed after weight is removed
- Bonded leather that is flaking or peeling off in sheets
- A driver seat bolster worn through on the entry side
- Fabric that has faded unevenly, lighter at the window side
- A cushion cover that no longer zips closed because the foam has spread
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Assessment and material consultation
Every cushion checked for foam condition separately from covering condition. We bring out material samples and talk through heat behavior and UV life, not just color.
- 02
Pattern making
Existing covers carefully disassembled and used as patterns, or new patterns made where the original has shrunk or distorted past being a usable template.
- 03
Foam specification
Foam selected by density and thickness for the seating position. A dinette bench and a theater seat do not take the same foam even when they measure the same.
- 04
Cut and sew
Panels cut, welts fabricated, and everything stitched with UV-stable outdoor thread, because the thread is what fails first in this climate.
- 05
Assembly and fit
Covers fitted over new foam, closures installed, and each cushion trial fitted in the coach before the set is called finished.
- 06
Reinstall and function check
Cushions and seats reinstalled, mechanisms cycled where powered, and any seating that folds or converts operated through full travel.
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Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $400 to $6,500 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 3 to 30 | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Body and paint labor | $210 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Paint supplies | $55 per paint hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Body supplies | $5 per body hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
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Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Class A Gas Motorhomes
A Class A gas motorhome is a flat-front coach built on a Ford F53 or Workhorse front-engine chassis, typically 28 to 38 feet. Rear
Vehicle
Class C Motorhomes
A Class C is a coach body built onto a cutaway van chassis with a sleeping or storage cabover extending above the factory cab. Tha
Vehicle
Travel Trailers
A travel trailer tows from a ball hitch behind the tow vehicle rear axle on an A-frame tongue, which makes it the most sway-prone
Vehicle
Standard Fifth Wheels
A fifth wheel couples to a hitch in the truck bed through a kingpin and pin box, with a raised forward bedroom over the truck. The
Vehicle
Cargo Vans
Cargo vans on Transit, ProMaster, Express, and Sprinter platforms carry trade tools, parts inventory, and route freight. Rear door
Vehicle
Box Trucks
Box trucks put a separately built cargo body on a cab chassis, and the joint between them is where most failures start. Rear frame
Vehicle
Transit Buses
Transit buses are low-floor semi-monocoque structures with kneeling suspension, wide door systems, front bike racks, and roof-moun
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Questions about upholstery repair and replacement
Frequently asked questions
What does RV upholstery cost?
Upholstery runs $400 to $6,500, or 3 to 30 hours at $210 per hour plus materials. Recovering a dinette set with new foam sits near the low end. A full coach in performance fabric, including two captain chairs, a sofa, a dinette, and all bunk cushions, sits at the high end. Material cost varies widely, and we price fabric before we cut anything.
Should I replace the foam or just the covering?
Check whether the cushion recovers its shape after you stand up. If it does not, the foam is done and recovering alone will produce a good-looking cushion that still sits badly. Foam is a modest share of the total on most jobs, and doing it at the same time as the covering costs far less than doing it later.
What upholstery material lasts longest in Southern California sun?
Solution-dyed performance fabric and lighter-colored marine vinyl both substantially outlast dark standard vinyl here. Dark vinyl behind glass in Palm Desert or Indio can exceed 160F, which is hot enough to be uncomfortable and hard on the material. Bonded leather should be avoided entirely, since it delaminates in this climate regardless of care.
Can you match my existing fabric?
Sometimes. Factory RV fabrics are frequently mill-exclusive and discontinued within a couple of years. When we cannot match it, the usual approach is to recover a complete grouping so nothing sits next to a near-miss. We will show you what an honest match looks like against your actual cushion in daylight before you commit.
Do you do fleet and commercial seating?
Yes. Driver seats in cargo vans, box trucks, food trucks, and buses come through regularly. For fleet work we usually replace only the failed high-wear panels and rebuild the foam rather than recovering the whole seat, which cuts both the cost and the downtime. All of it is done in the shop at Yorba Linda.
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More interior and cabinetry work
Ready to move on upholstery repair and replacement? Bring it to Yorba Linda.