Canvas work around Deale, MD

Apr 8, 2011
768
Hunter 40 Deale, MD
Curious what others have found with regard to businesses in the Deale, MD area that do canvas work. I've had a couple of occasions over the past 4 months to need some canvas work done, and will not do business again with either of the establishments I engaged.

The first business I engaged to replace cracked windows in my bimini and connector. The replacement windows weren't large, and the price seemed reasonable ($280). But the quality of the job was shocking. Unsightly threads left hanging everywhere. The original windows were rough cut out with a razor and the remaining plastic "frame" left in place in the bimini and sewn through with the new window, leaving 1" of fabric to flop around the edges of the new windows. I'll probably have to have these redone. A fellow F-Docker also had obvious quality issues with a canvas job at the same establishment and had to work with them to get resolved, so I elected not to give them a second shot at fixing.

The second canvas business I worked with was to get a quote to have a solar panel attached to my bimini. I provided a description of the work I wanted, photos of other similar jobs I'd seen, and asked for their recommendation if anything I was asking for looked crazy. I dropped off the bimini, solar panel, and they said they visited the boat to do measurements. In return they provided a simple and undetailed quote for $1,025. That seemed...high. So I e-mailed several other canvas shops in Annapolis, some of whom other friends had dealt with successfully. The return quotes for the SAME work, ranged between $325 and $365. All of them said this was a very standard job, and they basically have a standard price for it. Needless to say, I drove to Annapolis with my bimini and solar panel. I don't mind paying more for good work, but nearly 3x the price is a complete ripoff.

I won't mention any specific business names in this post, but if you PM me I'd be glad to provide the names of the businesses so you can be aware if you consider working with them.

If my solar panel install on the bimini is as good as I think it will be, I'll post the name of the business in an update to this post sometime this month, along with a photo.