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Original poster

Plumbs Sofa Recovering

15 replies

luciemule · 02/08/2010 13:49

Hi,

have just had a lady from Plumb's come round to give me a quote for recovering my lovely sofa and maybe an older sofa bed to match. It's upholstered but the cats have clawed it to bits so before we move next summer, we want to either cover or replace it and I thought we would be talking £200 max.

Instead, to cover the one sofa, it would cost me £499!!! For both sofas, it would be £849.
I was gob-smacked. How on earth do they do any business considering sofas are so cheap to buy?

I was mainly going to have them recovered for environmental reasons and also because we really like the sofa shape and size and had paid £850 for it about 6 years ago. If it hadn't been for the cats, it would have been fine for years.

Anyone recommend another firm that is way cheaper (loose covers)?

OP posts:
BikeRunSki · 02/08/2010 13:53

My mum got her sofa aiarchair recoverd by Lynplan - but cost £1000!

Original poster
luciemule · 02/08/2010 15:38

Oh!

OP posts:
Lemonylemon · 03/08/2010 14:08

I got my sofabed and a chair recovered.... I think it cost me about £700 all up. Worth it though, the covers wash really well and pretty much dry overnight. No ironing needed either.....

sapphireblue · 03/08/2010 17:06

goodness how on earth do they stay in business when you can buy a new sofa (or 2!!) for the same amount?? You'd have to be really attached to your sofa to pay that amount..........

Original poster
luciemule · 03/08/2010 22:52

exactly - the sofa in question cost us around £850 and it's beautiful but they were going to charge over half the price to recover it - madness!

OP posts:
ageing5yearseachyear · 04/08/2010 10:00

well not so mad really-if you have the perfect sofa it makes sense to spend that on having it recovered.

my mum had 2 fantastic sofas from jl 20 years ago, we kept one when she moved, and she ditched the other.

in our lounge we have DFS leather sofas that 4 years in look terrible ( i think we are unlucky in this as everyone elses look fine). mums old sofa is in the conservatory and is by far the most comfortable in the house.

when you think about it the most expensive part of making a sofa must be the fabric and labour to upholster.

if only we still had the other one i would happily pay a grand for covers and ditch our crap ones

BollockBrain · 04/08/2010 10:02

luci - i had the same problem and have just bought a couple of huge throws to last in the meantime. Then I shall replace the whole sofas, not bother with re-covering as I found the same problem with costs.

ceres · 04/08/2010 17:33

i agree that it depends on the sofa as to whether it is worth having it recovered.

i spent silly money on our sofas 7 years ago, they still look good as new (well, when you brush the dog hairs off!) and are incredibly comfy.

the whole point of spending silly money was to get decent sofas that will be used for many years to come. so when they need new covers (which probably won't be for at least another 3-4 years) i will happily spend the money.

Original poster
luciemule · 04/08/2010 18:59

Oh I just don't know now. Think DH just dosn't get the need for recovering although ironically, it was his height that was reason for getting the deep,long sofa we bought in the first place.
Have been looking at sofa I like and haven't found anything I would buy which isn't either cheap and crap or lovely and well over a grand! Will have to have another little chat with DH I reckon.

OP posts:
Original poster
luciemule · 05/08/2010 09:51

have just found a cheaper comany who do the same thing. furniturecovers.com not quite as good tailoring but will do just fine.

OP posts:
Blizzie · 05/08/2010 19:52

I had Plumbs about 2 years ago making new covers for a 2 seater sofa bed, I think it was about £ 160, was very pleased,
good luck,

ecommmark · 02/10/2012 06:26

As the name suggests,sofa beds is a piece of furniture that can be used both as a sofa and a bed.

Showtime · 03/10/2012 14:25

If you know the brand of sofa, it's worth asking them about re-covering/buying fabric from them and having it recovered by an interior designer, who will know someone locally with good experience. Agree Plumbs seem expensive, but we bought loose covers about thirty years ago, still ok as is good quality old sofa.

Caro1950 · 27/12/2012 09:50

Wesley Barrell quoted us £6000 for re-upholstering our suite. I'm going to try Plumbs, as I think they will be cheaper. I don't think we would be able to buy a new suite of the same quality for less than that, and I don't want some mass-produced rubbish that will fall apart in a few years.

partystress · 27/12/2012 09:54

Check any Plumbs quotes v carefully. They came down in price for us when I was Xmas Shock at their first price, but the new quote was based on loose covers (though they have a different name for them) that would have looked awful. In the end we found a local upholstery company, who had a much better choice of fabrics and did both sofas for the price Plumbs would have charged for one.

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