Repairs are inevitable when you’re using a cover to protect your boat, outdoor kitchen, grill, or other outdoor products. At Canvasworks, in our forty years of building custom covers we’ve seen it all at one point or another. Read on to learn about some common canvas repairs and the best ways to prevent them from costing you money.

 

  • Mouse holes. This is a very common canvas repair request that we see in our shop. Mice are an unfortunate fact of life and in the great frozen north they tend to move indoors during the cooling fall months. Mouse holes are an expensive repair, they can be incredibly destructive and the covers always need to be thoroughly cleaned before being sewn to prevent the waste from gumming up the machines as well as our sewing machine operators from breathing in the fumes. The best preventative for mouse damage is to make sure your covers are not left on the ground. We recommend rolling them up and hanging them from the rafters to prevent mouse damage. Just make sure the cover is completely dry first to prevent mold and mildew development.

 

  • Hail damaged upholstery. This is another common form of damage that we see and the only true preventative is to cover your boat with either a boat cover or a boat lift canopy.

 

  • Tears caused by fishing lures. Everyone knows fish congregate around docks for many reasons, especially fishermen! Unfortunately, sometimes a lure goes awry and ends up in boats that are docked. This can cause tears in your boat upholstery. The only true preventative is to cover your boat while it is docked with either a properly fitted mooring cover or a boat lift canopy.

 

  • Damage caused by being used while damaged. This is another very common repair and unfortunately it can get very expensive very quickly. Continuing to use your boat cover, bimini top, boat lift canopy, or another fabric protective product after it has been damaged quickly causes more damage. If you have one snap fail, the added pressure from your flapping boat cover is distributed to other snaps, which can cause them to fail. Driving with a torn boat cover can result in the cover fraying and unraveling at the location of the tear, depending on the fabric this can happen very quickly. A cover that has been partially unraveled is time consuming and expensive to repair and oftentimes will not fit very well after the cover has been repaired unless the boat has also been brought in. The solution to this problem is simple. Always repair any damage right away!

 

  • Damage caused by improper use. This is a repair that we see often after a long, hard winter. Summer storage covers are not designed to be used for outdoor winter storage. Their pitch isn’t as steep, the material is breathable and oftentimes has a texture that holds snow, and the lightweight aluminum poles used are not up to holding up large loads of snow and ice. The solution? Make sure you are using the proper cover for the job. Winter storage covers have a steep pitch, are made of a slick vinyl material, and use heavy duty aluminum brackets and wood framework to stand up to the stress of winter storage.

In Need of Quick Canvas Repair? Canvasworks Has You Covered!

We’ve been fabricating custom covers for over forty years and we use that knowledge to keep your covers protecting what matters to you. Most repairs are completed within one week and we guarantee a two week turnaround for your repair unless noted otherwise. Give us a call today at 320-559-0165 or email us at sales@canvasworksincmn.com  to get started.