Dinette Seat Alterations
More Frustrating Than a Chinese puzzle box
Within a few hours of first being inside our "finished" overland truck, we discovered that we couldn't get into the under seat storage without lowering the table, and then removing absolutely every seat and back cushion. That's nine cushions with plywood backing, the largest of which is two feet wide and six feet long. Not exactly easy or convenient. We kid you not, it was like a Chinese puzzle.
When we challenged the builder on how difficult, and ludicrous, the whole design was, we were told that this was the only way it could be built if we wanted the "look" we had specified. Questioning the validity of their statement did nothing but get a heated reply from the owner, and comments about the extent of their knowledge in such matters compared to ours.
Easy For Some, Impossible For Others
I guess we must be extraordinarily brilliant because it took us all of five minutes to determine what we had to do in order to change this nightmare of a storage area into an easy and convenient solution that still had the look we originally wanted. Since we don't consider ourselves as having the same genius as Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking, it speaks volumes about the collective brain trust, or lack thereof, at the builder.
If you look at the photos below, you will notice that the two main seat cushions were made so they sit underneath of wings that were installed on the walls to hold the seat backs at a comfortable angle. The seat cushions are also set between the outside wall on one end, and an end gusset on the outboard end of the dinette cabinetry. So the cushion can't be lifted at the front because of the wings on the wall side, and can't be slid out from under the wings because of the centre cushion and the outboard gusset. Those two long sofa seat cushions could only be removed if we took out the centre cushion under the window, lowered the table and then wiggled the seats straight forward toward the centre of the table area so as to clear all these obstacles. It's mind blowingly stupid.
To make matters worse, the end to end length of each sofa seat was far too tight between the outside wall and the end gusset. Each time we tried to remove the seat, the fabric that wraps around the plywood backing of the cushion, was being pinched against the end gusset of the cabinetry. This was damaging the fabric to such a degree that continued use like this would eventually cut the fabric completely through. The only possible thing that could make this any worse was if the back cushions got in the way by actually resting on top of the seat cushions. And, oh ya, they did! So before we could get to the task of wiggling out the seat cushion, we had to remove all the backs. It's enough to cause a sane person to jump off a bridge. Really!
The Solution
Of course the five minute solution was the determination of what had to be done. The actual work of making the physical changes would take several days. The first step was to draw out what we wanted to accomplish. This would establish the dimensions for the various parts when all was said and done. Below is the drawing that lays out where the seat cushions had to be cut so they would lift without conflicting with the back cushions.
Next we had to determine where the outside wall back cushions sat on the seats. Then a mark was made on the seat just in front of the back cushion. If the seat cushion were to stop at that mark, then the seat could pivot up at the front and miss not only the wings on the outside wall, but also the back cushion as well.
Plan Layout for the Seat Alterations
Making the Changes
Once the end point of the seat cushion was determined, we removed the cushions and transferred the mark to the hinged lid below. Then the lids were removed and cut at those marks. The cut end of the lid was then re-edged, as was the off-cut piece.
We then made up some aluminum plates with screw holes in them. These were used to re-install the lid off-cut so it became a permanent part of the seat bench. The seat lid hinge was shortened, and it and the lid were screwed back in place.
The cushions themselves were the next task. The underside covering that hid the plywood, and where the topside fabric was stapled on, had to be carefully pealed away to expose the stapled area. Then the staples along the two edges that had to be shortened needed to be pulled out. It was a time consuming job because the upholsterer used a lot of staples, and we had to use a flat blade screwdriver to dig under the centre of the staple and pry it loose. It had to be done in order to peal away the fabric so the plywood and foam could be cut to size. The end off cut was used to remake the small end cushions along the window wall. These were needed so the end of the seat cushions had a finished pad to line up with, and for the window wall seat backs to sit on.
The outboard end of the seat cushion had to be altered from it's original dimensions. If we didn't do this, when the seat front was lifted, and the notch pivoted upward, it would hit the gusset at a point further up the cabinetry and damage the fabric. Cutting the wood and foam was easy. The fussy part was folding the fabric in such a way that it could be re-stapled without re-sewing the fabric. When everything was done, the seat cushions were screwed in place from under the seat lid.
The hardest part of the seat alteration, and the most critical not to screw up, was altering the finished cabinetry outboard gussets. This was necessary because the angle of the gusset edge did not match the arc travelled by the new notch in the seat end.
It took a bit to figure out the shape needed in that end gusset so it would work with the seat arc, and once we did, a template had to be made so we could use a router to true up the gusset once the rough cut was done with a hand jig saw.
Once this was done, we had to reapply the laminate edging and dress it down.
Finishing the alteration meant finding a way to attach the seat backs so they wouldn't rest on top of the seat cushions, but actually hovered above the seats by an inch or so. This would allow us to lift up the seats most of the way without removing the back cushions. Only if we needed the lid all the way up would we have to remove the back.
To accomplish this we made some beveled cleats. One set would be mounted to the wall wings, and the other would be screwed to the backside of the cushion backs. They would allow the backs to sit above the seats, and if needed, be easily lifted out of place.
The cleats were made from solid maple hardwood, and then stained to match the laminate. The other advantage of the elevated back cushions and shorted depth seat cushions is that there's a trough created behind the seat that can be used for storage of long slender items like umbrellas etc. We also added gas struts under the two seats so they would stay up by themselves when opened.
