V-Berth Bed Extension

[416rigby]

Another project completed! We got tired of our heads falling off the edge of the berth at the aft edge where there is a cut out. Wonder why there is no little cushion there? Well, I set out to fix that. I glued a piece of oak to each side of the opening for the porta pottie storage area. On these rests a shelf of ¾” plywood with a piece of oak facing. We ordered a piece of very firm outdoor grade foam from e-foam online. They cut to the exact size and shape you specify. I placed it on a piece of 1/4” plywood for a base and then wrapped it in Sunbrella. I used staples to hold the material to the base wood. This cushion rests on the little shelf I made and presto…a better bed. A piece of Sunbrella stapled to the bottom edge of the shelf hides our clothes box.

The result is that we can now sleep in the berth without that annoying opening for our heads to fall…it’s great…the best thing we’ve done for our sleeping comfort since installing the memory foam on top of the cushions. More pics in our “projects” album.

[tom&shan]

[timflan]

My wife's first reaction when I read this one to her was: "Have you placed your order with E Foam Online yet?" This is one of her biggest pet peeves with the boat!

Thanks for the idea and the photos. I love this group!

[flapbreaker]

What type of glue did you use?

[Jazzmanic]

Nice job, Rick. That's definitely on my "to-do" list. Can I ask, where did you get the sunbrella fabric?

[drjohn71a]

You can get Microfoam mattress pads at Wal-Mart. We put one in our motorhome a few years ago and it made a huge difference in comfort. You actually want to get down there and lie down just for that 'schmooozy' feeling!

John

[416rigby]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

First the memory foam we used for the berth was the one inch stuff at WalMart. Not the egg crate type, but the type that has scores cut in it. It was the cheap stuff, I think it was a queen size, and we simply cut it to fit. We liked it so much we bought another piece and now have 2 inches of the stuff. Very comfy...and we sleep in the boat every weekend!

For the extension, I made up the whole assembly and then held it in place so the cushion was level with the existing cushion and marked the bottom edge of the shelf line on the side of the boat. Then I simply lined up my cleats with that line (the top edge) and glued with Liquid Nails. I scuff sanded the area first. Cleats were held in place with good ol' duct tape for 24 hours. I sat on the shelf with my svelt 200 pounds and she didn't budge.

The cushion foam was ordered from efoamstore.com and is 4" thick. The site is very user friendly and walks you through the process...pick your shape (trapezoid) and they want you to add 1/2" to all sides. We got the "firm" foam and said we'd use it "to sleep on" and it is very firm. It is expensive (35 bucks) but well worth it.

The Sunbrella came from outdoorfabrics.com and was 15 bucks for a yard. We got it in the Hemlock Tweed #4605...check your owner's manual for specific color...ours is written on the front page.

This was a real easy project and didn't take a lot of effort and only used simple tools. I only have cordless circular saw, drill, etc...and it was easy. It was a lot less effort than having Donna wake me up in the middle of the night all the time because the darn pillow fell down. Not to mention the sheets fit perfectly now and stay put. Overall, it just looks and works better.

[mikeporterinmd]

[416rigby]

Memory foam is great stuff! Just to clarify in case I didn't explain it right, we got the "firm" cushion for the extension because we'd be kneeling on it getting in and out of the berth. It is just a bit more firm than the existing berth cushions. The memory foam just goes on top of everything and makes for a very comfy sleep. The extension is just to plug that darn hole.