Working on the boat

I finally got around to replacing the vinyl ceiling

By May 3, 2018 No Comments
replacing the vinyl ceiling 1

For several years I have wanted to find time so I could get around to replacing the vinyl ceiling in the aft port cabin. A combination of moisture from the shower I built out of that cabin’s head and heat from the sun beating on the hull outside made this job necessary.

Replacing the vinyl ceiling 2The foam backing on the old vinyl completely degraded and was sagging. Plus the vinyl was stained due to the humidity coming from the shower. All of this meant replacing the vinyl ceiling was a job I wanted to do to make the boat look better and this year I had the time to do it.

The first thing I need to do before replacing the vinyl ceiling is to get new vinyl for the ceiling. unfortunately, this was not available on island and wifi was spotty due to the past hurricanes. That is where my awesome parents came in. I told them what I needed and they went out and researched the products for me. My mom found some thick white vinyl that did not have and foam back from Joann. She was told it would work great. My dad figured out the best adhesive to use and they shipped both down to me….with some much appreciated candy 🙂

Replacing the vinyl ceiling 3The next part was to pull down the old vinyl and clean the fiberglass wall. I started by removing the ceiling panels that are still in great shape above and below the vinyl I was replacing. Once these were gone it was time to get dirty by scrapping the remainder of the old foam off the fiberglass. I did this with a combo of a scraper and sandpaper. By the time I was done I had little black foam bits and dust all over me. I was smart enough to put a plastic drop cloth down to collect it all, but Melek said that when I jumped into the water there was a cloud around me…..and that was after I wiped as much off me as I could.

Now that the area was cleaned and ready to go I measured the new vinyl and cut it into a strip I could manage working with. The problem was that the wall slopes just a little, but it meant that the strip would not cover the whole area as it ended up angling down instead of straight. I solved this by having two different sections and Melek hand stitched a trim piece to cover up the splice. I have to tell you how impressed I am with her skills. I would swear the trim piece was down with a sewing machine.

All in all I am very happy with the results giving that this was my very first time doing anything like this. What do you think of the final results?

Replacing the vinyl ceiling - Final results

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