Cabin wall linings - recommendations and suggestions please.

[Keith-i]

I need to replace the carpet wall linings in my boat at some point in the not too distant future. I'm not sure when they were last done, but I would think at least a good 20 years ago from what I can tell. In a number of places the glue is failing and in other areas I have butchered the material when I've undertaken repairs. Also the new windows and portlights have smaller frames which has left an unsightly gap around the perimeter.

I was going to replace on a like for like basis but then started reading a few past posts from the likes of @jfm and @waynes world and got to think that it might be an opportunity to up the spec and smartness with something a bit more stylish. The benefit of the carpet is that it disguises the contours of the grp which is a little rough and ready in some areas, so any alternative material would need to have some thickness to it or soft backing. I'm open to suggestions as there seems to be a bewildering array of different styles and materials used in various boats. One post I read had a reference to Maharam Tek-wall which looked interesting so something along those lines might be an option.

Relining everything does raise some further questions though such as what to do inside the cubby holes and lockers. These were obviously lined before the cabinet work was installed and I have no intention of removing all of that if I can help it. Any thoughts on what to use inside the cubbies if different from the main walls would be interesting to hear too.

There's a few random photos below so you can get the idea of what I have and what needs to be done. Whether I do all surfaces the same, or indeed perhaps leave some of the better existing areas alone is open for debate. I applied new vinyl to the ceiling panels (some ply some direct to grp) a few years ago using Hawke House material and am quite pleased with the results. I'm hoping the walls might compliment the finish in due course.

 

[jfm]

As a general point Keith I think you need to distinguish 2 lining methods:

A. One method is to glue the lining material directly the the wooden bulkheads or GRP moulding.
B The other is to wrap the lining fabric around plywood sheeting (about 5-6mm thick, staple it on the back, and then attach those wrapped panels to the insides of the boat using assorted mounting systems, glues, Dual-Lock, or whatever, and also lining the insides off GRP mouldings with battens and attaching the plywood to those battens.

I'm massively simplifying, but hope you get my drift

Virtually all professionally built boats in last 20+ yrs use B in many or most places, but your boat uses A. You really have to use a carpet-like material with method A, and you generally cannot use TekWall or any other fabric with method A,

Converting from method A to B is a massive job - surely not worth it.

I therefore think you have to work on the basis that any re-lining project on your boat needs to be done using carpet/method A. Of course you could add a few fabric wrapped panels here and there to funk it up, which is what your buttoned blue velour panels are, but in general I think you need to stick with method A and glue some new carpet on.

 

[jrudge]

To follow on from the above the material used in boats is foam backed fabric. This is easy to find in vinyl and harder with fabric. There are a few places that supply it off the shelf but generally they send it away to have foam applied which costs.

EBay or coastal rides are a good source.

The foam will take out some imperfections in the grp to give a smooth finish but the surface does need to be relatively flat. In my boat the fabric is directly on the walls in probably 70 % of places but panelled on the ceilings and the rest ( mostly saloon walls that form window surrounds / pelmets. )

It is a big job as I did my boat but the results are nice.

 

[harvey38]

We used a four way stretch material marketed to those lining camper vans, it is inexpensive, easy to
use, the substrate does not have to free of old glue (just remove loose stuff) and the results are excellent. A 10m roll + 12 cans of high temperature adhesive is around £130, ours came from a company called Kirivans or something similar. There are quite a few few photographs on our blog of some of the areas we did.

 

[jfm]

Morning Jrudge. Imho your 70% is applied to a boat with deliberate design features to make it work: flat/bent plywood or the gelcoat side of internal GRP mouldings to glue the fabric to, and overlaps of something else to hide the edges of your fabric. It is never applied to the non gelcoat side of grp mouldings.
These features aren’t present on OP’s boat (eg look at where the ceiling meets the walls in forward cabin) so using foam backed fabric or vinyl might be a non starter.

 

[jrudge]

Yes as you say this was factory and I just replaced it.

Open edges are really difficult to deal with. I had someone do the cabin linings and they do an ok ish job but didn’t deal with open edges well. I have one area that still annoys me

 

[jrudge]

We used a four way stretch material marketed to those lining camper vans, it is inexpensive, easy to
use, the substrate does not have to free of old glue (just remove loose stuff) and the results are excellent. A 10m roll + 12 cans of high temperature adhesive is around £130, ours came from a company called Kirivans or something similar. There are quite a few few photographs on our blog of some of the areas we did.

Ah yes. WHATEVER YOU DO USE HIGH TEMP ADHESIVE !!

if you don’t it will fall off ( I didn’t learn from experience but I know someone who did )

 

[Keith-i]

Gents, thanks for the comments and input. @jfm thank you for the detailed description. I hadn't appreciated that all forms of non-carpet lining were applied on backing boards. That makes my decision much easier as it would not be practical or worthwhile changing the fixing method. @jrudge and @harvey38 thanks too for your experiences. I was aware of the need to use high temp glue and I totally agree that open edges are hard to deal with.

 

[PCUK]

I now use vinyl floor covering as a lining material. It is hard wearing as it is designed to be walked on! It also looks quite expensive but is actually cheap. I use Sikaflex type sealant as the adhesive. Flooring adhesive isn't very good in this application. Haven't got a pic' on the Ipad but have on the Mac if you are interested.

 

[Hurricane]

Interestingly, I believe a contractor in our marina applies his own foam to fabric thus giving a lot more choice. Even products like Silvertex can then be used thus giving a washable surface.

 

[Coastgal]

@Keith-i Im currently looking for a material to cover some bare fibre glass walls in our heads.
What material did you end up using in your project?
I do like the sound of @harvey38 solution of the van lining, so I’m going to investigate this option.
Thanks - Stacey

 

[Keith-i]

Hi Stacey
I haven’t actually got round to doing the job yet but will be using van lining for the vast majority of the cabin areas. My heads has plywood partitions which I will reline with vinyl as they are smooth. Where there is bare grp I have used foam backed vinyl which has been successful.

 

[Hurricane]

We are currently replacing some of our linings with this product.
Carrara | Vintage Leather Look Fabric | Morbern Europe
A fairly thick fabric so we have chosen not to use a foam backing.
We chose the cream colour.
I think it will look good.
We will see.

 

[Coastgal]

Thanks @Keith - we’ll investigate the foam backed vinyl, might leave a better finish.
@Hurricane thanks for that link - looks like a very high quality product!

 

[Keith-i]

This is not the best photo to illustrate but the ceiling is 4mm ply with vinyl, the wall on the right is vinyl direct on ply partition and the wall with the portlight is foam backed vinyl on bare grp.

 

[Refueler]

I will be using the spare Van Lining to do inside my weekender - left over after I finish my motor sailer.

It may be thin - but it hides the imperfection of GRP etc beautifully. Its easy to apply ... has no foam back to fail later ... stretches in all directions to accommodate curves etc.

 

[harvey38]

@Keith-i Im currently looking for a material to cover some bare fibre glass walls in our heads.
What material did you end up using in your project?
I do like the sound of @harvey38 solution of the van lining, so I’m going to investigate this option.
Thanks - Stacey

The van lining came from Kirivans and the side and headlining material is a product called Nautolex.

There are plenty of photos on our Facebook blog.

It is a simple job, particularly the van lining and results are very rewarding.

 

[Coastgal]

Great. TVM @harvey38

 

[Refueler]

I bought a roll of 20m + all the cans of High Temp Spray adhesive needed from eBay as a 'kit'.

Very pleased with the seller and product.

No need for me to link to them as they are one of many there selling exact same ..