Headlining - worth a go or nightmare

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Swanrad2

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Read loads of posts on me westerly droop but dont fancy sticking material to my roof again, read about wooden headlining in a book by a guy called Michael Naujok looks nice and if not easy then at least do-able. Think trying it in the fore-peak of my Centaur

Am I kidding myself that this should be good fun. My DIY abilities are, ehm, questionable in that I tend to get to the boat put the kettle on then find time for a kip before going ashore for a pint whenever a paint brush beckons?
 
Just finished putting complete new headlining up. Was quite easy. Removed all the old and used as templates.
I think fitting the new was easier then removing the old.
 
I couldn't use my old bits as templates as they had stretched out of shape! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

One advantage of foam lined vinyl is that the foam helps to insulate the boat and reduce condensation. I'm not sure if wood panelling has the same effect.

I should add that it is probably just as easy to fit foam backed vinyl especially since some firms sell pre-cut kits for a range of Westerly boats (but not any other makes).
 
I did some myself on my Corsair, made a big difference but make sure the boat is well ventilated when you do it. After the first session I paid someone else to finish it. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
The pieces on ply boards are very easy to do as you can unscrew the boards and then re-cover in the comfort of your own home, well garage anyway. Having said that the time involved and difficulty of the pieces stuck directly to the cabin roof led me to use a professional to do the whole thing from start to finish. I cleared evertything out of the boat and took the windows and all fittings off and then he took just less than two weeks to do the whole lot -- fantastic job.
 
I agree. Fitting the new was far easier than the awful, messy job of getting the old stuff off, and probably the most time consuming part of that, is removing the windows, trim etc which is essential to doing the job properly.

That said, I completely re-newed the linings throughout my noat two years ago using materials bought from Hawke House Marine, and (he says modestly) the results are fantastic. Indeed the surveyor I employed to evaluate the boat for insurance purposes after the whole refit was finished, claimed it was better than the original!

So do have a go. Ok, you'll be VERY nervous on the first couple of bits you do, but after that you should have no problem.

Anyway, if you'd like to chat about the pro's and con's, PM me and I'll try to help.
 
nightmare

Hm, if you don't facy it don't have a go, imho. Most diy jobs consume confidence during the job. I can't remeber any point at which i got halfway through a job and thought "Hey! - i'm realy much more brilliant at this than i first thought!" it's only after the job is complete and rather fantastic that you think yep, that was ok. In other words, you need to start a job fully confident in order to survive the "ooer now what" bits in the middle. Of course if you are on yerown and nobody else to tutrn to you have to diy ayway regardless. If it's cosmetic of course you could try the proven method of "not lookingat that bit" perhaps?
 
Re: nightmare

As a matter of interest does anyone have a rough idea of how much it would cost to replace all headlinings on an Oceanlord?

Either in time and money if diy, or professional costs?
 
If I read your original post correctly you've already had experience of replacing headlining with new foam backed vinyl and are now considering replacing this with wooden headlining.
How about combining the two by replacing the existing lining with new foam backed vinyl stuck to thin ply? As I expect you found before the contact adhesives used for sticking headlining direct to the hull are fairly noxious. The advantage of using ply panels is that the headlining can be stuck to ply using PVA adhesive - much more user-friendly - and you can do it away from the boat. The panels would need to be screwed to the underside of the deck so you might need battens. You would loose a bit of head room, of course.
 
Westerly Owners Club can help or try Hawke House as mentioned in one of the posts here. Recovering the panels is quite easy, it's the stuff that goes directly on to the moulding that is the problem. If you can save the old stuff as a template it is very useful especially for the complicated curvy bits. You must scrape off all the old adhesive and the disintegrated foam before trying to apply the new stuff. If you are planning to go anywhere hot, PVA will not hold up, you need the powerful stuff that Hawke House can supply. But you will need to ensure good ventilation.
 
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