Replacing headlining - options?

DennisF

DennisF

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Hi,

One of the jobs to do NEXT Winter on my Westerly Berwick is replacing the headlining and vinyl around the cabin walls, and I'm pondering options. I could replace again with original type foam backed vinyl, but within 10 years or so I suspect it would be back to square 1 with the famous 'Westerly droop". Other options would include:
- replacing with vinyl without foam. But would this make the boat very cold or encourage condensation?
- replacing with the stretchy van type fabric. But again would this lose insulation or encourage condensation?

What do people think? Also, are there other options I should consider?
 
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consider a carpet type lining for "round the cabin walls"
Personally I stay with the foam backed vinyl on ply for the roof lining. Possibly the PVA wood glue is better than the solvents in contact adhesive for the health of the foam. but no reason not to do the lot in carpet

HH had some soft polypropylene pile carpet lining when I did mine but rather expensive. They do a self adhesive carpet lining now http://www.hawkehouse.co.uk/p80-cream-self-adhesive-carpet-lining.html
 
If you think that foam backed (2mm if you are lucky) vinyl provides any insulation, forget it! The main reason it was used was to disguise any unevenness behind. Far better to closely fit 4mm plywood panels on 20mm battens glued to the fibreglass, (stickslike is great). Insulate the void with 20mm whatever, anything less is a waste of time and money. Fit them, making suitable allowance for the thickness of the vinyl, however you want, Velcro, screws, whatever and then take em off again cover them with plain vinyl on the workbench, refit, job done. http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?449335-Interior-Vinyls-stick-or-staple
 
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Hydrozoan said:
If you have, or can use, ply headlining panels I would use plain vinyl on them. I had them already, but if your deckhead is not strongly curved it's worth thinking about them at least.

PS Do a 'headlining' search if you haven't already - will pick up several recent discussions, including one on a Centaur here:
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...ng-Hints-and-Tips-Please&highlight=headlining
Click to expand...

Yes, the Berwick has plywood panels in the main cabin, with the vinyl attached to them. No plywood in the forecabin however.
 
DennisF said:
Yes, the Berwick has plywood panels in the main cabin, with the vinyl attached to them. No plywood in the forecabin however.
Click to expand...

The forecabin has pre stitched liner. Hawke House and others ? can supply them... possibly only to trade users ???

My friend had the forecabin professionally relined .......... I dont know who did it but not quite as well as the original IMO.
 
I am doing the fore cabin on my Centaur this winter. I decided to put in battens and panels on the horizontal surfaces under the bunks as I couldn't see how I could make a decent job of it otherwise. I am using foam backed vinyl as I acquired a roll. I tried several adhesives for the battens and agree that sticks like s**t works well. Screwfix sell their own version of face off disks which I found were as good as or better than Hawke House ones. Good luck!
 
On my Macwester 27 I used the Van lining, but stuck good quality camping mats on first, to cover the imperfections and provide insulation.
The mats are closed cell foam and stick well with the same glue that 'Upholstery 123' supplied for the Van lining.
The mats are cheap, depending on where you purchase, and easy to stick up and the van lining gives a surprisingly good finish.
Cleaning the mucky old glue and foam from the fibre glass is the big job. Full body protection, goggles, quality mask and you will still feel itchy for days.
Those plastic scrubber disks (don't know what they are called) on a small angle grinder is your only man.
Capt. RoN
PS Clear the boat of everything before you start, the mess is unbelievable.
 
If you want a soft look to plain vinyl then laminate flooring white underlay with decent upholstery spray adhesive for both underlay and vinyl works very well.
 
In practice I think you have to accept that a replacement headlining is not going to be quite as good as the original. I had some of mine done professionally last year including the saloon and heads and some compromises were necessary, as the original had obviously been applied before the lockers were installed as it went behind them.
 
richardbrennan said:
In practice I think you have to accept that a replacement headlining is not going to be quite as good as the original. I had some of mine done professionally last year including the saloon and heads and some compromises were necessary, as the original had obviously been applied before the lockers were installed as it went behind them.
Click to expand...

Same for me, the headlining was originally done on Gladys before any internal woodwork was installed... AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
 
Two of us replaced the entire headlinings of my Westerly Discus a few years back ; the originals were stained and drooping so no repair was going to be satisfactory. I got a professional quote for the work on the east coast out of interest and it would have been equal to two-thirds of the boat's value !
Stripping and cleaning the surfaces is an awful job no matter what tools you use and it took a long while bearing in mind that the finished surface quality will determine the appearance of the new headlining. Any lumps and bumps will be noticeable.
I wanted to get back to the original appearance of the cabins so I used foam-backed material in kit form from Hawke House. The cut and fit was good , the associated materials and glues worked well and the 3M mask was essential. The fumes are lethal !
It's a job I swore never to do again but I was extremely pleased with the result and I have to say it was immensely satisfying. Frankly it's not that difficult ( with the possible exception of large stitched roof liner fitting) and it's largely a matter of reading the instructions, taking advice and proceeding carefully. It certainly transformed the interior of my boat . I've seen other solutions with carpet and unbacked vinyl but they really don't look 'right' to me.
 
For flatish areas there is a lot to commend PVC cladding. You do not need to clean all the old glue from the roof, you can fit it using small screws in the overlaps where you have stiffening ribs to give concealed fixings or use adhesive, you can easily remove a section to get at deck fittings if you lay the cladding with this in mind, you can run wires through the hollow 10mm box sections, it does not yellow, has good insulating properties no condensation, is easily wipeable and looks good. It comes in 100mm and 300mm widths so is really quick to fix and with edging sections and centre H sections is a comprehensive system. It is also really cheap in boating terms, my main cabin about 8 square metres cost about £90 including screws and adhesive. It is not a complete solution for all boats but with carpet on the curved side walls and cladding on the roof it is a very quick and pleasing fix for sagging, drooping and yellowing foam backed headlinings. Well worth considering.
 
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