Downeaster Yachts.com - Topic: Headliner replacement

BlackIrish77 on Headliner replacement

Wed, 17 Sep 2014 15:14:24 -0400

Well, I've opened up the "whole can of worms" that is the headliner tear down. Talk about a project!!! All of our original ports were leaking and the naugahyde was starting to pull away from rusty staples in places. Of course, not being able to access anything underneath was the determining factor. We like the Jason Rose solution, and after reading a bevy of headliner replacement posts for similar era boats I think I'll be adding some insulation underneath too - Reflectix in between the furring strips and sandwiched between the bead board panels and cabin walls. Only caveat is that in order to use the affordable NFM Trimatrix ports, I have to keep the cabin thickness under 1.3125" and at .8125" to start with I only have .5" to play with.

Given I like to over-think things, I mocked up a cross-section of how I plan to install the bead boards and trim. The curved cabin sides are tricky...Please tell me if there's a more simple solution.

In the meantime I have about 8000 more staples to pull! I did invest in a nice pair of needle nose pliers and small flat head to help pry up the more stubborn staples - makes thing much quicker.

Jonathan Oasis on Headliner replacement

Thu, 07 Aug 2014 02:17:27 -0400

I am in the long process of installing wood planking, wainscotting, after removing the headliner. Once the wood is installed then I'll remove it and put in insulation and remount the wood. (I will post progress pics after more is completed.)

One thing I have added in the vberth overhead is acrylic mirror (sometimes called "safety mirror"). I bought a sheet of mirror and cut it into strips for port & starboard sides then mounted it to the furring strips I've installed. The mirrors brighten up the shadows a lot, as hoped. However, since I haven't seen acrylic mirror used on boats like this, is there any drawback to installing it? What comes to mind is that it is not fire-friendly at all, in case that ever happens. If it breaks due to stress/vibration, I assume it would just crack like acrylic probably at the mounting screws. Acrylic can break with sharp plastic edges, but not otherwise dangerous. It is a bit pricy too.

diverchick71 on Headliner replacement

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 18:34:06 -0400

Pulled ours down last week...I started a new thread for input on how bad of shape some areas are. We left the headliner up in the v-berth for now...it's clean and looks good but it will probably come down when we do the deck work on the bow.

diverchick71 on Headliner replacement

Sun, 04 Aug 2013 16:39:57 -0400

Tension on mine seems pretty good. That was the problem before I took it in to machine shop. We will see when I go to fix the Bimini and sail covers. A sailrite is probably on "the list" but quite a few things ahead of it. I'm looking forward to doing curtains. I pulled the old to use as a pattern. Since I work 7 nights on (7 pm-0330 am) and then 7 off, I have 7 days where I can't to get to the boat. This will be a good distraction.

Scott Carle on Headliner replacement

Sun, 04 Aug 2013 10:57:47 -0400

We have pulled most of our curtains inside down. It's on the project list. We have been discussing something with an insulated backside that can roll up out of the way but then maybe velcro to the openings to block light and create insulation. We put up shrink wrap insulation from one of those house kits on all the windows and port lights over the winter and it helped with heating a lot. So far we just left it on for the summer and it is helping a lot with the A/C also. It doesn't affect using the port lights but does impact seeing out a little bit. Just makes it a bit cloudy.

We have a mid 50's singer and it works ok.. I have found it gets out of timing easy and or the tension is hard to set. We found an old manual crank sewing machine for 60 dollars that is just a straight stitch and it is a beast. I would love to have one of the sailrite machines for heavier stuff though.

So far we have made our own cushions and Bimini on the boat with the singer. Bimini was pushing it at the corners where the fabric was was more than 4 layers thick for a 10 or 12 oz fabric. Sails would put a hurting on it I think. We repaired the jib sacrificial sun cover with the singer and any area that was a seam or toward the ends where the sailcloth was more than 2 layers thick bogged it down. It was frustrating.

CAE on Headliner replacement

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 19:51:18 -0400

You may want to check out pre-made valances for curtains. They may make one that's big enough to cover the windows. If so, you won't have to sew anything. I did this for a camper van I had a few years ago. It was easy and relatively cheap to buy the valances on Amazon and put them up.

diverchick71 on Headliner replacement

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 13:29:34 -0400

Hope your friend gives you a good deal. I'm going to redo mine eventually but our foam seems solid and is still comfy. Fabric is is decent shape...just sort of ugly. 🙂 I picked up a sewing machine at goodwill..a Singer from the 1960's. Spent $25 on it and $75 at a machine shop fixing it. It's a dream! I quad folded upholstery fabric as a test and it sliced right thru it. I'm not experienced at sewing tho. Will start with curtains.

Scott Carle on Headliner replacement

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 12:01:50 -0400

Get ready for sticker shock anyways. We bought new foam and fabric and redid everything but the pilot berth in the boat ourselves and I would estimate we spent a grand on materials alone... about 7 dollars a yard for the fabric and cheaper foam... I would spend the extra and make absolutely sure you get good foam.. We would probably explore a different fabric this time. We purchased from a local company in three separate orders to break up the cost as we were doing the project over about 5 months or so.. Somehow we got different weight foam mixed up in the orders. Regardless of that none of it is holding up to full time sleeping or sitting on it as well as I would like. It seems the spots that have the heaviest use or where the most weight on it are softening up a bit already a year and a half later.

We used a acrylic fabric from Tommy Bahama with a pattern in it and while we like our crazy jungle pattern the fabric has been washed a couple times now and is piling up just a hair and the texture isn't as nice as when new.They seem to be wearing fine though.. no thin spots or anything like that. Also it seems easy to clean stains and such off.

Scott

CAE on Headliner replacement

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 10:30:20 -0400

I'm not sure about the main cabin bows. They might be solid wood. But in the V berth, it is fiberglass with wood strips over it. So, it's probably all glass.

I have a good shop vac system for the sanding and my cushions were all shot. I'm meeting with a cushion person on Sunday to estimate the costs for new one. I'm hoping for not too much sticker shock as he's a friend of a friend. I'm going to practice going in and out of my slip today. I'm still not used to moving this monster around tight areas.

Scott Carle on Headliner replacement

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 08:54:49 -0400

As old as our boats are, between 30 and 40 years for most of them, it is sometimes hard to tell what was factory vs an owner modification. Some original owners spent more money on their new boats by having upgraded features or alternative layouts installed on their boats so even if its a bit different it is still factory. On the other hand a lot of owners have gone crazy over the years and upgraded a lot of the systems and or layout of their boats. Some are fairly easy to recognize as owner additions but there are some things that are so well done that you just can not tell it was added later.

Most of the differences I see between different boats are small interior upgrades and changes, and then on deck changes such as alternative layouts for running rigging and differences in bimini's and dodgers, davits or not etc..

diverchick71 on Headliner replacement

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:24:11 -0400

Ours are like yours, Scott. Just teak strip at the bottom. Amazing how different each one seems to be.

Scott Carle on Headliner replacement

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 20:32:59 -0400

when your using a power sander in the boat make sure you use one with a good shop vac attachment and a great shop vac. It will help with the sanding dust a lot. Even so I would advise removing all cushions and other fabric from the boat as dust will get everywhere. If you can tape up plastic to contain the dust to just the area you are sanding it will help a lot also. Fiberglass dust gets everywhere and itches forever 🙂 I have put off some projects inside indefinitely just because of the sanding dust issue and us living on the boat.

Scott Carle on Headliner replacement

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 20:28:45 -0400

CAE said:

Your bows on the ceiling look totally different than ours. Ours are fiberglass with just a teak trim strip on the bottom. Are yours fiberglass that is just wrapped in wood or are they all wood beams?

diverchick71 on Headliner replacement

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 13:47:03 -0400

TWO days just to tear it down?? You mean I won't have the project completed in a few hours with no unanticipated delays and be enjoying Sundowners on the dock by 5 pm? Hehe. Ok I felt guilty and told Travis that it is probably going to be the job from hell. The first job from hell we encounter as new boat owners. I think it's looking good! Even the text painted part looks better to me than what our headliner does. And it will let us figure out where the worst of the rot is hiding. I'll be looking forward to what you decide on replacement. Definitely better to be something you can remove when needed.

CAE on Headliner replacement

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 10:16:04 -0400

[Image Can Not Be Found]I just finished ripping all my headliner out of the boat. And the super annoying staples and tack strips. Found some rot,abandon hornets nests and rusting staples. This took the better part of two days to demo all of it. It occurred to me that having the raw fiberglass exposed for a season will be a very good way to see if there's any leaks or other things going on that the headliner was concealing so well. I really don't care for things that make it difficult to trouble shoot problems. Especially on a vehicle that's almost 40 years old.

This pic is when I did a little testing to see how the raw fiberglass would fill,sand and then paint. It's ok for now. I'll be breaking out the heavy duty sander this weekend! I'll probably put up wood strips next year if the look starts to bug me.