Tricky v-berth ceiling - what should I use

[juryduty]

Hi all,
I have a 28' Uniflite that had white carpet on the v-berth ceiling. The carpet was rubber backed and very old so I pulled it all out. Now I am having trouble figuring out what to use to recover. The v-berth on this boat has a lot of angles and bumps in the ceiling, and it will require a complicated series of cuts and seams if I used more carpet or headliner... really at a loss what to do.

What's a good solution... is there anything that could be painted on like an epoxy coating that might look good? Maybe paneling of some kind... not sure how to handle corners. I have attached a pic, thanks in advance for any clues...

juryduty

[James S]

Perhaps an upholstered piece of 1/4 in ply…with foam backing and a couple velcro tabs to hold in in place, may be held down a bit to clear/span some of the irregularities ….Paint will show everything under it…Its a tough one mate!

[robert sailor]

Easiest and cheapest is to go back to carpet

[brutb]

You can try FRP panel if you epoxy battens to the overhead and attach with short SS screws and finish washers. This allows removal to check deck fitting and also to add a layer of insulation. FRP is fiberglas reinforced panel available from Home Depot. FRP is easy to cut and a coarse wood file allows easy trimming to get a very good fit. I used teak to cover joints, but other woods less expensive can be used.

[bletso]

For the overhead I have have had good results using regular old tile board. It is very inexpensive. It is easy to cut. The only place I have used FRP is on the bathroom bulkheads. It is thicker than the original formica and should be less prone to stress cracking.

All my ceilings are held in place by wood batons. Look good and easy to replace when a problem occurs. Also, if a leak occurs from a thru-deck fitting you will find it sooner. With FRP, mold could set in and you would never find it as it is pretty much impervious to water.

The biggest problem I have had with FRP is it will crack if the bend radius is too sharp or you don't pilot screw holes.

I have used different materials depending on where they are, i. e. In the bathroom; ceilings - tile board, bulkheads - FRP, counter tops - formica
Head (Bathroom) | Sailing Vessel Vigah

[forsailbyowner]

Wonder if something like this would have enough build to hide small imperfections. Comes in colors.

Spray on Automotive and other spray Applications | Speed Liner

[Blue Crab]

I have this same issue and have been considering this
as having enough build to maybe finish with a sponge or ?

Kool Seal Roof Coating - Walmart.com

Nice work bletso!

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I have this same issue and have been considering this
as having enough build to maybe finish with a sponge or ?

Kool Seal Roof Coating - Walmart.com

Nice work bletso!

I was thinking the same thing... brutb's job too...

[Azul]

It's not hard to smooth out rough fiberglass with polyester resin such as Adtech P14. Then paint it with interlux pre-kote and a few coats of your preferred paint. RustOleum makes a very inexpensive marine paint that is easy to use and can be found at many Lowe's.

[juryduty]

Thanks for a lot of great ideas. I am liking the liquid approach. With FRP or tile board it is unclear how to do the bends and corners.

Will the polyester resin idea work, assuming I get it down to the bare fiberglass first? Or... will it end up looking like a bad Bondo job. I used Herculiner for the head floor and that worked well, not good for an entire vberth though.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by juryduty

Thanks for a lot of great ideas. I am liking the liquid approach. With FRP or tile board it is unclear how to do the bends and corners.

Will the polyester resin idea work, assuming I get it down to the bare fiberglass first? Or... will it end up looking like a bad Bondo job. I used Herculiner for the head floor and that worked well, not good for an entire vberth though.

Glad to see it's not just me! Guess I'm not as yotsmanlike as most but I prefer the more workaday appearance and utility of the exposed fasteners, all of which are/will be getting resealed. The other ideas would look better at the usual price: more work.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Although only on hull sides, I have used carpet tiles with some success. The big plus is that don't need to deal with a large sheet and mistakes can be discarded.

My guess is that with a decent glue they would work overhead.........but I leave someone else to try!

If your boat model was popular might be worth googling up to see what other owners have done.

[Canibul]

We're in the same boat, yuk yuk, except I've got the entire interior of a 41 ft. catamaran to deal with. I wrote about it on this blog thing we do, and one of our readers was kind enough to write me about a product he used in his commercial fishing life and in his sailboat too. It's a one part sound deadening material called Noxudol. It can be applied via brush, roller, or spray. Application thickness 1-3mm. It's got some other stuff in it, for rust prevention etc. They also have a product for thermal insulation, which I think people in cold waters might be interested in. We don't think we have a condensation issue here. nine years with no fog.

We haven't used this yet, but I intend to buy a gallon to try in the engine rooms and lazarettes first. It's way expensive.

We totally agree that we like to see the fittings, and leaks are immediately identifiable. We will never go back to the foam and vinyl that was there before. A side benefit, although a small one, is that we gained about three inches if interior width and an inch and a half of head room in most of the boat by taking out the upholstered plywood overhead. It matters when you're tall.

[Azul]

My original head liner was gel coat, but I had to remove that as it was too deteriorated and also I had to fix some of the plywood core. Aside from having to do some sanding, which will make a mess, using the approach I described gave me a beautiful finish with access to all the fasteners. I must have spent 80 hours reading various blogs about putting in wooden headliners etc but having to deal with radius curves in a tight area only to have to worry about a leak ruining the job put me off.
Keep in mind some of the products that go on thick may be difficult to apply to an overhead surface.

Make sure you use a filler that is very easy to sand.

[boatman61]

I've used cork in the past.. easy to trim and flexible..