Wall Coverings Inside

[Chotu]

I almost covered all my raw fiberglass hull walls with Formica but realized it would be very heavy.

I have a rough fiberglass weave with 1/8” lumps and Laos to cover. Want it to look glossy white after covering for easy cleaning.

Does anyone know what I can use on this?

I heard wallpaper in another thread.

[tkeithlu]

Wallpaper per se is going to pose problems with 1/8" irregularities. One direction is paint, another is thin veneer plywood. I used to know one interior designer who used burlap to cover and then sometimes paint irregular walls. I (and others) got rather tired of it, but in small quanities it might be give a nice texture and a choice of colors. The point was that the coarse fabric could conceal the underlying irregularities.

[billknny]

Vinyl headliner material can be an excellent choice. If you get the foam padded kind, it will cover lumps and bumps with style. It glues on easily, is available in lots of colors, and is reasonably nautical looking. It also adds a bit of insulation, and is easily cleanable.

There are also a lot of vinyl upholstery fabrics that would work well as headliner material, Naugasoft is one I have used with excellent success.

[JPA Cate]

I'd use good quality Latex paint, in a semi-gloss finish. Otherwise it will look like living in shiny plastic, or a refrigerator. It is easy to wipe down and see that it is clean. It is available in a number of whites, from snow through cream coloured. It is what we used when we painted the lumpy overhead on our previous boat. It looks fresh and clean, and was low maintenance for us. Sold the boat about 6 yrs. later, and the paint was still fine. In lockers, it makes stuff more visible.

There are people who will advise you to paint with two pack, expensive marine paints, but my thought is that it is overkill. You could also consider having it sprayed. Probably the most durable paint is the automotive two part polyurethane. It costs less than the marine ones, and we've had excellent results with it on our hull's topsides, where it is exposed to the elements. Still shiny after 10 years, and only been "washed" when it trains.

If the surface is really rough, the wallpaper will be lumpy, and you'll lose the easy to clean aspect that you need to keep mold away. The semi-gloss will make the lumps and bumps not show quite as much as a high gloss will do. The only weight it adds is that of the paint after it has dried.

There are also paints that dry to textured finishes.

The need to be mold free also limits you from using the "mouse hair" kinds of covering.

Ann

[coopec43]

Panels of formica or ply can only be bent in one direction so it probably wouldn't look great on a hull with a complex curve.


I'd follow Jim's advice and paint it. When I want paint for my yacht I was told "you can use this paint here or you can go to the marine section and get the same paint for double the price" The paint he was offering was an epoxy paint (Rust Guard) used to protect steel from rusting. Another brand for exactly the same purpose is called Kill Rust.

[Chotu]

That was Ann above! Ha ha.

But I think the paint is making the most sense.

I just want to be sure to do the whole thing without epoxy. It's a rough surface of Fiberglass weave in epoxy already there. I want to bury that with a skim coat of polyester (maybe Bondo, which is polyester?), sand and paint with something that's not epoxy.

My whole boat is 2 part polyurethane automotive that I sprayed outside. Great stuff. Overkill inside I think like Ann said.

So I've tested polyurethane over epoxy to bind some things together. It worked ok. But could be removed. What could not be removed was a very thin layer of poly over epoxy. I'm going to try out a patch of Bondo tomorrow to see how it goes.

[Gadagirl]

Perhaps a venition plaster look?
https://www.modernmasters.com/landing/homeowners/brands/vp

Or people have used thin vynal waistcoat. Very bendable, flexable, and could be painted if desired

www.amazon.com/Pinetex-White-Wainscot-Panel-5-Pack/dp/B01LRQMSKU/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=Vinyl+Wainscoting&qid=1583 631790&sr=8-6