Options for replacing ceiling carpet?

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Gregg

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Jul 3, 2014
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555
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Canton, Ohio
In the process of renovating my RV.  New furniture, flooring, updated LED lighting, etc.  The ceiling is a pretty dirty.  The previous owner put up a ceiling fan and installed some now outdated lights thus I now have the imprint of the previous lights along with dirt rings.  From everything that I have read, and tried a number, I just do not think the ceiling can be cleaned that well and will distract from all of the other work I have put into updating the RV.  I've found a company that makes these very light weight panels but not sure about the texture or design.  Kathy seems to think it will look nice, but I am concerned too busy.        http://fasadeideas.com/fasade-ceiling-tile-2x2-glue-up-dunes-horizontal-paintable-white.  Anyone else replaced their ceilings with something that is a DYI type of product?  Can not imagine replacing the ceiling carpet is a one or two person job let alone doing it without totally removing all of the cabinetry.  Anyone else removed the ceiling carpet themselves? What did you use so not to damage the lauan.  I plan on using a Fein with a carpet flat blade to separate the carpet from the contact adhesive.
 
If it is a fuzzy fabric, it may well be Ozite (or similar) and will withstand some pretty heavy detergents and brushing. Messy, though.

If you take it down, hope you find that the substrate is a solid piece (maybe thin luan plywood?) and not a patchwork. Feel around the ceiling for gaps before you decide to go that route.

Another alternative may be automotive headliner fabric. It usually comes in 58" widths, though, and that's maybe too skinny for convenience. Or a burlap or other type fabric covering?
http://hancockfabrics.com/headliner-fabric
http://hancockfabrics.com/burlap-fabric
 
I would try the cleaning method before the destruction method. Will be quite a tough job adding new material
 
Gary you are right it is probably that Ozite product.  Really stuck on with adhesive.  I have tried a number of cleaning concoctions suggested with little success.  The bathroom will need to be replaced for sure because of the skylight leak but that is a rather small area compared to the whole MH.  Sure, I suppose that I could look the other way on the black rings, but the ceiling will always look dirty to me.  My problem is with all of the money and effort remodeling the inside, the ceiling is just going to date and lessen what was done.

Spent the afternoon going through a number of new units and found that many are now using a 4x8 sheet of paneling that almost looks like a slightly textured drywall ceiling.  Really looks nice and clean and could be painted if you ever needed to. After talking to service, they are telling me that manufacturers are just stapling the material up and using a small trim strip to cover the staples.  Since I have done a lot of drywall work, this seems like a piece of cake weight wise.  Removing the Ozite seems like it will be the hardest part of the job.  They said they just pull it off, but there is no way of doing that on my unit without damaging the lauan.         
 
Why not just put the panelling up right over the carpet? At worst you would need long staples. Incidentally, I also replaced the fixtures on my '06 pursuit with LEDs from the advertiser above. Got rid of the old burned up lenses and the fixtures looked much better.

Ernie
 
Thought about that.  Just do not want to lose another 1/2" in ceiling height.  Since I am 6'3" the ceiling is not overly tall now.  I am starting to think about just laminating directly over the carpet but afraid that over time will see some waviness.  Just too much of a perfectionist when it comes to work like this.  Talked to a couple of RV service companies around here and their statement was to remove it in strips.  Just will not come off.  They did an extremely good job on attaching the ceiling.  Just wish the previous owner took better care of it.
 
Will try to paint an area to see what it looks like.  If nothing else, great idea for inside cabinets.  Removed the carpet like material in the bathroom area last night with my Fein and scraper blade. Originally had the speed turned down but noticed it went a lot easier at full power.  Took about a half hour for a 4x8 area.  Appeared that they put extra glue in the shower area because it got easier as I got towards to the living area.  If nothing else, I figured I would eliminate the carpet in the bathroom because of the additional moisture when showering and etc.  Thinking that I may want to replace the old oval puck lighting with newer recessed lighting.  If I decide to do that, the rest of the ceiling will be coming down for sure. 

Attaching a couple of photos of the Fein Multimaster for those who might not be familiar with the tool or the blade that I used.  This blade worked better than anything that had teeth on it or even the similar blade that was a little more rounded.  The flat straight blade worked the best.  Other manufacturers make a similar tool but have no experience.  This one is definitely commercial quality.
 

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When it was mentioned to paint the fabric ceiling what paint do you suggest on this. Has anyone here painted a fabric ceiling? I would love to hear from you on this.
 
Ok finally removed the carpet off of the ceiling and thought I would share my experience.  What a job and could not have done it without the Fein or some sort of similar oscillating tool.  The blade that worked best is the smooth putty knife or scraper type blade with no teeth on it and no shape to it.  Basically straight across.  There is a taper on the blade but sharpened it a little more with the belt sander.  There were areas that seemed like someone got a little carried away with adhesive making things tough, but other areas seemed to come down with little effort thanks to the tool.  Almost like shearing a sheep.  Attached is a photo of what it looks like and will include an update once I have the new ceiling installed.  I opted to install the 4x8 sheets of paneling with a textured vinyl surface that many of the newer RV seems to have.  I know it might be a little louder when traveling, but did not have access to the padded material and had no idea how to install.  Also gave me the opportunity to update the lighting.  Instead of using the lights in the center of the ceiling, I am installing high output LED strip lighting all the way around of parameter of the ceiling.  The LED strip will be housed inside of a metal channel with a frosted lens to even out of light and it will also help hold and cover where the ceiling butts up to the walls. 
 

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I thought I would share my experience with replacing the ceiling along with what I learned.  When installing the sheets on the ceiling, the dealer said they just staple around the parameter and in the center of the sheets then use some of the decorative strips to cover the seams and staples.  I did not want to fill the staples in the center area as suggested so decided to use an adhesive.  E6000 was a product that I was familiar with and used it again on this project.  It is great in that it holds to about anything plus is very flexible after it sets to allow for vibration.  What I found was that the manufacturer offers an E6100 which I wish I knew about.  It is not self leveling thus would work better since the existing ceiling was not perfectly flat.  The E6000 had a tendency to flatten out and run too much.  Both are designed to stay flexible compared to normal construction adhesive.  The other thing I learned was to just bite the bullet and remove the existing cabinets instead of trying to work around them.  Since this was a total remodel, I eventually removed the bathroom walls.  I kept fighting the idea but now looking back it would have been easier to just remove everything in the beginning.  Hope this helps someone else thinking about taking on something like this. Should state that removed all of the cabinets except the tall ones housing the furnaces and refrigerator.  One other tool I invested in was a hand held laser measuring device.  They measure within 1/16" and worked great when trying to measure 8 foot across from one outside wall to another. A whole lot more accurate compared to using a tape measure if working by yourself.  The one that I purchased is a Bosch GLR225 that measures up to 235 feet for around $140 but they offer others that do not measure quite as far and less money.  Since I can use this on other projects, I felt it was well worth the investment.
 

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I enjoyed reading your posts and do find it helpful. I was pretty sure, as I read your initial posts, that you would have to do it by taking down the original ceiling covering to not lose the height you needed. Also, was pretty sure that if you didn't get it "right," you would be constantly irritated looking at that ceiling every day on the road.

I have read quite a few DIY projects, but this was the first time I had read about replacing the ceiling. I'm pretty sure I will be doing some remodeling, but maybe not to the extent that you are doing, to personalize my upcoming rv.

I'm in the 3rd stage of my process where I'm basically challenging all my assumptions about what I want in an rv. My wife and I have agreed that we probably can do without a washer/dryer, though I kind of had that on my list as an important item.

As to when I buy, that is an outsized question at this time as the need is not grabbing me strong enough just yet.
 
This is my first RV and first time working on them.  When I am finished, I will check about how to share my successes and failures and hopefully help others.  I have taken quite a few pictures.  This site is invaluable both in information found and the willingness of others to help share their support.  Good luck on your venture.
 
Back in My earlier RV days. OK  I guess not a RV  but what my loving parents called a Hippie Van.  thou i don't consider 1977 Hippie van days myself.  We Used Carpet on the ceilings walls AND floors.  It seemed like shag was the favorite  ;D  and if your were really cool and found a good sale the two tone was far out.  Mine was green with gold fibers run thru it. installed very easy with contact cement and a hand stapler. 
OH Sorry Flash Back!!!  You mentioned ceiling carpet
 
I thought I would update this post because I do not want to scare someone away from trying to remove their ceiling carpet.  The oddest thing was that I just got done removing the carpet from the sliders.  Once it started, I practically just had to pull it off.  Almost as easy as the dealership told me it should.  The main cabin area was a bear.  I am thinking that maybe they used a water based contact cement on the sliders and used the petroleum based cement on the main cabin area.  The color was more of a green in the sliders which indicates there was something completely different used.  Bottom line: if you are contemplating doing a similar project and it is the same stuff as my sliders, it was a breeze. 
 
if there was water based glue it most likely wouldn't have lasted a couple of years, terrible stuff. Maybe they didn't lay some areas as heavy as others. Our ceiling is not too nice as well, we cleaned it once but, next to the A/C vents it became dark again. I'd hate to tackle what you did, but might have too
 
If your adhesive is what was on my slide outs, not that big of a deal except all of the cabinet removal.  If the ceiling material in the cabinets is OK, then really an easy task.  Of course, I am used to construction projects.  I will post on noise levels after I am completely done.  Right now though, it looks 1000% better.  I just would not have been happy with the way the old ceiling looked.
 
Gregg said:
If your adhesive is what was on my slide outs, not that big of a deal except all of the cabinet removal.  If the ceiling material in the cabinets is OK, then really an easy task.  Of course, I am used to construction projects.  I will post on noise levels after I am completely done.  Right now though, it looks 1000% better.  I just would not have been happy with the way the old ceiling looked.

Gregg, I am thinking of removing the carpet from my 1998 winnebago. What kind of rv did you remove the ceiling on? and what was the material above the carpet? was it thin wood or plastic or what? Do you think that i could glue rubber sound insulation to the subsurface (in small segments)?

thanks,
 
Removed it from a GeorgieBoy.  It had lauan under the ozite carpet.  Once you have the foam insulation up, what are you planning on covering it with?  It might make things pretty tough to finish.  If you are trying to deaden sound, you might want to look into padded headliner but that might be more costly than just replacing with ozite.  I just used the 4x8 sheeting of ceiling panels that I purchased from my local RV dealer.  Looks pretty good but was a little slow going since I glued and braced the pieces until the glue set-up.  Did not use a contact cement because it would have been so unforgiving while putting it up.
 

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