Removing the Ceiling Liner?

[mcollins07]

I have a Irwin 37' CC which I am considering removing the ceiling liner. The liner is in good shape, but it limits access to nuts and bolts, and wastes some space. Has anyone else removed their liner? What are your oppinions and comments?

Michael

[mcollins07]

Since the Irwin 37' has a fiberglass liner which is primarily one piece, I have been reluctant to cut into it. The previous owner has cut out a large section near the nav station. I'm investigating/experimenting with that section. I thought I would share some of my ideas.

Looking at Lowes, I found 4'x8' sheets of wall covering. These are some type of almond plastic and have textured surface. Cost about $32. If I destroy the liner when removing it, I think that I could go back with this wall covering. That still leaves a few other problems. One concern is the inside bend where the top and side meet. I found an inside bend in almond colored vinyl. This inside bend is used as exterior siding on houses and I think it will work well for this interior. Other connections and corners, I plan on using another Lowes product, synthetic molding. This appears to be a high density urathane foam covered with a vinyl surface. It comes in different wood colors and oak looks good.

One of my concerns is how to deal with the end of the vinyl inside bend. This creates a kind of handhold at the joint, but results in a very large hollow ugly end.

Another concern is insulation. A friend told me that he previously used cork to line the inside of his cabin and then painted it. The cork worked very well because it insulated and helped prevent sweating on the walls. I'd rather use synthetics to elimate the possiblity of rot. So I'm considering a layer of insulation, about 1/4" between the deck and liner. At Lowes I found a blue styrofoam which is disigned to be used under the exterior vinyl siding. Perhaps better is an insulation, Reflextix. It is two layers of aluminum sealed in a plastic to form an airspace between.

One other issue is the port lights. I'm going to replace these, I think with metal ones. The exterior wall where the portlights are is about 1/2" thick. These metal portlights expect a wall thickness of about 1". I plan on cutting Starboard to create a seat, about 1" thick, for the port lights. I expect this Starboard will require this synthetic modling around it to look good.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by mcollins07

....Another concern is insulation. .... At Lowes I found a blue styrofoam which is disigned to be used under the exterior vinyl siding. Perhaps better is an insulation, Reflextix. It is two layers of aluminum sealed in a plastic to form an airspace between.

Gluing insulation on the inner surfaces is an effective way of reducing or eliminating sweating in cooler conditions. However Styrofoam is not necessarily the best for this as it can absorb moister to some degree and as flat panels will not easily conform to the compound shapes often found on boats.

"Ensolite" is a closed cell foam available in bulk and it is a soft flexible material that can be more easily shaped and put in place. The sleeping pads sold by hiking and mountaineering stores is very similar material. As closed cell will not absorb any moisture it is better for this application. ("Topsiders" cockpit cushions are also similar)

Search the threads here, there were some real nice pics of restored and redone headliners a few months back.