Interior Panelling: paint, wall paper, replacement

[quattro]

Sent: 12/12/2000

I have a 1979 Chieftain that has white wall paper on the walls, time for replacement. What is a good choice of material to recover walls? Any advice would be great

[Eric]

Sent: 12/13/2000

Ive been struggling with the same issue, although my 70 winnie panneling was never covered. it seems you have at least two options. steam off the old wallpaper, use some sort of fill to ensure the old wall is smooth and repaper it (household wall paper id assume would be fine) or replace the panels themselves. you could paint over it, ect. but i wouldnt think that would result in a nice even finish.

I'm planning on replacing the old panelling, not sure about the later models, but mine has the dark finish, and is just regular pannel you can buy at home depot, etc. i suppose it depends on whats under your wall paper as to what the best restoration plan is for you particular application. i intend to remove the old paneling one piece at time and use it as templates for the new panel, but i shudder when i think of what damage may be lurking behind those walls...

pehaps others list members have other options.

best of luck,

Eric

[JC]

Sent: 12/14/2000

Hey guys, I just finished re-paneling my 72 brave. I went right over the old paneling. On my rig you couldn't remove the old stuff. It was glued on. It is like a sandwich (paneling,insulation, and outer skin. I used a lighter colored panel and it brightened it up whole lot. It even makes the inside look bigger.   JC

[Eric]

Sent: 12/14/2000

That answers some questions for me, as apparently my 70 has already been paneled over. i was afraid it was a cover up job for some major problems (still may be) , but at least i now know the construction of the original panels is integrated into the wall so maybe it wont be so bad after all...

thanks ,

Eric

[Cousin Eddie]

Sent: 12/17/2000

The original wall construction was referred to as "Thermo-Panel Construction". The exterior aluminum skin and interior plywood paneling are laminated to Styrofoam core. This was a revolutionary method of construction, developed by Winnebago in 1963, resulted in a rigid, lightweight and durable walls. Assembly was also simplified as the entire sides of a motorhome or trailer were produced as a single piece then positioned on the unit.

[Dash7]

Sent: 12/18/2000

Hey Cousin Eddie,

Does this mean there are no "studs" or vertical support members in the outer walls other than the framing around the door?  Are the interior furnishings, ie the dinette, beds, "room" partitions, cabinets, etc, fastened to the outer wall to contribute to the overall strength of the wall? 

Don 

[Cousin Eddie]

Sent: 12/18/2000

One of the benefits to this method of construction is that it eliminated the need for a great deal of studs and so forth. Once you start poking around in one of these old coaches it is almost amazing how few supports you find. I never thought about it, but you are right, the petitions and so forth would add support by tying the walls, floors and ceilings together as well. The fact that so many of these coaches are still around must attest to the fact that it was a good method of construction.

[davlaw]

Sent: 11/26/2001

JC,
My 72 Brave had a lot of water damage. I am in the process of gutting the ceiling and walls. Everything seems to be glued together. I will be replacing all of the interior foam. Do you know what type of glue is used to glue the foam to the metal ceiling and walls? Aslo I would like to call you to discuss other issues that I'm having with my RV. Can you send me a phone number?

Thank you,
DavLaw

[cybrcamper]

Sent: 11/26/2001

Correct - it is all glued together
Winnies are made using what are now commonly known as "stress skin panels", which are made by laminating a sheet of ply or other wood to a sheet of foam. They work great, but are different from regular stick built construction when doing repairs. To get an idea of what I mean, open Google and do a search for "stress skin panels". There will be a lot of links to companies that do these.
You may be able to remove the roof on your Winnie and build new panels, or skin over the old. I have a '68, and I plan to add a 1" layer of foam on the inside, then skin over that with tongue and groove pine. I will
be skinning over the old roof with 1/2 " plywood, and an EPDM roof over
that.

Let me know if you have any other questions, and I will see what I can
do.

Good luck -
Cybrcamper

[69D24Chief]

Sent: 12/1/2001

I recently went on a visit to my nearest Winnebago dealer, and I was amazed to find the amount of knowledge that the salesman had of my motorhome.  I also got a through lesson on the construction on a Winnebago.  Did you know that Winnebago is the only coach company that uses steel in the cab of the class A MH. And the only company to tie all major appliances and fixtures into steel.  The ingenious "Thermo-Panel" design is still in use today.  The sales-manager asked me how many other motorhomes you see that are 30+ years old and still look great like mine.  The "Thermo-Panel" structure was bonded "permanently" to ensure good insulating and long lasting quality.  My 1969 D-24 Chieftain doesn't leak, and my original AC drops the temp inside down into the 60's on an 85 degree day.  I may not know for sure but if I were going to redo my paneling I probably would just put a layer on top of the original "Thermo-Panel" so as not to disturb the original design structure.  My coach has the light colored paneling and it still looks great.  I guess I just got lucky when I rescued mine.  I'll try to get some inside pic's on my photo page.  When I took the other ones I was instructed not to take interior pictures because the carpet needed shampooed.  Good luck with the retrofit.     

[HAL]

Sent: 12/2/2001

HAL HERE.  ON MY 79 BRAVE, I REMOVED THE GREEN VINYL WALLPAPER AROUND THE STOVE  AND SINK AREA AND INSTALL  MAR-LITE SHOWER BOARD. I USED THIS DUE TO THE EASE OF CLEANING DUE TO COOKING AND WATER SPLATTER. I  OVERLAYED THE MAR-LITE ABOARD ON THE PANELING. GLUING THE CENTER AND SMALL FINISH NAILS ON THE EDGES. USED THE SAME TRIM ON THE EDGES THAT YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE INSTALLING IT IN A SHOWER. IN THE BATHROOM AREA I STEAMED OFF THE OLD GREEN VINYL WALLPAPER AND INSTALL NEW HEAVY GRADE VINYL WALL PAPER. USED EDGE MOLDING TO HIDE THE EDGES. REALLY TURNED OUT GOOD. I HAD TO REPLACE THE HEADLINE ABOUT THE PULL DOWN BED ABOVE THE DRIVERS SEAT. I USED A TOP QUALITY NAUGAHYDE.[ THE SAME THAT IS USED IN BOATS] USED 3M SPRAY ADHESIVE TO HOLD IT IN PLACE. THE EDGES I STAPLED AND USED EDGE MOLDING TO HIDE THE STAPLES. YOU CAN BUY OR MAKE YOUR OWN. I MADE MY OWN.

[LJ-TJ]

Sent: 4/6/2008

ibdilbert01 Looks like a great job what are you using for paneling.

[ibdilbert01]

Sent: 4/6/2008

Thanks for the nice compliment!

The paneling is just something I found at Lowes. Its suppose to look like cedar and cost about 17 dollars a sheet. Most of the trim I've been able to buy from Lowes and has matched. There are some pieces of wood that I have made from pine and used minwax to finish.

I don't have a lot of good carpentry skills and just have been winging it with some cheap odd-lot tools. With my fingers crossed as I continue, I'm pleased with the results.

I was trying to get a cozy warm cabin feel and I think the paneling did the trick.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the cabinet doors. I'm thinking about just making them myself. Hopefully they turn out better looking than Homer Simpson's spice rack that he made for Marge.

[bergmarkdale]

Sent: 4/7/2008

I am currently re-paneling a 1979 Elandan.  Experimenting with re-paneling I mean... :o)  Most of the walls and cabinets are in good original shape, but the color is too dark and I just want to lighten everything up.  The first method didn't work-- very thin sheets of real maple veneer with a paper backing, and requiring contact cement to apply.  The contact cement did not hold well in my test area, and I don't know why since the method is exactly the same as if you were gluing a Formica counter-top.  It developed little de-laminations here and there, though I sanded the old paneling thoroughly with a random orbit sander with course paper.
    Method #2 seems much better--thin maple veneer with PSA backing (pressure sensitive adhesive).  Been holding well for a couple of months, but has yet to go through the brutal Phoenix summer.
     If your original paneling is not good (peeling) then neither of these methods is any good.  Have to go to the actual panel board then.
     I'm using veneer, because I want the real wood look.  Once it is stuck in place, you stain it whatever color you want and then top coat it with clear, either spray or brushed.  It seems that oil based stain bring out the grain better, water based stain tends to cover up the grain a little too much but is easier to apply and clean up.

[tiinytina]

Sent: 4/9/2008

hmmm. for the glue not sticking there was probably an oil based finish applied to the paneling at some point... A good scrubbing with an ammonia based product may help.... 
For lightening there are "pickling/bleaching" products out there but have no clue how they would work on paneling...
For cabinet doors.. the simplest would be to purchase double sanded birch plywood, Cut the sizes you want then use the iron on edge finishing tape on them. Pat is redoing all of our doors in 1x4" oak with a 1/4" ply inside panel unless I make a piece of glass to go into it instead. But then again he has all the bell and whistle tools to play with. He is making the doors oversizes from what we currently have to hide more of the paneling we have.... instead of trying to replace it all which would mean removing all the cabinet fronts. Ours all have a curved plastic edge on the corners which we can't find to replace....

Tina

[lucidsodemite]

Sent: 5/12/2008

i am surprised no one has tried to simply paint the paneling. we did it in our basement and it worked great for lightening up the space. i am considering doing it to the hula gurl to help with the darkness of the space. i removed these hideous valences the previous put on and that alone opened up the space. bu tmy next focus is on the floor as it is pink carpet and it kinda looks like Barbie puked all over the place.

[northfork13]

Sent: 5/16/2008

I was starting to think I had recked the inside of our 1980 Minnie, as I have spent the last 4 days painting the panel board to brighten things up? It is water clean up paint but it is mildew resistant, scrubbable,and seems to be adhering quite well. (Bonus part built in primer) A lot of time to cut in all those corners through!!!! Looks great though we'll see how well it stands up to use .
Newbie
Northfork13

[labbie1]

A bit on the wallpaper aspect of this. First I had to remove the paper the PO put up incorrectly which was a chore, the Zinser gell wallpaper remover worked very well until I hit rubber cement. (that's an entirely different post) Then I sanded and scrubbed the surface (at least the ones we have done so far). I have already primed the bathroom with a heavy duty oil based primer from Sherwin Williams which we added a Zinser mold and mildew repellent to which is safe for use with all paints and just stirs in. My paint store mixed mine on the shaker for me. The next step will be to add a primer designed for wallpaper hanging and THEN I will be able to hang the wallpaper!
For those of you who may be considering wallpaper it has become very hard to find these days. It took months of looking and I finally ended up @ a wallpaper store that I thought had gone out of business entirely. You can still find it on the internet but the problem is to get a real idea of what you really are looking at you have to order a sample and they can cost anywhere from $5-$10 a sample, which gets expensive if you are a perfectionist like I am. This is also a time consuming way to plan, order, wait, look at sample..repeat..
Finally wallpaper is surprisingly expensive in addition to being difficult to find and unless you hit it lucky and find a close-out store or a great online deal you can expect to pay around $50 per double roll. In the US wallpaper is only sold in double rolls so if you think your going to get off cheap by just doing the bathroom because its such a small space and would only need a single roll, try again. I have been told if I take my time and do it right nothing will compare to the finish I will receive but time has yet to tell. What I can tell you is that choosing wallpaper for the walls of the Winnebago is neither cheap or easy.

[labbie1]

Wallpaper update...While the wallpaper is going up there is a huge learning curve between Winnebagos and homes. I could have wallpapered my entire house in the time it has taken to get most of the wallpaper up. There are so many more cuts and matches that you have to make in the rv that you don't have to make in the house. There are a ton of other adjustments that you also have to make...little things but none the less a pain. Time will only tell if its worth the time invested or if other rehab options would have given us a better return on the time/ benefit column.

[Gary Eddy]

I have a 1969 D18 Brave and the interior wall finish was peeling off. Went to local RV scrapyard at look at others with the same problem. All in the lot had the same peeling issue and some had been repaired in multiple ways.
1. Scraped and painted
2. Paneled over using 1/4 or 3/8
3. Wallpapered

I couldn't figure out how to finish the edges of 1/4 or 3/8 paneling around the windows where the aluminum trim is protruding only 1/16 inch.

I wasn't sure what glue would work for extreme temps in MN, if I wallpapered it.

If I paiinted it, the peeled sections would have to be filled so it wouldn't show.

After careful consideration of the issues involved, I decided to use a Formica laminate and a high quality contact adhesive. This allowed the laminate to be flush with all aluminum trim. And laminate is a very durable finish.

It was a long slow process but scraping and roughing up the old finish was necessary.  Removed all cabinet doors.  Used the "lanolium pattern process" to make exact patterns for all pieces and allowed a 1/16 gap around to allow for expansion.

I chose a quarter sawn oak patern for the cabinets and a faintly multicolored (modeled) patern for the walls. 

Once the laminate was installed and trimmed if needed, I taped off the expansion gap and caulked it (with a matching color) and tooled it flat.  Then I removed the masking tape. 

Doors and drawer fronts are easy. Cut 1/2 large and trim with a router. Then paint edges with a matching color. I installed the grain perpendicular to the grain of the cabinets as was the original.

The result is a complete facelift of the interior that is very durable and looks great.

I am not saying this is an easy project or that anyone could do it.  But if you have patience and some skills, you wil be extremely. Happy with the end product.

[LJ-TJ]

Mac Tack? Is it still around? It would be great for some of these projects.

[Gary Eddy]

Here are the pics of the interior of my 69 D18. Walls and cabinets covered in laminate. 

[Gary Eddy]

Pics continued.

[LJ-TJ]

Holy Cow did you ever do a nice job on that. Turned out sweet. Well done.

[Gary Eddy]

Thank you for your kind words. My attention to detail can sometimes be a curse.
I also respect the efforts on yours.  So sorry that you lost it in the end.


I'm sure your next project will benefit from your craftsmanship.