Bathroom plastic trim

[CaCraig]

The bath has 2 types of trim. The upper is an aluminum channel with a plastic piece that snaps on. It runs below the window.

The 2nd type runs along the top of the tub, around the sink and over to the toilet. It's about knee high. It has a flexible plastic piece that is riveted on and then a plastic trim piece snaps on top of that.

Andy told me last week that the knee high snap-on trim is unavailable. I would love to remove part of the bathroom (sink and around the toilet) and paint it. I'm not moving forward because I know I won't get that trim off without breaking it.

If you've removed your bathroom, what stuff did you use?

Thanks

[CaCraig]

Here is the trim I'm talking about.

[TennTex]

CraigCA,

I have tried to come up with a solution to this for the two years my trailer has been gutted in a redo. I am almost finished now and still don't like the options.

I was able to salvage 90% of my trim. Some broken bits were repairable with glass cloth and epoxy on the backside. The plastic cleans up and paints well. The upper aluminum piece cleaned up fine, so I'm leaving the cover off.

For the rest, there is no replacement available that is close to the old design. I may try thin pvc strips, which is also paintable. May have to chamfer the edges some and just let the rivets show. I haven't been able to find an aluminum trim thin enough to shape well to the curves.

My repainted bath is shown below. (As a side issue, I've also been looking for a suitable alternative material to replace the goofy sliding door/storage shower wall. As you can see, I just can't put that thing back in there.) Please post any ideas you come up with.

Alan

[CaCraig]

Your bathroom looks very nice. Since you broke some trim I assume you removed the pieces to paint them. Maybe I should just leave it in place to paint mine. The only reason I was going to remove it was because I didn't know what I could paint it with other than spray paint and overspray gets everywhere.

[idroba]

I am not completely clear on the trim you mention, even with the photos, but if it is an aluminum piece, riveted on and then a plastic cover over it there are two options you can consider.

One is to cut thin strips of plastic laminate and slide them in from one end. If you have a lot of sharp curves this may not work, but on long straight runs it is good.

The second thing I have done (a tip I read here on the forums years ago) is to take vertical venetian blind slat material and cut it into thin, long strips, just wide enough to fit in the aluminum channel. A window covering shop is one source of slat material, and there are a huge number of various blind materials available. I happened to have some left over slats from a blind I cut down, and they were a good color and had a nice look to them. The material is thin, flexible and can be pinched to snap into the channel very easily. It also goes around the sharpest corners.

I have used this kind of trim around the original bed lights which had a fake wood vinyl insert about 4" wide, and on lots of other places in the 70's era trailers with the fake wood inserts held in by aluminum extrusions. Another common place it can be used is on the original counter top edges which were an aluminum extrusion with an insert to cover the fastening system.

It can really brighten up an older Airstream or Argosy.

[TennTex]

Originally Posted by idroba

I am not completely clear on the trim you mention, even with the photos, but if it is an aluminum piece, riveted on and then a plastic cover over it there are two options you can consider.

The trim CraigCA and I have is different, and must have only been used a year or two. There is a plastic inner piece riveted on, with a plastic "c"-shaped piece that clips completely over the inner one, instead of inside it. Both parts can be brittle and can break when removing. The top piece comes off very easily, and spraying with Krylon Fusion made them look new. Very easy to replace, if still intact.

Alan