Repair Ceiling '94 Excella

[Inland RV Center, In]

Check post # 20.

Andy

[sluggo]

My 94 excella ceiling was drooping in the bedroon when I bought it a few weeks ago, the owner who inherited the camper had previously tried contact cement etc on a few spots. In the front by the door a few strips of batten were holding up some other failing areas. After reading all the threads so far I decided on taking the liner down, first in the front, tomorrow I will start in the rear and since the middle portion is still intact I will wait until it gets unbearable as it is only pulling away slightly for now. I took the first section down yesterday over the couch, about 4 x 8 give or take. I used a plastic putty knife, the majority of the liner came off without the foam. Ater I seperated the foam from the ceiling I was faced with the harder job of removing the adhesive. I tried a Shark portable steamer which really didn't do much good. Then I went to Lowes and bought a can of aerosol Goof Off. This seemed to do the truck with several applications. One can did about 1/2 of it. I went back today and bought a full gallon of it and applied it with a paint brush which after a few applications got it all off. I am saving the old liner as a template for a new piece if I decide to put another up or have a headliner shop do it which would probably make more sense. Painting might be considered but I had even thought about using Rhino Liner in a smooth finish.
Well now after looking at the reasonably shiny aluminum that is now exposed, I decided to reinstall all the curtain, vent, tv, hardware etc. And now I find I find myself really liking the way it looks even after staring at it through a few cold icehouses celebrating getting the first part of this labor done. My wife came home from work a few minutes ago and said "leave it" My son said it had a real aircraft look, all I know is that I have now some options, let me get another icehouse and evaluate it some more....am I the only sick one out there? Heck I got a 3500 sq ft house and I would rather hang out in the camper!!!

[sluggo]

Just finished the rear bedroom area of the falling ceiling. It was more difficult than the front for some reason or maybe i'm just tired of messing with it. It looks just like the front section witht the exposed aluminum. As for the middle section over the bathroom and the dinette mine seems to be holding up well except some lagging behind the ac unit to the point of the front where I made the first removal. I will probably just opt for a few of the screws technique as it looks like it will only take a few....for now.I guess some may ask why I didn't just do the screw thing all over but the vinyl seemed to have shrunk against where it was inserted in the plastic channels, I am more inclined to have it replaced by a trim shop and I have certainly took the labor out if the equation. So my conclusion is this.....the screw technique will certainly be the easiest, I feel though that the "poof effect", dropping down around the screws, will eventually prevail as the adhesive will continue to fail over time, when my middle section starts that it is coming down too.
Use a plastic putty knife just to keep it from scratching in case you want to leave the aluminum exposed, I like the look I just hope the vinyl with the layer of foam missing will not adversely affect the cooling of the trailer in the summer. Again, open the windows, turn on all the exhaust and the Goof Off product worked best for me. If the foam stayed on the aluminum,after pulling back the vinyl which it usually did I just painted the goof off on with a brush and gave it a few minutes to work and then it would start to come off. By myself and I work pretty steady with an occaisonal icehouse refreshment both section probably took about 8 hours each to final cleanup......the falling liner was driving me crazy but for now mine is at bay. Well now to make my appointment with Camping World to get a new frig......

Regards to all

[bake315]

You can also make a "knife" using a piece of wood cut on a miter. This gives you a bit more leverage, a wider blade (depending on the size of the wood piece), it isn't susceptible to melting by any of the chemicals, also will not scratch the aluminum, and, when the edge gets dull, just run it through the saw again for a new one.

[Lucy815]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Check post # 20.

Andy

Is there a special cleaner which can be used to remove the "hermetically sealed" degraded foam and residual glues from under the A/S ceiling liner?

Lucy749

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Lucy749

Is there a special cleaner which can be used to remove the "hermetically sealed" degraded foam and residual glues from under the A/S ceiling liner?

Lucy749:)

You must use a material that will dissolve the adhesive, such as lacquer thinner.

Then we follow that up with a degreaser made by Chemsearch # ND 165.

Andy

[BurnsTrayler]

Hey Ken, how did you grab the edge of the ceiling and pull back while you screwed the metal strip in place. I don't know if I want to take on the project of the stripping foam in my 94 excella. Any information would be helpful. Mark

[Ken10]

I left the ceiling strip between sections in place, and used cheap vinyl strips about an inch wide from Lowes on either side of the joint. only gentle held the ceiling under the strips as I secured with screws.
I secured the drooping ceiling with clear plastic rosettes with screws in a pattern, so as to make not noticeable.


Ken

[BarbaraB]

Great thread - we are sick to our stomachs that our ceiling just started melting off this summer in a very short period of time. Seems the whole thing wants to go. We are 70 and not looking forward to tackling this.

We just had our kitchen floor redone with a vinyl strip and thinking it could look nice on the Airstream ceiling too. Any thoughts about that here?

I love my white ceiling but just not finding a do-able solution for us. Also - already tried a celing adhesive from AutoZone and it was so so success/fail.

[CACTUS]

same thing happened to my 05 Bambi 19. found a great fabric and had a local upholstery shop (specializes in rv)cost 2200.00 well worth it

[BurnsTrayler]

[QUOTE=quality parts;133725]Ours is a 2001 Excella. I know this fix may not be for everyone but I just pulled the vinyl liner off and painted the aluminum ceiling with latex paint. It was not drooping but the vinyl smell was making my wife sick so I just removed all I could and rollered on a coat of primer and off-white wall paint. The vinyl smell is gone and we like the clean slightly textured look of the surface. It worked for me[/QUOTED

Does It smell Like moth balls or a chemical smell. We have a smell, that I can’t find and you can smell it outside when you walk by the trailer. Will be doing the ceiling soon.

[rideair]

I'm going with this method on my 1996 34' Front Kitchen Model. I have cut down the sagging vinyl, scraped off the foam, and in the process of cleaning off the glue. I think Zolatone Flex would be the way to go,

Here's a link to a past discussion on Airforums

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f39...ct-128898.html

[CRH]

Upholstery buttons are holding mine up