UPHOLSTERED WALLS? has anyone done it

[tin can luv]

Has anyone ever tried to upholster A/S walls??? I would rather not paint the walls, or strip them down to the aluminum (mostly because of the plastic ends). I just want to consider a fresh modern look.

[Navigator]

I am in the planning stages right now, mostly to keep the bed room better insulated, and improve the ambiance of the Living area.
Am measuring and cutting kraft paper as a pattern to fit in the curves.
Then I will laminate (Contact cement) a decorative cloth to the foam, then cut per pattern, then glue the finished structure to the walls.
The curves in the corners are compound, and a bit tricky.
Dick

[Edie]

Here's another thought. Our bed has an upholstered strip around it since it is right up against the walls.

The strip is cardboard covered with upholstery fabric. The strip is screwed to the wall with a few screws. This might be a way to do the entire wall instead of only a one-foot strip.

[tin can luv]

OK, so I can screw things into the wall???I figured that would be a bad thing.

[overlander64]

Greetings Tin Can Luv!

Airstream has offered variations of upholstery on the walls of its coaches at various times. Some of the later model coaches have a lightly padded wall covering that resembles a very fine short pile carpet (for lack of a better description). My '64 Overlander International came from the factgory with upholstered cieling and walls in the bedroom area - - it is diamond pleated vinyl in a medium-light brown color. The ceiling upholstery is riveted directly to the ceiling (it is something like a quilt) - - on the walls, there is a backing of what appears to be .25" luan plywood - - the ceiling uphostery is original, but the wall upholstery was nearly worn out so it was replaced with a fabric that coordinated with the new interior.

Good luck with your restoration!

Kevin

P.S.: I found a digital photo of the ceiling taken before the interior restoration was completed (the ceiling, however, was not touched as it remains in mint condition). The view is from the bathroom looking forward.

[gregg]

I watched some tradesmen install the interior for a high end elevator-they glued 1/4" foam-like a wet suit-to the walls and then glued on the fabric. Expensive but elegant. The quality of the foam was important.
One of my earlier experiences required a similar product. I had great luck going to Thomas Register. I found a source-one of the BIG distributors-don't remember the name. The $ savings are worth the effort. 11 yrs ago their min was $100.

[tin can luv]

Thanks you guys, once again you guys have come throught for us. We upholstered a bedroom for my mom, but flat walls are a bit different.

Much appreciated, as always!!!

[want310]

"Then I will laminate (Contact cement) a decorative cloth to the foam, then cut per pattern, then glue the finished structure to the walls."

Contact cement the cement used with laminate plastic would be very difficult, if even possible, on a vertical application using a flexible material. In the trade, before retiring, we used an adhesive that was used to install commercial carpet tiles. This cement stays flexible after curing but holds. It's purpose was to be able to replace the tiles when needed. At times the backing stayed stuck to the floor so you don't have to worry that your wall material peels off your walls.
Hope this helps.........Steve

[Navigator]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the information,
3M-90 is what was used to replace a headliner on my son's Mustang. Guess I'll go with that.
Dick

[smily]

I cant help but think that once you apply glue to the surface, especially a good adhesive such as contact cement, or Scotch spray adhesive, you or anyone in the future will not be able to remove the glue without butchering the original surfaces. I would recommend the approach that AS did,

Upholster a heavy cardboard panel and screw it to the walls,
That way you can always change the fabric and even remove the panels if you wish. You will just have lot of holes to fill.

Smily

[Navigator]

Smiley speaks words of great wisdom. I will do just that!
Dick

[74Argosy24MH]

If you start screwing through the walls use as short of a screw as possible, the wiring will thank you.

John

[Navigator]

Smallest I have is 1/4-6

[want310]

excuse the punnnn

the beauty part of using the ,non contact cement, adhesive is that when and if a future owner of the trailer doesn't want the wall covering they don't have to deal with screw holes.

Steve

[Tinsel Loaf]

If I had to stick somthing to the walls that may be removed at a later date I think I would use double sided sticky tape. Maybe carpet tape or the double sided foam tape, something like that, placed around the edges and spaced so the cover would never sag. Sticky tape can be removed with several compounds with not a lot of work.

[gregg]

If you decide contact cement is the way to go, contact cement solvent (similar to lacquer thinner) will make removal a breeze-finish up with naptha.-solvent disolves and the naptha congeals the residue for easy cleanup.
check to see if solvent will disolve your original wall finish.
These chemicals are Extremely flamable and need lots of forced ventilation.

[bake315]

...a situation where you'd want to remove vinyl clad from walls where you're dealing with the leftover glue. If I was redecorating an Airstream interior (which I will at some point in the near future) I'm going to be looking at removing the vinyl since I want the bare aluminum finish. I'd probably not consider a trailer with additional holes in the aluminum because of this. If you didn't want to look at them, you'd either have to replace panels, or fill the holes with rivets. I'd much rather just suffer once through the stripping process than have to deal with the other for the duration of ownership, IMHO.

[amfab]

I would sugest rather than screws... they have these things called. . . I think they are called rivets? Maybe some others on the board are familiar with them. Upholster doorskins or sintra or something like that in pieces and then rivet the panels up using the rivets sparingly. That way if you ever want to take off the upholstery you can just put a new rivet in the hole, find the Revlon nail polish color that matches "Airstream vinyl cream" that the original rivets are painted with and presto it looks factory again.
-AM

[tin can luv]

I have to agree that someday, I will want, or someone will want to remove the covering without a bunch of screw holes to deal with. Now, it has been questioned whether the contact sement will eventually leave the upholstered walls looking like a saggy car interior, but, rather deal with that later, still, than ruining the great look of stripped aluminum interior.

[Tin Hut]

I covered the lower walls with rattan and used the industrial strength velcro from Home Depot. Cut it into smaller squares and applied to wall and rattan. If I ever want or need to remove it I can with no permanent damage.