Interior Walls - Paint and Primers

[LI Pets]

I'm redoing the whole interior, I believe the walls ceiling are vinyl clad.

Not 100% sure but the rivits are not the same color so it appears it was never painted before.

Has anyone spray painted the interior with some type acrylic paint?

If so what type or brand of paint and how dis it hold up?

Bob

[StingrayL82]

Bob,

I've seen pictures of older A/S's with painted interiors, and from what I saw they looked nice. The only comment I have for you is that if you're going to do it, make sure that the 30 years worth of grime that is on that vinyl-clad is pristine clean, or that acrylic won't stick.

Frederic

[shannnon]

Has anyone painted over the fake wood paneling in a newer Airstream such as a 2001? It has lots of real oak, but in places there is the fake finish which we can't stand. I'm thinking of a good primer and paint in a cream color.
I'm also wondering if others have made aesthetic changes to change the blah interior of similar trailers. Our '34 LTD looks rather boring. Thank you!

[harestream]

I'm about to primer my interior vinyl walls tomorrow and I found this particular Kilz Primer, and picked this up thinking it might work a bit better. Does anybody have experience using this particular kind?
http://www.kilz.com/pages/default.aspx?NavID=29
We were attracted to it beacuase it apparently prevents stains and mildew, etc. and thought that added bonus was enough to pay the extra 8 bucks.

we decided to go with the krud kutter sticky wall remover method, as it seemed to do the job, and didn't contain some of the more hash chemicals within it. So we'll clean off the walls with the krud kutter and then primer the walls. After a few weeks we will probably select the colors for hte walls, and we will more than likely use a top shelf sherwin williams, like others have on the forums.

Question: Is it really necessary to sand the vinyl walls first? It seems like the Kilz should do the job. This is a water based indoor/outdoor primer, FYI. also, the endcaps. I must say Im a bit nervous to apply the Kilz to these. I'd like to paint them, but I would hate to mess them up in any way, cause I don't necessarily mind the yellowish look, but to have them new looking and redone I think I would still like better.

Thanks for all your info all my airstreaming friends..

-Kelly

[FreshAir]

I have used Kiltz many times in building department store fixtures and displays. I like it because it does prevent old stains from creaping up through your top coat. However, I prefer the exterior oil base type. It is a lot tougher. It will give a primer look to your walls so consider a top coat.
Neil.

[harestream]

i definitely will do a top coat as soon as I decide which colors to go with. Thanks for the additional go ahead. I think the premuim will do the job then. I'm just worrying about weather or not to do the end caps.

-kelly

[Chuck]

I'd be way more concerned with painting the vinyl wall covering than the endcaps. the endcaps are definately do-able. You might want to inquire about the material of the endcaps, though...I'm not sure if they are plastic, or fiberglass. On mine, (one year newer), the front endcap is definately plastic, but the rear...looks like fiberglass...I'm not sure.

Krylon makes a special line of spray paint that is specifically made for plastic. I've tried it, and it seems to work well. Other manufacturers have a special primer that you have to use. The issue is that your typical latex paint won't stick to plastic. I don't know if it would stick to the vinyl wall covering, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that it won't. But thats just a guess. I'd find out for sure from someone who has done it before embarking on such a project.

[harestream]

I'm Airspleens better half! Only you could tell us what our end caps are made of chuck! HAHAHAH I'm going to take a guess that the one in the front is fiberglass and the backis plastic? I need to do some reaseach though.

Thanks for all your help by the way! I'm so bummed I missed you last weekend!

-Kelly

[Blu_Hwy_Lady]

I just finished painting the interior of my '72 Safari. It's amazing how such a small space could take soooo much time. I washed the sticky-icky walls down first with 409 then used the Sherwin Williams Bonding Primer that somebody else here on the Forums recommended as the only thing to use on the fiberglass (or whatever it is) end cap. It really made a good surface to paint on. It comes in bright white. Trouble is, I didn't like my first coat. What I discovered is that even with the primer the vinyl tends to pull orange from the pigment. Back to Sherwin Williams where the helpful person told me the primer could be tinted. That is a big help. So, I primered over the first ghastly coat with colored primer, then used Sherwin Williams "Burnt Clay". It still wasn't what I wanted. Rather than a terra cotta color it was very peachy--very flat peachy. So faux-painted with sea sponge over the "Burnt Clay" using a Burnt Sienna glaze and then a lighter glaze called "Earth Opal". I finally got just the look I wanted with a lot of depth and complexity. I tried taking some pictures to post here, but they just didn't really show the color and the tonal variation very well.

[rebel beck]

The Sherwin Williams primer is awesome, I used it also on our A/c shroud. As it is for exterior or interior. I also love Kiltz and use it almost every day for my faux painting. Another good tip is if you want to tone the paint a little so it will have a vintage look try Trewax you can pick up a can at Ace Hardware, spot test and be sure you like it.
We painted our end caps and they turned out great, but I did prime with Kiltz and then used a latex paint no problem and it has been almost a year. 2 coats.

[cookeville34]

Everything is out of the front half of our trailer, down to the off white metal walls. What should the walls be painted with? Primer or exterior paint, what color?

[CaddyGrn]

I don't know what the 79 was originally painted with... but we painted our interior of our Bambi with Zolotone. Very happy with the results! We were able to wash down the original walls well and clean them, then sprayed the zolotone right on top! It is tough paint! I think it will last another 40 years!

Color choice is certainly up to you!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[markdoane]

I'm very happy with my tinted flat primer/finish. It wasn't the easiest material to spray, but I think it would go on easy with a roller.

It's Devoe "DevFlex PF" (primer-finishcoat), DTM (direct-to-metal) 4020-1000. It's available from ICI paints. About $40 a gallon. Sticks to anything. Tints to any color. Acrylic latex, cleans up with water. Doesn't smell bad.

Whatever you decide, I think you need an exterior paint for flexibility at low temperature.

I wanted to try re-doing the Zolatone, but my wife said she hates it.

[kneal]

So do you have to basically gut the inside of the AS out to get a good paint job on the internal skin? Has anyone done it any other way? Just looking for the easies method.

[cobra93]

Guys,
I just did a lot of painting in bathroom which had the nasty flowered vinyl paper. I cleaned it three times with Greased Lightning, let it dry and put two coats of Kilz II on it and then used kitchen and bath gloss enamel paint on it. It worked great!! As for the wood grain walls, we used vinyl textured wallpaper from Home Depot ($13 a roll) to cover the panels and then painted them the color my wife wanted. Now it looks like textured sheetrock and has a great look to it. I painted the domes (after cleaning repeatedly) with Krylon Fusion paint for plastic. I also used Krylon Fusion to recover the yellowed plastic cabinetry in the kitchen and bath. It all came out looking great!! Hope it helps.
-Don

Originally Posted by Lipets

I'm redoing the whole interior, I believe the walls ceiling are vinyl clad.

Not 100% sure but the rivits are not the same color so it appears it was never painted before.

Has anyone spray painted the interior with some type acrylic paint?

If so what type or brand of paint and how dis it hold up?

Bob

[bobfowler]

Before we painted our interior, all surfaces were cleaned with Power Spray Orange - it really cuts off the mold, grease, and grime like a champ. We primed using Glidden Gripper Primer, and finally topcoated with Glidden Evermore paint. The was used on vinyl coated walls and the ABS interior endcaps with excellent results.

[bbmombo]

I am suprised to read that noone has tried TSP to clean the grime off and prep for paint or that anyone has used Benjamin Moore Paint. I am new to the Airstream business, but in my 30+ years as a commercial licensed interior designer, TSP and Benjamin Moore were very good to my clients. Benjamin Moore is usually more expensive the Sherwin Williams and all of the other paints, but always covers better!

Has anyone tried these products in their Airstream?

[DasAir]

First, I would definitely recommend against Zolatone. It is a fantastic paint but it can be extremely tricky to apply, especially if you are painting around contours. It requires a sprayer with a pressurized paint cup, and oversized nozzle. It also needs to be applied between 70 and 80 degrees with low humidity. It will set you back a grand or more for the primer, paint, and special equipment to spray it. It says it covers 120 sq ft / gallon, but it is really half of that to get full coverage. You need a contrasting color of primer to see when you have complete coverage. If you spray white over white, you will never get the uniform continous film that is required for the paint to hold up. Even with lots of experince spraying automotive paints, it was a pian. I did it once but never again! I just painted my 31 footer with Sherwin Williams Primer, top coated with Sherwin Willians Pre-Catylized Water Based Epoxy. This an awesome combination that can be applied by spray or brush and roller. You can get any finish and color you want. I did mine in semi-gloss bright white and the results are great. I really like the white color in a trailer because it makes the space so much brighter and seems so much bigger. I also found a cleaner/prep called Marine Clean. It as made by the POR-15 people. You can clean a wall with whatever you want, but when you spray the Marine Clean on afterward, you'll see that is wasn't really clean at all. It's nasty stuff though. You need good ventilation, gloves, and you really should wear a mask to prevent breathing the vapors. It will choke the heck out of you. 30 years of cooking grease and cig smoke just ran down the wall after being hit with this stuff! That epoxy paint I used makes a super tough and scrubbable wall finish. I used light gray primer and two coats of paint applied by roller & brush. The stuff dries quickly, even at low temperatures. It can be applied down to 50 degrees. It took 4 gallons to do the complete trailer including closets and overhead cupboards. The Zolatone takes 6 to 8 gallons at $128 a gallon plus catalyst, and $210 for primer. The epoxy was $36 a gallon and seems just as bulletproof.

[76sovereign]

Originally Posted by bbmombo

I am suprised to read that noone has tried TSP to clean the grime off and prep for paint or that anyone has used Benjamin Moore Paint. I am new to the Airstream business, but in my 30+ years as a commercial licensed interior designer, TSP and Benjamin Moore were very good to my clients. Benjamin Moore is usually more expensive the Sherwin Williams and all of the other paints, but always covers better!

Has anyone tried these products in their Airstream?

After reading your post I went to our local BM dealer. I was SOOO impressed with the information I was given as to what I should use on the vinyl over aluminum clad walls.
The product I chose is Aura, a low VOC colorLock paint (Green Product low fumes no harmful vapors). This product bonds the highest quality color pigments tightly within the paint for extraordinary results. Colors are deeper, richer and more enticing than any i've seen.

I was told by the man helping me turned the color swatch book upside down and told me to pick 3, it didn't matter he said. I picked three, he flipped them over. One was purple, one was green and one was red. THEY ALL WENT TOGETHER! It didn't matter what I chose the colors blended together wonderfully. I was AMAZED!

He recommended I clean the walls with TSP which I did ...like 5 times and I am now ready to apply the Grip and Seal Latex primer. The Aura Paint is a self priming product and I was told It would probable be O.K not using the primer but I want to be sure it bonds GOOD!

It's been beautiful all week while I prepared the walls, 60s 70s. Today I'm ready to paint and it's ...38! I'm bummin man!

I will post pictures to our blog and keep you updated on our progress.

[76sovereign]

PAINT? Who'd a thunk it?

I went to the Benjamin Moore store and LOVED their product. Low VOC wonderful colors and the TSP cleaner/duller did the trick on that sticky dirt and grime.
We chose a sassy color called Salsa along with a couple of accent colors to use along the way. They are from the Aura Collection.

We had them tint the grip and seal primer to the lightest shade we will be using.

The paint really brought the texture out in the vinyl walls. It almost looks like leather. (Click on the picture of the plug-in to see texture)

See more read more at "AIRSTREAM REMODEL" OR http://www.airforums.com/forums/blog...-thunk-it-113/