Shower wall covering peeling ?? Solution ??

[polarlyse]

We have an '85 Excella with a center bath. We've had it for 4 years and do a lot of traveling with it, enjoying it the whole time. We do use the shower and find it luxurious to have a hot water shower after years of tenting it. Anyhow, ever since we got the trailer the vinyl wall covering in the shower stall has been peeling on the bulkhead wall ( where the plumbing and folding plastic door is). Up high on the wall where the curvature of the trailer is. Has this been experienced by others and how have you corrrected it ??? I'm cautious about the simple solution of using a spray adhesive in case it doesn't work well enough and may be trouble to get it off. The vinyl is in good enough shape to re-adhere to the wall if possible.

Thanks all, see ya on the road sometime

[Ganglin]

Zinsser & Gallon #127 Vinyl Adhesive 02841 Paint - Home Decor - Wallpaper Tools - Chemicals - Wallpaper Paste - Adhesives

[perryg114]

I would consider getting some rigid plastic from Lowe's or Home Depo. The stuff I am talking about comes in 4x8 sheets and is used for making shower stalls etc. It is white with a glossy pebbly surface. You can attach with screws. I think they make special fasteners for it. If you get all the old glue off you can just use panel adhesive and glue to the old luan plywood that is under the vinly. You are going to have to match the contour to do this. I would seal with caulk around the edges to make it water tight. If you can get the old vinly off in one piece you can use that as a pattern. This stuff is totally water proof and there is no coating to come off.

Shop 8566 at Lowes.com: Search Results

Perry

[samb]

I would agree with the use of FRP. The vinyl, in my opinion, is doomed to eventual failure. I replaced the peeling vinyl in my Safari with FRP in an off white/tan color that closely matched the original Zolotone. I also found FRP in bright white and a charcoal grey.

I chose the FRP after I installed it in the mid 70's in showers in state park buildings. Over 30 years later the FRP is still in place, not damaged, and looks the same as the day it was installed. That was a good test for my trailer.

In my Safari I replaced the entire shower wall by laminating the FRP to 1/8th inch plywood to get a very strong 1/4 inch panel resulting in waterproof on one side and nice mahogany on the other. I used a quality mastic and no fasteners (that could eventually leak).
Sam

[Landshark]

In case someone is still reading this, I would agree with the guy recommending the pebbly plastic sheet stuff to replace the vinyl in the shower, because once the vinyl starts to fail, there is no stopping it. Also, it usually shrinks in the failed area so it will never go back properly, no matter the glue you use. I'm guessing the failure is related to age and temperature swings, especially the heat buildup inside the unused trailer in the summer. In semi-arid Idaho, we have daily summer temp swings of 30-40 degrees, even higher inside our "toaster ovens."

We have the pebbly stuff in our mid-bath '86 Ltd, and it is perfect after our four years of ownership and I don't know when the PO put it in, but not shortly before selling to us I'm sure. The vinyl is barely starting to fail in the upper corners of the rest of the bathroom and we are puzzling what to do there.

The vinyl wallpaper is failing all over our '78 Safari, we have pulled the vinyl down carefully to remove it, then we plan to strip the glue off and leave the yuan natural rather than try to re-glue. With the vinyl shrinkage, IMHO I just don't think it's possible or practical to attempt re-gluing.

Vivian

[perryg114]

The question is do you take the whole bathroom/shower apart and replace the plastic covered laun with the FRP or just glue the FRP over the existing laun? So at the very least you are going to have to strip all the plastic off the laun and get it clean so something can stick. I have the same problem with my 31ft Excella II center bath. We have not used the shower yet and it does not work anyway.

Perry

[Becky B.]

I think Ganglin has the right idea here. I would glue it up, hope it lasts, and if it doesn't, then move on to the FRP. That would entail tearing apart the entire shower & would be a big job. If you're looking for a project, go ahead & do it now. If you want to fix it & see if it holds up, use some strong adhesive & go camping!