Pics would be so appreciated. . I’ve never attempted such a project before and looking forward to giving it a shot.
I’ll take pics as I go. Today was all about getting that track down and the last strip of headliner where the two lights are on the port side. I had taken down the other strips months ago. Now that I have committed to a plan, it was time to get moving on it. Now, I am working on the massive clean up of the dust that the old headliner turned into when disturbed. That is taking about as long as the demolition. These boats are what I call a pretty small space and of course, the air conditioner has blown the dust on everything, and I mean everything. Not running the AC was just not an option (Miami). By the day’s end, I’ll also have to clean the AC filters.
I also had to get the blinds back up for now as I live on the boat and need the blinds for privacy as well as to keep the hot sun out during the day. At least I got that strip of 1/2” plywood down that was over the windows. I’m not sure what the purpose of that was, but it’s gone. All of that Whisper Wall track is out and headed for the dumpster. That was a monumental task as there are a bazillion staples in the perimeter piece. The headliner for the perimeter trim was stapled into the wood above and then wrapped around the WW track and stuffed into the crevice. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you take yours down. I don’t think I took a pic of that, but if I come across one, perhaps from months ago when I took the bulk of it down, I’ll post it. The staples holding up the track itself were easy to remove…just used leverage of the track when pulling it down and they came out. I had to remove a couple hundred screws first, though.
Now, I’m waiting on materials to arrive and lighting. In the meantime, I can start working on my cross members that I will use to support the edges of the panels - I need some pieces of wood running port-starboard, about every 4 feet. I’ll photo that as I do it. After that is up, I can start patterning the panels.
My break, here, has come to an end, and I must get back to cleaning up the mess. Like NewTrawlerOwner said, challenging, yes; impossible, no. I have done this before, so it’s not entirely new to me. I didn’t expect the old stuff to turn to dust though. I’d never use that stuff again. Not only that, but when it ages, it gets greasy before it gets sticky. Other headliner materials such as Nauga Soft, Naugahyde, and Morbern have never done that to me. I don’t know what’s so special about that Whisper Wall fabric, but I never want to see that stuff again and I don’t think this is something that needs to be done every 10 years - referencing what you were told the life expectancy of that fabric is; that’s ridiculous. The last headliner I removed was nearly 40 years old and still in great shape, but it had some discoloration and I wanted to start replacing it with a more modern fabric. It was the old perforated stuff. I didn’t get it all done before Hurricane Irma came along and that was that.
with no success. I really need to replace it all but trying to buy one more season with them. Any ideas appreciated!
