Refinishing wall with vinyl upholstery material

[Neweller]

After many months of thought, I have decided to refinish my walls with a durable vinyl upholstery. We chose a somewhat neutral tan/buckskin (almost like a peanut butter color) for this living room wall project. In one of the pics below, you can see the wall after removal of some wall paper installed about 7 yrs ago over a repaired wall. I did not like the longevity of using wall paper, it shrinks too easy in an RV. Next, we primed the wall with Gripper interior/exterior primer by Glidden (originally designed as a glue). Last pic is after gluing the 1/8" foam. I thought about going 1/4", but already had the thinner foam.

Some of job details are as follows: pulled all inside window trim, removed old wall paper, cut existing welt cord or corner bead (with a razor knife), cleaned off any residue, masked off windows, cabinet and floor areas prior to spraying glue on the wall. I will staple over areas of the foam to prevent any possible future pullback or bubbling under the vinyl floating wall covering.

[encantotom]

ken, a word of caution. i had the interior window trim pulled on mine when i was redoing it. the interior trim pieces are all that keep the window in. one of my windows fell out and destroyed itself. that put me over the top to put all new windows in from penninsula glass. btw, it didnt fall out right away, it fell out after a few weeks.

tom

[Neweller]

Thanks Tom, for the advice on a cautionary measure. I noticed when I pulled off another trim at the dinette wall, the window popped out at the corner and with the different temperatures lately, things like to move.:unsure: First thing that came to mind was your post, I put the trim back in place with a couple of screws. Nobody needs an expensive lesson, while trying to save $$. I think I will pull the windows and reseal them while at it. ;)

Ken

[Neweller]

The air stapler arrived by Fed Ex today from Amazon. I have already shot a few hundred staples from it. The things kind of addicting. lol! Now things are starting to take on some new style. I stapled over the wall foam and hung the vinyl across the wall. In the fourth picture, I'm drilling the rivets holding the curtain track for removal of the track for better clearance of the stapler. I flipped the top of the vinyl over at the top while stapling cardboard tack strips to prevent tear through on the staples. I will let it hang for a while to let the wrinkles in the vinyl smooth out. I'll go back to work on the booth for a bit.

[prairieschooner]

this looks great!

[Neweller]

Thanks Steve, things are looking up. Been happy with the progress so far. Thought a storm was coming in last night, so I put some screws back in the windows to hopefully prevent any possible rain coming in and causing any damage. Luckily it missed us.

The vinyl has smoothed out quite a bit from the high temps today. I'll be going in and doing some cut-out and additional fitting maybe this evening or tomorrow.

[prairieschooner]

I'm really glad that you are getting in this experience! we are on our way soon.

[Neweller]

Did some preliminary cut and trim last night and today on the passenger living room wall. Somewhat stretched the vinyl at the bottom starting at the easier end and working toward the middle, then worked from the opposite side keeping things as tight and even as possible. It works much better with an extra set of hands. Really starting to like things at this point, and excited about getting the windows cutout and stapled.

[Neweller]

Got the windows cut out and inside aluminum trim pieces fitting. Things are really taking shape now. My wife is really liking the vinyl on the wall. I can see why they do leather on some of the newer coaches. I seen some other vinyls that really looked like leather for about double the price of what I paid for this material. I would love to do another coach and go a little more wild next time. But, have to get this one done enough first. lol!

Everywhere you staple, you have to keep good tension on the material and with help from another, you can staple at the tension points. Going around the window frame, I just stapled about 2 to 3 inches apart and then once I was happy with the tension on the material, I would staple closer together between the tension holding staples. You don't need any extra help doing the fill in staples, you can pull the in between areas with one hand and staple with the other. I still have to finish tightening the vinyl near the dash and windshield areas. I will use a little spray glue for hold in those areas. I plan on finishing the corners where staples show with either 1/2" stained corner round, or a cloth corner bead. With the stapler I'm using, it makes it tough to get closer to the side wall areas, which would allow for small corner bead if desired. That is why I'm thinking about the smaller wood corner round. Either way will look good. I guess I could even wrap the corner round with a chosen material, if I chose.

One of my next projects will be to completely remove and seal those two windows while they are loose.


Ken