Replacing hull liner

[dleathem]

I own a 1981 Cooper 416 which came out of the factory with the ever popular 1980’s shag carpeting. A subsequent owner removed it, applied some thin foam insulation, and did a pretty miserable job of covering with a cloth material, which isn’t really attached other than stuffed under the trim pieces. I’m now contemplating using horizontal wood lath pieces, as I’ve seen done on a sistership. Although I would love to use teak, that’s a non-starter, so copying the other boat using yellow cedar, 1/4” thick by 1 1/2” wide. Got a few questions for anybody who has taken this on
1. How best to attach? Looking at vertical strips, possibly 1/4” thick plywood attached to f/g hull. Glue or epoxy or fiberglass?
2. How to attach horizontal strips to verticals? Glue and screw, or just glue?
3. In several places theirs trim running across hull, at angles. As well, their are several portlights. What’s the best way to transfer the angles/curves, to the strips of wood?
4. In regards to the portlights, I tried to remove the inner trim ring by taking out the screws, but it didn’t budge. Am I missing something in taking it out?
5. In regards to the cedar, should I apply some kind of finish?
This kind of woodworking project is new to me, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[psk125]

Is yellow cedar more dent-resistant than red cedar? If not, it may show dings and scratches that will quickly make it look old and tired. Our ceiling (that is what hull liner is called - ceiling) is made of ash strips because it’s a tougher hardwood that stands up to bumps and contact (heads, elbows, feet, winch handles...) better than softwoods do. Gluing plywood strips to the hull that you can glue & screw the ceiling to is probably the easiest, though you may need it more than 1/4” thick to hold the screws. Brass oval-headed screws will look good and can be used to hold the wood in place while the glue dries or sets. In any case, you will definitely need to varnish the ceiling strips. It will create much less mess and probably be faster to varnish them before installing them. All four sides AND the ends! Figuring out the spacing of the ceiling strips and how you’re going to go around the ports ahead of time will save major headaches. You may be able to simply bullnose the ends of the strips when they come to a port if they land flat on it. Otherwise a good-looking frame around each port will be needed, and that will take a lot of time. Our ash ceiling strips have slightly rounded edges that create a slight “v” between them. The horizontal lines this creates help to make the space look longer and also help hide any bumps or irregularities.

[DougR]

My 1979 Cal39 has teak ceiling strips running horizontal on the exposed inside hull surfaces. This is attached as follows:

- 5/8 or 3/4 plywood cut to match the hull shape and glassed to the hull on edge, spaced about 18" apart. Depth of the plywood is about 2" from hull to inner surface.
- a layer of 1/4" plywood strips about 6" or 8" wide screwed to the on edge 3/4" plywood
- teak battens about 1.5" or 1.75" wide and 5/16" or 3/8" thick screwed thru the 1/4" plywood and into the on edge 3/4" plywood. These battens run full length in the vee berth and quarter berth and are also used in the other exposed areas like open storage areas. They are bull nosed on both long sides and have suitable trim and moulding at the ends.

Don't glue any of the strips, as you might want to run wiring behind them in the future, or maybe replace damaged parts or access the hull surface.

Teak is nice, but makes the interior a bit dark. Cherry looks good as well.

If you go online to a yacht brokerage websight you can view lots of interior photos and get additional ideas.

DougR

[jpendoley]

Vertical ribs are the most tediuous part. If you use wood, you have to template and shape. Dead simple way is to buy foam sheets from big box store, I used 2" thick blue foam-cut in long strips about 1 1/2' wide with beveled edges. these will be glassed to the hull sides as a base for your battens. To get the strips to lie against the hull, cut the long strips into shorth 4-5" sections with alternating 45 degree ends and hot glue them in a line to your huil. Couple of layers of glass over and you have a fibreglass rib you can screw battens to. I sprayed insulation between the ribs before attaching the battens. For battens I used 5/16 pine battens cut like bead board and painted before installing. Making the battens is just saw, router, planer intensive depending on how big an area you have to cover.
Cabin is warmer in winter, drier and cooler in summer. Also quieter. Well wortht he effort