For those that have replaced the interior covering...

[Stacy Crotser]

How did you do it? When we bought our Boler, the interior ensolite was missing... just raw fiberglass inside. We put in some of the silver bubble wrap insulation, and covered it with decoupaged brown paper, painted it a lighter color, and put sprinklings of old luggage tags on it. Kinda hard to explain... LOL While most of it has held up decently, I'm not thrilled with it since it is starting to roll up around the edges of the windows, etc. I would really like to replace it with a headliner material or what scamp is using in their new trailers. Problem is, I'm scared to death of putting it up. How did you cut yours? How did you get the seams nice? Any tips on laying it out? How is it done around the windows (Does the covering go UNDER the rubber lined windows, or is there some sort of transition seam around them?)? I'm just not sure where to even begin with this. I can tackle just about anything with the boler (and have! including replacing a rotten floor!) but this just scares me... Help!! LOL

[Frederick L. Simson]

We put in some of the silver bubble wrap insulation, and covered it with decoupaged brown paper, painted it a lighter color, and put sprinklings of old luggage tags on it. [b]Kinda hard to explain... LOL While most of it has held up decently, I'm not thrilled with it since it is starting to roll up around the edges of the windows, etc.

I remember you!

You posted pictures of your decoupage back before this site was hacked!

I chose to redo the interior of my Compact Jr. in a similar manner, but instead of Scamp Headliner Material, I used Oilcloth (Cotton backed Vinyl Tablecloth Material). I put a lot of seams in mine, But I approached it as if I were wallpapering a room with contact paper. Instead of butting the seams, I overlapped them by 1/4 inch, and layed it out so that the raw edge faced away from view from the door. Since the Compact Jr. had a separate pop-top roof, I did not need to go continuously from wall to ceiling and back to wall again, and I would advise you to do the ceiling separately, too. Start on a wall at a point that you can guestimate approximates where the ceiling starts. Do the walls 1st. Start at the "top" of the wall and let the pre-glued material hang from the edge. Then S-l-o-w-l-y smooth the material to the wall from the top down and from the center of the strip out. Go around the trailer concentrating on the walls, letting the material overlap any obstruction, trimming it after to where you want it. Just go with the flow... The "Fussier" you get the more anxiety you'll create. Do the ceiling last. Trim edges oversized, and tuck behind the cabinets. I'd take the interior window trim off and install it back to cover the edge. By overlapping the seams, I only had to get used to one "edge" instead of two that you get with seam tape.

Good Luck!

[Donna D.]

Scamp doesn't butt the seams either, they overlay a piece that's a couple of inches wide over the top. Making it obvious in a finished sort of way.

[Robin G]

Ewwww, I love the decopage idea, too bad it's not working out. Paper treatment is so easy I have done it several times for a leather look on walls. And had thought of doing it in a cupboard of the first Casita we bought cause the prevous owners had spilt surup in it and hadn't cleaned it up so it was rock hard and sticky. Couldn't you just peel off the rolled areas and re-paper and re-seal? Just a thought! Robin



Would love to see pic's of your treatment.

[Stacy Crotser]

I remember you!

You posted pictures of your decoupage back before this site was hacked!

I chose to redo the interior of my Compact Jr. in a similar manner, but instead of Scamp Headliner Material, I used Oilcloth (Cotton backed Vinyl Tablecloth Material). I put a lot of seams in mine, But I approached it as if I were wallpapering a room with contact paper. Instead of butting the seams, I overlapped them by 1/4 inch, and layed it out so that the raw edge faced away from view from the door. Since the Compact Jr. had a separate pop-top roof, I did not need to go continuously from wall to ceiling and back to wall again, and I would advise you to do the ceiling separately, too. Start on a wall at a point that you can guestimate approximates where the ceiling starts. Do the walls 1st. Start at the "top" of the wall and let the pre-glued material hang from the edge. Then S-l-o-w-l-y smooth the material to the wall from the top down and from the center of the strip out. Go around the trailer concentrating on the walls, letting the material overlap any obstruction, trimming it after to where you want it. Just go with the flow... The "Fussier" you get the more anxiety you'll create. Do the ceiling last. Trim edges oversized, and tuck behind the cabinets. I'd take the interior window trim off and install it back to cover the edge. By overlapping the seams, I only had to get used to one "edge" instead of two that you get with seam tape.

Good Luck!

Hi Fredrick!! Yes, that was me, long ago and far away... I'm surprised anyone remembers me! We had a real life baby, so put the baby boler on the back burner for a bit. Our son just turned 2 and we are ready to work on the boler some more and do some camping! Thanks for the info about installing the insulation!

[Stacy Crotser]

Ewwww, I love the decopage idea, too bad it's not working out. Paper treatment is so easy I have done it several times for a leather look on walls. And had thought of doing it in a cupboard of the first Casita we bought cause the prevous owners had spilt surup in it and hadn't cleaned it up so it was rock hard and sticky. Couldn't you just peel off the rolled areas and re-paper and re-seal? Just a thought! Robin



Would love to see pic's of your treatment.

It IS cute Robin... I need to post some completed pictures. I post some pictures long ago of what it looked like, pre painting and decorating, but they are gone. I MIGHT try to do a patch job as you suggest, it would certainly be easier! But the heat over the couple of years caused it to curl up and I'm afraid of it happening again since it is just paper over the insulation. Not sure if I want to redo it every few years! I didn't put it under the window seals, but perhaps doing that would help it not curl in the future. I'll post some pictures tomorrow and you can tell me what you think of it.

[Stacy Crotser]

Hmm... just thought of another question for you Frederick! Did you remove the closet, kitchen, etc when you did it? I think that would be the only professional way to make it look good, but I'm kind of afraid of removing all of that for fear it might sag the boler and I won't get the stuff back in..... hmmm... maybe we could remove stuff from 1 wall, do it, put the support stuff back in, then do the other wall so it wouldn't be completely without support at any given time. What did you do? When we decoupaged, we didn't remove the items, just butted the stuff up against them, but I'm not real happy with those seams now, because of course they are rolling up too.

[Mike Watters]

The PlayPac I rebuilt a few years ago had a God-Awful replacement on the walls which I ripped down and replaced with indoor/outdoor carpet.

The PlayPac is a bit more squared off than your typical egg - but there were still plenty of corners and seams to deal with.

Attaching it to the walls:
I used heavy duty construction adhesive. Worked in small sections holding up the pieces with props until it was dry enough to move on. Props: push brooms (brush side up), adjustable paint roller handles jammed up against pieces of plywood etc. Basically anything I could jam in there that was fairly broad at one end. I wasn't at all shy about letting large parts of the carpet hang down until I was ready to move on.

Seams:
I didn't glue up the seams as I went but instead left them hanging free. A small amount of overlap was also built into seam at the time I glued it up. After the carpet was ROCK solid, I went back in and cut through both layers at once to make for a good seam. I tried to force the seams into significant natural borders (like corners) whenever possible so any mistakes would be less visible.

[Stacy Crotser]

Thanks Mike!! I think I remember seeing pics of your install long ago? It seems like the seam overlap is the key!! Did you remove all of your furniture? Any problems getting it back in? I'm also concerned about thickness of what I install since it might prohibit getting the furniture back in properly.

[Stacy Crotser]

For those with carpet interior, is it JUST carpet, no insulation under it? Would any kind of carpet do, or is shag the best option for insulative properties? It seems like carpet would be the easiest to hide the seams on, but I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the idea of shag. How hard is the carpet to keep clean?

[Robin G]

Stacy, I can't see why you couldn't use any carpet you want.......... I really don't think the shag is any better at insulation. Just ugly! at least our blue " sculpted shaggy stuff" was. I am not so sure about carpet being easiest to hide seams. Our newer casita, you can see some of the seams. I personally would like somthing easier to clean. Robin

[Frederick L. Simson]

Hmm... just thought of another question for you Frederick! Did you remove the closet, kitchen, etc when you did it?

Weeeeelllllll, Yes and no. My Compact Jr. was a gutted shell, so the closet and kitchen were long gone. I had to improvise new cabinetry to replace the missing pieces after I got the walls covered.

[Donna D.]

It IS cute Robin... I need to post some completed pictures. I post some pictures long ago of what it looked like, pre painting and decorating, but they are gone. I MIGHT try to do a patch job as you suggest, it would certainly be easier! But the heat over the couple of years caused it to curl up and I'm afraid of it happening again since it is just paper over the insulation. Not sure if I want to redo it every few years! I didn't put it under the window seals, but perhaps doing that would help it not curl in the future. I'll post some pictures tomorrow and you can tell me what you think of it.

humm, I bet is cool... and unique. Why not reglue, then apply a shellac or some other clear finish over it? Maybe a satin finish so not to completely lose the "leather look."? That would stop the curling problem.

[Robin G]

Donna, I think she painted her's, so she doesn't have the leather look. But I think it would be really easy to repair. Easier to repair and wipe down than clean carpet or rat fur.

[Donna D.]

Donna, I think she painted her's, so she doesn't have the leather look. But I think it would be really easy to repair. Easier to repair and wipe down than clean carpet or rat fur.

oooh. But still an all over coating would keep the edges from curling. Wouldn't it? I've followed several re-carpet. re-ensolite, re-ratfur installations on this forum. It's the last thing I'd tackle. I'd be afraid of getting it half-done and losing effort/interest. Or it wouldn't turn out the way I envisioned and I'd be disappointed for all the effort. But THAT'S JUST ME. Of course, I've also camped in a stinkly greasy old Army tent... the kind with a pole in the middle and had a GREAT time. So maybe I'm just willing to put up with less than looking new stuff. As long as it's clean and safe to tug... go camping!

[Robin G]

Donna your probabaly right about tackleing the project. I know I wanted to sooooooo Bad on the first Casita. Just cause of the ugly pugly factor. But yes, if she likes the treatment she did, (only cause I have done the same treatment and fixed others attempt at it) I would probabaly go for a repair versus a whole new project. Lazy Daisy come out in me! plus I love this technique. It's is so easy and has a great finished look to it. I love the idea she did with the luggage tags, to me it gives it character. I like fun and funky stuff. Robin

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Stacy,
In a Casita, the carpet has a 7/16" layer of flexible fairly dense foam insulation behind it. Without some form of insulation besides the carpet, I suspect condensation problems would raise their ugly head. Even if you used some type of headliner material, insulation would still be a wise move.

In our Casita we discovered another wonderful benefit to insulation! Outside noises are no longer intrusive. The other obvious benefit is the trailer heats and cools easily.

The "candy store" choices just become more and more complicated don't they?

If you have the luxury, talking to an experienced upholsterer would probably help get you started. I have seen some unbelievable upholstery in Hot Rods which might inspire your talents and generate some fresh ideas. Of course, you might also just risk further confusion.

Please keep us part of the process,
Kurt & Ann K.

[Stacy Crotser]

For those that are curious, this is what it looks like finished (sorry, I just took a pic quickly this morning and lighting was not the best). We put up the bubble insulation, put the brown paper bag (crinkled to hide the bubble look of the insulation), then painted it, and I did a sponge glaze on it to further hide the bubble stuff under it. This is what it looks like finished:

[Robin G]

Thanks Stacy, I haven't seen it painted before. As I said I have only done it to get the leather or suede look. Fun! Would love to see more pic's of it when you get the time. So have you decided what to do? Keep us informed, and post pic's if you tackle the project. Robin

[Bill Livesey]

I'm refurbishing my 1983 13' Casita Patriot and would like to better insulate and recover the interior. The brown paper bag method looks interesting but I want to look at other options. Carpet and vinyl seems difficult... What other interior covering options are out there?