I want to paint the inside fiberglass of my camper, what do you guys suggest, also I do want to paint the cabinets they are the faux dark wood kind seen so often. Any other suggestions for this? Thanks all!
First, does your Compact Jr. have the original waffled insulation on the inside of it or has it been removed and there's plain fiberglass?
If the latter, has it ever been painted? Can you tell with what?
There are some epoxy's made specially for paintingfiberglass (boats). I have some in the basement I got at a sale (it's spendy). I haven't used it on fiberglass yet (but it was real handy sealing off some board ends on my wooden deck!). But that might be overkill for an interior. I suspect (but I don't know) you could use regular latex paint. Personally, I'd use exterior rather than interior because of expected condensation, etc.
Whatever you do, be sure to prepare (wash with TSP or whatever, a good rinse) the painting surface to a "T". We (my brother and I) have a problem with things glued to the walls (because we don't want to drill many holes in the fiberglass) falling off---mostly not because the glue failed, but a chunk of the paint under the glue peels off.
P.S. This is just my view, but I personally hate the idea of painting over real wood grain unless it's just so absolutely beat up it's awful. After all, some decade here dark wood grain will be back in style!
Have you tried stripping a part of a drawer to see if any of the dark will come off? Then sanding down to unstained wood if it didn't. Then seeing what polyurethane (or water)looks like on that area.
The good thing about a compact Jr. is that even if you decided to strip and sand down every single drawer front and cabinet, there's only about 9 relatively small pieces to do---much better than trying to do your home kitchen!
The cabinets are the fake wood laminate type stuff. I will take pic and show it. Thanks for all the helpful info- as far as the walls, no material just the fiberglass and I do not know what type of paint is on now- but it is missing in some spots and I just want to freshen her up and make her pretty (ier). I will put the silver tape on the inside of the vent too and I ordered the Butyl tape last night after searching around so I will use that too! Thanks all- anymore suggestions help much appreciated.
Rather than paint, I glued Formica to the fronts of all the cabinets and drawers. Also covered the half walls that separate the dinette from the kitchen. I used a light oak pattern. The Compact is so small that I felt light colors would make it visually bigger.
Consider Rustoleum Wood and Fiberglass Marine paint. We've been using it inside and out on our 1973 amerigo and it is a lovely paint. It's spendy, but not as bad as some, it self-levels pretty well, it covers well, and you can blend the colors if you really want to. The most common color found around here (Seattle area) is white, both for the primer and the paint.
I'd preserve "real" wood, but that fake laminate -- well! I'd have no problem painting that, myself. Be sure to rough it up first with some approximately 80 grit sandpaper! And sand lightly with MUCH finer grade paper between coats. Wipe well with acetone before the first coat of primer, too.
Here's our rig, freshly painted (just before cottonwood season!) in our driveway this spring:
"Is this what you suggest?
Shop Rust-Oleum Marine Coatings White Gloss Enamel Oil-Based Marine Paint (Actual Net Contents: 32-fl oz) at Lowes.com
If so do you suggest I prime too? I think it maybe the same color that is on now. "
YES.
Rust-Oleum marine coatings topside paint gloss white. YES. It's not all that glossy, but has a nice "fiberglassy" sheen to it.
Underneath, Rust-oleum marine coatings PRIMER use on wood and fiberglass above the waterline. white primer.
do I recommend primer first? Ah, yes. IF you had an intact fiberglass type paint already on it, in a very similar color, then not necessarily. Otherwise, it helps adhere one paint to another, helps give thorough opaque coverate, and a nice, thin coat helps give a good finish at the end.
Be sure to sand first, with about an 80 grit, and then sand carefully / lightly between well-dried coats with a much finer grit.
Paul rolled ours on. He used a foam/latex roller, one of the little "hot dog" ones with the covered tip. He didn't "tip" afterwards, but did roll and roll until all the tiny bubbles were gone. Tipping techniques can be found by searcing in FGRV under "tipping" or "roll and tip" -- Paul did fine with only rolling. The paint is remarkably smooth, even where he had let one area dry before going over it with a new coat (like around the windows--we did one at a time, taking them out, cleaning, painting, replacing...gradually we brought the painted areas together over several weeks...)
Our old look. Dark brown, very glossy. Over 80 holes, large and small.
The new look. Marine White with black and aluminum trim, a subtle sheen:
This is for the inside of my camper does it make a difference?
You absolutely need to choose a mildew resistant paint for your interior. Most exterior paints are mildew resistant but not all interior paints are.
Have you looked at the bare interior surface of your trailer to see if it is smooth enough to please your standards? That would be the first thing you should do before you decided on how you will finish the interior.
Personally I would not want a shell that was not insulated as you won't be very comfortable in it for temperature control and also because you will have moisture dripping all over you from condensation.
Condensation is always something to consider, but if you're going over laminated fake wood, paint won't act differently enough to matter for that.
We've painted every surface you can imagine...laminates, formicas, wood, metal, plastics, fiberglass, tiles...tarps, roofing, patios, cement, bricks, masonry, rocks...
There are other brand of marine paint, but I strongly suggest you use some brand of marine paint for inside as well as outside. At the very least, use an enamel paint, one that requires paint thinners of some kind, not water, to thin and clean up.
Then again, and contrary to that advice, Ace Hardware has a sealant, water based, that is #1 top prime best sealint I've ever used, bar none. A clear coating: ACE POLY-FINISH Water Clean-Up Fast Drying Low Odor SEMI-GLOSS Seattle area $17.99/quart.
Consumer Reports rated it tops a few years ago--haven't checked since. IF you need a clear sealer for inside. We've used it on furniture, floors, walls, panels, projects (it's amazing for crafts) -- we're using it now on our new wall paneling, which is a pre-sanded 1/4" (less) plywood that happens to be very pretty wood on the good side.
Best with your project, if you can get some photos and post them? Click Go Advanced at the bottom next to Post Quick Reply. Then click on the paperclip, browse your picture file in your computer, be sure to upload, and voila. It's a little weird as you don't see your pics until your post is on the FGRV site...and if you post more than one per message they'll all be touching each other, no spaces, nowhere to label them as far as I've found so far.
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