Roof Materials

[IDSmiths]

Hello All
We are still in the middle of repairing the roof on our 1979 Starmaster Starmate. The previous owner has some leaking issues and when he did the repairs he removed about half of the styrofoam material inside and then proceded to use foam insulation from a roll up camping matress to fill the gaps up before covering it all with scraps of wood and screwing wood screws willy nilly all over half of which ended up busting through the roof. Then they proceded to cover them all with a gallon of silicone EACH!  No Really

We finally have them all repaired and are in the middle of resealing the roof but we are trying to figure out the best material to replace the interior parts with. We picked up some sheet insulation to fill in the missing spots and were thinking of using some form of wall board to cover that but how much weight is too much on these roofs. We have searched some of the posts so we have some ideas on what to use but does anybody have an idea of what was there originally on top of the styrofoam?

Any sugguestions would be appreciated!

Thanks
Rydell and Lonni
1979 Starcraft Starmate

[ScouterMom]

My 73 starmaster had what appeared to be heavy vinyl contact paper glued to the foamboard - it think it probably came already ON the foamboard they used, as it was seamed where the foam itself had seams.

However, if you wanted to cover the exposed foam you replaced, you could probably use just some lightweight paneling, or even vinyl wallpaper.

Take a look at my earliest photos of my starcraft from last spring, and you will see it hanging off the ceiling where it pealed back to exposed the wet foam.

I haven't seen anything like it in the home improvement stores, or even on the web.  

I have considered useing something like a vinyl bathrrom wallpaper on mine - or getting lightweight paneling.  Even thought of using those paneling pieces made for showers - they would be easy to clean, light colored and bright.  They also would not dent or tear like vinyl over foam.

Laura

[prncssgeek]

I don't know about Starcraft, but I'm sure Laura's right. My Coleman's roof was (working for the outside) aluminum, 1" styrofoam and then 1/8" luan. That's not quite how I'm putting it back together though.

[austinado16]

Had to do a bunch of roof repairs to my '87 Starcraft Nova after I purchased it in Feb. '07.

Mine was aluminumn roof skin, 1" of rigid styrofoam insulation, and then 1/8" layer of Luan with a textured white vinyl "wallpaper" for the ceiling texture.

I was able to leave my styrofoam and most of the Luan in tact, and just peel the bubbling and delaminating vinyl wallpaper off completely.

Then, after making all the structural repairs, I glued and finish stapled panels of "Abitibi" which is that wall board you'd use in a public restroom.  It's about 1/8" thick 4x8 sheets, and is smooth semi-gloss white on one side.

Once installed, you really can't tell it's not the original ceiling.

Here are my threads with details and photos for how I did mine.

http://www.arveeclub.com/showthread.php?t=62226&highlight=starcraft+ceiling

http://www.arveeclub.com/showthread.php?t=63128&highlight=starcraft+ceiling

And a photo of the finished results.....

[ScouterMom]

Isn't that an awesome looking ceiling?  That's the stuff I'd like to re-do my ceiling with.  

The finish is very washable & durable if anything gets on it, and the light, shiny finish will reflect light and make the camper brighter inside.  

Yours looks so crisp and fresh with it's blue & white color scheme!

Great job!

Laura

[austinado16]

Geez Laura.....thanks for the kind words!

I am pleased with the results, especially considering how really bad it was.

The blue and white curtains are original to the camper and it has matching cushions.  I like the scheme alot......especially considering this was a $250 pile of junk that I'd only seen some low res exterior photos of, prior to going to buy it.