Headliner Upgrade

When we first purchased our boat it was functionally sound with regard to all the systems. We had a complete survey, top to bottom, and verified that the sails, rigging, engine, electrical, plumbing and hull were all in good to excellent condition. However with a boat of this vintage, there were cosmetic upgrades which begged to be made.

One of the most obvious asthetic improvements to be made was replacing the original headiner. While not terribly shabby, there were areas of mildew staining around two of the salon ports and parts of the headliner had lost contact with the hull in the quater berth area, behind the nav station and in the liquor cabinet. Because of the way the original headliner had been installed, it was virtually impossible to replace it using the old upholstery system. Further research led us to Randy Spicer at the Yacht Docktor, who specializes in woodwork, as well as headliner replacement. He suggested going with a panelized headliner. The advantages to this approach is the headliner is designed in several removable panels, making access to wiring and coach-roof hardware simple and allowing for piece-meal panel replacement, should it ever be needed.

Installation of a panelized headliner involves installing furring strips to which each of the individual panels will be attached. These furring strips are glued and screwed into the underside of the coach roof.

The individual panels are made from quarter inch marine plywood, cut into panels to match the coach roof pattern for the cabin. These panels are then padded and upholstered. Industrial grade velcro strips are mechanically attached to both the furring strips with the matching hook side attached along the borders of the upholstered panels.

Wiring holes and dorade vents are marked and cut out of the appropriate panels. After the panels are attached to the furring strips, all lights and trim hardware are installed to the panels. In the case of dorade vents, the screened teak trim covers were installed. The same was true for the mast and hatch trim pieces.

The individual headliner covers for each of the book shelf cubbies were fabricated using the same technique.






Headliner that was used behind the nav station and liquor cabinet was replaced with teak plywood and teak strips.
-------------------->

The following are some photos of the finished headliner and some of the details.

Companionway---

Starboard salon---

Cabin hatch---

Mast detail---