Decided to reseal the roof and you know how one thing leads to another. Or a case of the "might as wells".

Resealed the roof. Went over all seams, joints, and rivet heads with 3M 4200 Marine Sealant then 2 coats of Anvil 450. Roof looks really nice bright and clean.





Decided to replace the crank-up antenna while working on the roof. Bought one of the new "Jack" antennas and moved it to the other side of the coach. Thought the chance of a low limb or something hitting it was less on that side than on the curb side. You can see that it sticks up about the same as the Satellite Dome.





Now for the biggy!!! With the roof water tight and looking good and a 20 year old headliner that has seen it's better days Let's put in a new Headliner. Not finished yet and hope to post pictures of the finished project later. Right now most of the old liner is out and wires are hanging everywhere.











Nick

Looks like you had no insulation up there either!

I guess this is what I will be doing soon when I add much needed insulation. I have to repair my headliner also as I have a bad crack in the vinyl headliner where there had been a water leak and the vinyl is hard as a rock.

Great stuff Nick

M just mentioned that when we had the bus a guy recommended to buy a kit for $175 they use on refrigerated trailers (behind walls and panels and gives stability and insulation). You spray it kind of like foundation foam. We forgot the name of the product but a semi trailer repair shop might know. 10 times better than any other insulation, figure them trailers run in the desert etc.

Nick, it looks like a job good for the next 50 years. Couple of questions are you coating or painting the headliner before you insulate it? And are you running extra wires in case that in the future you want to add lights, appliances, computers you get the picture? Beautiful work.
Rafael

thanks for those wonderfull pics This convinces me not to install solar panel on the roof.A Honda unit to fit where I removed my central ac seems more appropriate.wally proud owner of 34ftmonarch

Nick I have been staring at the headliner that is missing in my forward berth for far too many seasons. Part of the problem is trying to decide how to execute my plan. With a boat the ability to find straight lines, square corners etc. is pretty difficult. As already mentioned you may want to add extra wires etc. My plan is to emulate a cruiser I saw being constructed in New Brunswick. They used insulated panels wrapped with headliner and backed with velcro and had the looped velcro on the bracing so panels could be removed for later installs. With the cross-bracing apparently straight and potentially square on the Barth this might be a semi easy alternative for you.
Best of luck and keep the pics flowing.

Rather then adding extra wires you could run 1 or 2 lengths of flexible plastic conduit. That way you can later fish anything you want front to rear, side to side

Good idea, Ed.
I wish it were SOP for mfr's

Wow, major project!

Hard to believe there is no insulation, at least my Regal was built when they still put some meager fiberglass in the ceiling.

I have never used the spray on foam stuff but it looks like the way to go.

I would really like to be able to retrofit some double pane windows. Meanwhile I seal and insulate every time I open a wall or panel. Hoping to avoid a total redo like yours!

Good luck with the project, keep us posted.

Hocking Hills is just around the corner!

Have Barth, will travel

Thanks all some good info here, As to using conduit for extra wires- just use black plastic tubing (cheaper and easier to pull wire in, it is just 12v.) Understood that the breakaway was Barth's attempt to enter the lower price market and as such was a compromise when purchased. The price was right and it was in good shape with few issues. The insulation should not have been a surprise as they were also grasping for straws in order to exist. My plan is to coat roof with several layers, poke fiberglass in where possible whenever panels are off for other reasons. The unit and my life span doesn't justify a total tear down and foam, but will consider overlay panels down the center between cabinets overhead and side walls. Being just less than 6' gives some ceiling wiggle room. Any improvement will make a noticeable difference and added over existing will not have the aluminum structure to transfer heat in or out. Looking for the most, cost and labor effective plan. But first to shop for new king pins.

If the plastic fixtures look old and yellow after the new headliner is in. Krylon for plastics will make them look new. I did all the vent rings and the AC unit a couple years back and they still look new.
I sprayed contact cement to put the vinyl up and had to roll it with a small paint roller many times for a few months, but finally it stays in place.
I'd probably go with a semi-rigid polyiso like celotex for insulation. It could be pressure fit and sealed with silver peal and stick, and it would resist mold way better than fiberglass if it happened to get wet. http://www.lowes.com/pd_15330-...n%2Bboard&facetInfo=
Good luck with the rest of the project. I'm sure it will turn out great.

I would do the same. I have reviewed the foam material and process and don't think it would be easy to do. If I were to remove the head liner, I would use similar material Danny suggested only thicker. I would also seal the gaps between the insulation and the frame work with the recommended sealer.

I see a 1 1/2 inch available also, but my experience in house building tells me that an air space also adds to the insulation value. We used to attach the furring strips to the block, then insul the area between them, then cover the whole thing with plastic or kraft-foil. It was then determined that celotex against the block, then furring on top of that leaving a 3/4 inch air space was actually a higher R value, due in part to the air space. I know it doesn't sound like it makes sense, but insulation values rarely do. That's why I would go with the 3/4, a 5R by itself, with trapped air adding perhaps a point, and sealing with peal and stick another bit.