Carpeting ply ceiling, before or after?

[Roostew]

Hi folks, I want to carpet the cabin ceiling, and maybe the walls too. Should I stick the carpet onto the ply ceiling before I slide it in, and attach it to the spars? Or is there some trick do doing it later on, once it's in place? Same question re: walls too. Cheers, Jim.

[aggie79]

Hello Jim,

There are many ways to approach the task. I was working by myself so what I did was build my roof framing so that it was removable. Then I added so temporary cross straps, removed the roof framing to the work bench, added the plywood, and added the carpeting. (Actually I used marine hull-liner.) It was easier for me to work with the roof upside down on the bench rather than overhead. Then I installed the finished assembly back in the teardrop.











Take care,
Tom

[starleen2]

Watch it Tom - your engineering is showing! That's neat idea!

[Roostew]

Hi Tom, that's a bloody cracker of an idea! Ingenious even. You just threw a spanner in the works though, I might have to get 2 sheets of ply tomoz instead of the one on the list. Not having to work o/head, would probably be worth the extra expense, and a bit of gravity would sure help the carpet go in the right direction, ya know what I mean? Being rolled on with a large piece of pipe! Another good idea. Tom......you're an ideas man.....I can tell! ha ha. I checked out your build a couple of times, and for a week or so, a shot of it outside your garage was my computer's screensaver, 'cos you have good taste in doors my freind!! Off the top of my head, you also had a groovy blue homemade beam compass! Howz that for a memory.................. where's my @#%$&* pencil! Thanks again Tom, nice of you to share your knowledge with others. Cheers, Jim.

[planovet]

A lot of it will depend on your building technique.

I put hull liner (like carpet) on my walls and I applied it before I put the walls in place. Much easier to do while horizontal.

I could have done the same with my ceiling but I chose to make it exposed wood. My ceiling just lays on top of the sandwiched walls and then the spars are installed on top of it.

[Roostew]

Hi Planovet, do you have any issues with condensation only having the walls covered? If carpeted walls takes care of the moisture problem, I won't bother doing the ceiling at all. I guess the carpet would tend to "crinkle" @ the radius if stuck on while flat, and then bent to fit. Cheers, Jim.

[planovet]

You should not have any significant condensation problems if you have proper venting. I will sometimes have a little condensation on the windows in the morning if I have been blasting the AC all night but have never had any on the ceiling.

Good luck!