Ceiling panels..

[TurnThePage]

The ceiling of my trailer has the typical vinyl (or similar) covered panels separated by a plastic strip every four feet. Over the years the panels have wrinkled a bit where they butt against those plastic trim strips. This winter had a prolonged period with extremely heavy snow load on the trailer, and I've since noticed that the wrinkles have gotten worse, and I can even see a couple spots where the white covering has peeled back and escaped from the plastic strips completely.

This appears to be strictly related to flexing with no other damage apparent. I'm confident there's no water intrusion or anything like that. I guess i could just ignore it as it's not a very valuable trailer, but wouldn't be opposed to a simple repair. I was hoping maybe there are wider trim strips available. So what's the best fix?

[rjsurfer]

OK, I tried lowerering one panel yesterday following the tips I received and it was a no go. The Keystone employee that installed that panel must have been getting paid by the staple. There must have been 50 staples used in supporting the panel across the center of the inside roof.

Any attempt to pry the panel just caused the panel to tear apart !

So I'm not ready to tackle the job of completely replacing the panel, it just goes into too many cabinets and fixtures.

Looking for a plan B, maybe take a closer look at the roof side and attack it from there.

Ron W.

[TurnThePage]

I knew I was going to have to cut the trim strips where they went under the walls and cabinets. I definitely wasn't sure how to proceed. Thanks for the info!

[rjsurfer]

Thanks Roger and Dr.Quick, just the info I needed.

Ron

[Roger10378]

I didn't replace any panels. I just re-glued the edge and replaced the strip with the wider one.

[Dr_Quick]

Hi Ron. Yes, you have it correct. When I went to remove ceiling panels, I used a utility knife to cut paneling at edge of the wall. I used something like a metal paint edging tool that I placed between knife and plastic molding to keep from damaging molding.
When installing new ceiling panel, I also used little finish nails where needed, and they were almost invisible.

[rjsurfer]

Dr Quick wrote:
When I had to remove the trim strip on my previous trailer, the strips actually were over the top of the walls, so when they were taken out, the strip pulled out from over the wall. To reinstall the strips, I cut them shorter so that they were as long as the width of the trailer inside. I did not see any way to get them back over the top of the wall once the repair of the ceiling was done. My trailer had a plastic "cove molding" at the top of the wall. So I inserted each end of the trim strip over the lip of the molding, then used a rubber mallet to install strip. Worked out fine.

My cross strips stopped at the edge of the wall and were easy to pull off but the panels themselves went into the wall and the only way I can see to pull the panels down is to cut them at the wall. Is that the way you did yours?

The moulding would then be placed back, holding the panels in place.

Am I on track of is there an easier way?

Thanks

Ron

[Dr_Quick]

When I had to remove the trim strip on my previous trailer, the strips actually were over the top of the walls, so when they were taken out, the strip pulled out from over the wall. To reinstall the strips, I cut them shorter so that they were as long as the width of the trailer inside. I did not see any way to get them back over the top of the wall once the repair of the ceiling was done. My trailer had a plastic "cove molding" at the top of the wall. So I inserted each end of the trim strip over the lip of the molding, then used a rubber mallet to install strip. Worked out fine.

[Roger10378]

Yes and No. It pulls out and push back in but not very easily. It took a lot to get them in.

[TurnThePage]

Do those trim stips just pull out? Then push right back in again?

[Roger10378]

There are 2 widths of the cover strip available. If you have the narrow one then you can replace it with wider. That is what I did to the 2 that were showing the same problem in mine. I haven't put a lot of miles on mine since the repair but so far so good.