Wallpaper vs RV

[evy]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on my very first DIY camper conversion, using a 2010 extended Ford E250.





Today I have a question regarding wallpaper, I've noticed that some RVs have them on the outside walls.

My question is, can I simply buy "standard" wallpaper with glue on the back or do I have to buy the ones you have to add glue to the back and maybe use a certain kind of glue?

After googling it I found that some were talking about factory installed heat/bonded to the plywood or commercial glue and some say residential wall paper is ok.
With the heat/cold/humidity extremes and all I just don't want to see it start peeling after a couple of months 😕

I plan on installing some on the outside walls and ceiling, but as you can see in the pictures I won't have a lot of square footage.

Thanks for any info!

[jjrbus]

I was advised against using carpet on the walls in an RV I built, being told it was very hard to keep clean. Due to the difficulty of using anything else I went with carpet in the bedroom.

I had no problem with it, vacuum it once in a while, maybe if you smoke and have pets, burn incense or put it behind the kitchen work area it might not do so well! Shower stall is definitely out.

It's been a long time but I think I used something called Henry carpet adhesive. This was regular carpet, not thin like you are describing. I would think 3M 77 would suffice, but may be something better on the market now?

[DrewE]

I have actually done something like carpeting a wall in my RV, putting in some thin carpeting when redoing/renovating some of the cabover area of my class C. I used an inexpensive eco-friendly (i.e. recycled) gray carpet/rug from Lowes, and attached it with contact cement and staples. I had a couple of buckboard sort of things besides the walls, which are removable, and on those I wrapped the carpet over the edges to help keep it secured. (They do have what is claimed to be water-based latex contact cement. It is water based, and so a little neater and rather more pleasant to work with, but in my experience it completely fails at actually sticking things together.)

The advantage of carpeting are that it's warm and fuzzy, and in my case it kind of matches the ceiling material which is a sort of carpeting (but in a light beige color, which I would have preferred if I could find). Disadvantages I can think of are possible difficulty in keeping it clean, which is not so much a tremendous problem in a cabover bed area but would be a big difficulty if used around the kitchen.

It is not at all an unreasonable option on the whole.

[evy]

I think I might be going in another direction, I'm thinking of using that grey carpet felt they use on speaker boxes, if you look at my first picture, the camera flash makes the wood stain look a bit blue but in person it's more grey than blue, and it would fit in pretty good with the light grey Formica and the black rubber flooring. But that all depends on how hard it is to install. I'm guessing 3M super 77?

[Joe417]

Our 5thW has wall paper trim strips. Probably not standard wallpaper adhesive, but due to expansion and contraction of materials (heating and cooling cycles) it comes loose.

We have to re-attach it all the time. It's a bit of a pain.

Had some in our TC, rather than repair every time we turned around, we removed it. We don't miss it.

I think the pre-decorated wall board will stand up to the thermal issues better.

[jjrbus]

evy wrote:

Almot wrote:
Not sure what you mean by "outside walls". Nobody covers exterior wall outside with wallpaper. There is normally a 1/4" interior plywood panel (covered with wallpaper), then 1.5-1.75" void filled with insulation, then exterior aluminum or fiberglass siding (or a steel sheet in motorhome).

I don't want to add wallpaper on the inside walls only the outside walls (not the outside of the wall) and also the ceiling, as you can see in the pictures as of now I only have plywood on the ceiling, I will be adding 3/8" plywood on the outside walls as soon as all the wiring and plumbing is done.

I have been struggling with the wallpaper, trying to cut around windows and existing openings and structures. If you can put the wall paper on before you install ply wood, you will make your life much easier. I have had to take down a few pieces and throw them out. Also if fussing too much with the paper, too much glue will be squeezed out and the paper will quickly loosen around the edges/seams. There is a seam adhesive available for this.

A non pattern match wall paper would be a great choice, "grass cloth" is the only one I know of and I am very grateful I am using it! I cannot imagine installing and trying to match pattern!

[jjrbus]

Daleg70 wrote:
Naio -- where would you buy the wallboard with wallpaper attached that you mentioned?

thx -- Dale

I have a vague recollection of the board in Home Depot/Lowes? not sure on that one. But some of the Mobile Home parts places carry it. There was one on RT 27 near Lake Wales that had piles of it. But that was a few years ago.

[Almot]

DrewE wrote:

For a simple and inexpensive and likely long-lasting (but not necessarily beautiful) finish, a good latex exterior house paint, on top of a decent primer, would be pretty good. I've heard of people painting wooden boats with such paint and getting good service, no worse than expensive marine boat paints.

Yes, paint will do. Over plywood or over wallpaper, or over anything. Cheap, easy to apply and re-coat. "Not necessarily beautiful"? Oh cmon, we are talking about space smaller than walk-in closet, you will hardly notice those flowers and patterns of wallpaper 🙂

And - yes, 100% acrylic latex paint works on boat hulls. Not same well as epoxy marine paint, but is easy to apply and doesn't cost nearly as much.

[evy]

Almot wrote:
Not sure what you mean by "outside walls". Nobody covers exterior wall outside with wallpaper. There is normally a 1/4" interior plywood panel (covered with wallpaper), then 1.5-1.75" void filled with insulation, then exterior aluminum or fiberglass siding (or a steel sheet in motorhome).

I don't want to add wallpaper on the inside walls only the outside walls (not the outside of the wall) and also the ceiling, as you can see in the pictures as of now I only have plywood on the ceiling, I will be adding 3/8" plywood on the outside walls as soon as all the wiring and plumbing is done.

[evy]

Naio wrote:
Your plan looks great 🙂

Thanks, this is actually an older version, the new one is basically the same but a lot more detailed and refined.

[DrewE]

Almot wrote:

Not sure what you mean by "outside walls". Nobody covers exterior wall outside with wallpaper. There is normally a 1/4" interior plywood panel (covered with wallpaper), then 1.5-1.75" void filled with insulation, then exterior aluminum or fiberglass siding (or a steel sheet in motorhome).

Presumably the meaning is "exterior walls," as opposed to "interior partitions." At least, that's what I took it to mean.

For a simple and inexpensive and likely long-lasting (but not necessarily beautiful) finish, a good latex exterior house paint, on top of a decent primer, would be pretty good. I've heard of people painting wooden boats with such paint and getting good service, no worse than expensive marine boat paints. The paint companies know that house paint is a good portion of their sales, and so put a fair bit of research and development into formulating good exterior paints that last well even under damp conditions.

[nineoaks2004]

Looks like you have got a project.. I did one many years ago I took a class A down to the frame and started all over again, took the better part of 6 months. Good luck with the re build

[Daleg70]

Naio -- where would you buy the wallboard with wallpaper attached that you mentioned?

thx -- Dale

[Naio]

You can also buy thin wallboard with wallpaper already attached, in 4x8 sheets (or metric equivalent). Fewer choices of patterns, but it might be worth checking to see if there is one you like!

Your plan looks great 🙂

[Almot]

In my trailer it is some synthetic material, probably vinyl film. Definitely not a paper. Attached to plywood panel extremely well, I suspect some thermal laminating process rather than glue.

Not sure what you mean by "outside walls". Nobody covers exterior wall outside with wallpaper. There is normally a 1/4" interior plywood panel (covered with wallpaper), then 1.5-1.75" void filled with insulation, then exterior aluminum or fiberglass siding (or a steel sheet in motorhome).