Cuddy cabin restoration

[ryanshultz]

I found leaking around the hatch in the cabin of my century 21 cuddy cab. I removed the carpet and marked the leaks. I do not want carpet back up on the celling. I was thinking that I will repair the fiberglass, sand the fiberglass smooth, calk around the hatch, and paint white. Does anyone have any ideas of something else I could do to make it look better?

 

[old islander]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

Tape a couple pictures from a Victoria's secret catalog up there.

 

[mlrman]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

Just an idea....you know the bed liner material people are coating their truck beds with? How about a version of that? I wonder if they make that stuff in red? (hmmm, now thinking of doing that in my boat)

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

Just an idea....you know the bed liner material people are coating their truck beds with? How about a version of that? I wonder if they make that stuff in red? (hmmm, now thinking of doing that in my boat)

They make it in red, but just like black bedliner, it will fade when exposed to UV.

I would never put it on any portion of a fiberglass or tin boat that can't be removed, coated, then reinstalled in the boat.

 

[mlrman]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

Like the original poster, I was thinking about using it in place of interior carpet inside my cuddy cabin, so it wouldn't be exposed to UV. You raise a good point though. If I or someone wanted to remove that coating, it would be a real pain inside a cuddy, unless those panels are removable, which they are not. Thanks for the tip.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

This fabric on the celling you call carpet is actually called a "headliner". It has noise dampening effect. If you use gelcoat, paint, bed liner or any other solid finish, the noise level inside the cabin will increase multifold. The fabric is not that bad if kept clean and mildew free. If you want, you can search for another headliner material that meets your approval. Keep in mind that it has to be stretchable so you can fit it to the contours of the celling or you will need a professional tailor to cut it and sew it for you.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

Like the original poster, I was thinking about using it in place of interior carpet inside my cuddy cabin, so it wouldn't be exposed to UV. You raise a good point though. If I or someone wanted to remove that coating, it would be a real pain inside a cuddy, unless those panels are removable, which they are not. Thanks for the tip.

No, not direct UV from above, you are correct. But reflected from the surface of all that wet stuff surrounding the boat while it's in use...............

Since Ryan didn't post a pix of his Century, I'm not sure how tall of a cuddy it has. The last cuddy I was in had that headliner material down the side walls of the cabin to the top of the upholstered back cushions of the seats. So realistically, UV could be coming thru a side window to fade the bedliner.

 

[mlrman]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

All good points. The original poster and I have the same issue. Cuddy cabin headliner material that got wet and mildewed stained. I have searched the forum here and been unable to find anything that can remove the mildew stains. I'm sure that's why he wanted to tear out the material and replace it with another alternative.

So, obviously the "spray in bed liner" idea isn't the answer. Hey I was just throwing ideas out there ha.

If you guys have found a way to remove mildew stains from the cuddy headliner, please share! Otherwise, it looks like I will also be removing mine like the original poster did and just replace it.

P.S. sorry ryanshultz if you consider this thread hi-jacked!

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Re: Cuddy cabin restoration

Removing the headliner is a good amount of efforts and hours then you will have the glue removal to deal with before you can even think about gluing in the new headliner which is by itself a project. If the mold/mildew are not out of control, try everything you can to clean it and be assured that this would only be a fraction of the efforts that are required for a complete replacement.

Rent (or buy) one of these portable carpet cleaners (such as Bissell Light Green. Start with 10% to 15% concentration bleach in a spray can (or 3M mildew remover) and get rid of all of it. When you think you got them all, go back and do this all again for good measure, you don't want to be breathing this $!#T.

If this step is successful, you can move on to cleaning otherwise, the replacement is now justified

For cleaning, buy your preferred carpet cleaning formula from Lowe's or Home Depot and have at it.

After you are done cleaning, keep the cabin well ventilated until the headliner drys.