I am kicking around the idea of painting the interior walls of my 5th wheel.  If I decide to do it, I will start with the interior of a closet to make sure I like it before tacking the main living areas.  Most of my walls have that border about 3' from the floor, and it is coming loose in some places.  Has anyone ever removed it completely, and how difficult a job is it to get it all off.  The walls are those vinyl sheets and there is a sort of tape that looks like it's meant to cover the seams where the sheets meet.  The tape doesn't fit smooth against the walls, but if I take it off what effect would that have on the looks of the wall.  It must have been put there for a reason, possibly to cover expansion/contraction of the joints, although I don't see how it would do much good in that regard because it looks like a thin strip of paper.

Has anyone attempted redecorating to include painting the walls?  What special problems am I likely to run into that I wouldn't have noticed when painting wallboard in a stix 'n brix?  The windows have those fabric covered, padded cornices, and I don't mind keeping them so I might just try to paint around them (carefully) as I don't want to tackle removing them.  I would appreciate any advice, comments, or experiences in this task.

gypsy

Before I start remember that this is just my opinion. I think by painting the interior you would loose alot of the re-sale value of your RV. If the walls are OK maybe you could just remove the 6" wide border with a blow dryer. I never did like any border that I saw. I have seen some older ones (much olded than yours) painted and I did not like it. Remember, JMO, you do what you like , it's your home and you do what you like. Bob

one of the things that has always frustrated me is that rvs are already "decorated". in our sticks home i paint or move things around every couple of years. let us know how it turns out

Gypsy, I've never tried to paint over the wall covering. Never seen anyone who has. If you can take a sample to a good paint store, they should be able to advise you on the best paint to use and how to prepare the wall. In our 5er the one inch tape covers a seam between two of the panels, the seams match the material that covers the panel so they sort of blend in. Like you stated, the tape is not flat and just doesn't have a smooth look. The reason for this is the tape also hides the staple heads used to attach the wall panels to the framing of the trailer. These staples work loose while travelling down the highway due to the constant flexing of the walls and road vibrations. In addition the wall panels seams get out of alignment and cause the seams to be uneven which also affects the look of the tape. The tape can be removed by heating it with a blow dryer, be careful not to scorch the panel covering. Once heated pull gently on the tape and it should come off in one long strip. You need to heat and pull in sections until you've removed the entire strip. With the tape removed you can add staples to tighten the panels back to the frame to smooth out the seams. These need to be the type of staples a carpenter uses so it requires a special staple gun. I tried 1/2 inch staples using a regular staple gun and they came loose after a few trips. I then used 1 1/4 inch carpenter staples in my air powered nail/staple gun and they have held solid. I used a water based contact cement to reattach the tape, rolled it with a wallpaper roller and it looks as good as new. I would have preferred to use new tape but was unable to locate any that matched or even came close to our wall covering. I only had to do this in 3 spots so far. The other seams are holding. So it's a lot less work than painting the whole interior.

Thanks very much for the information.  I didn't realize that the tapes could be hiding something like staples.  I'm not sure I want to tackle a paint job since there is so much more to it than slapping on a coat of paint!

gypsy

I meant to include, if you paint you probably wouldn't be happy with the look due to the tape would still be there, just painted over. Or if you removed the tape and tried to patch the seams, it would be very difficult to make the area blend in. Plus the patch would probably crack and peel due to the road travel flex & vibration.

I think that on many brands, the border is purely decorative and not hiding seams. I know for a fact that the wall board on my Carriage is one piece from floor to ceiling. Anyone having questions should call their manufacturer and find out how theirs was made. I happen to think that removing the borders and painting is an excellent way to personalize your home. Just about all brands are "cookie cutter" coming off the production line.

I wonder what the purpose of the border is - just to relieve the drabness of those marbelized looking walls, I suppose.

gypsy

I also want to custumize my rolling home with paint and such. Here are a couple of links that will lead you to info about what others have done to make this happen.
Sounds like we just need good imagination, good prep, and good primers. The first copy and paste link has comments after the main post that include reco's regarding priming by Jim Twamley.

http://rvnow.rvtravel.com/2009/01/rv-makeover-will-save-you-money.html

The second link is a picture odessy showing the remake on a trailer, and includes before and after pictures with commentary! Inspiring!

http://picasaweb.google.com/alpenliter/ExtremeMakeoverRVStyle?feat=directlink#

This alpenliter's blog is

http://www.rv-boondocking-the-good-life.com/the-trail-we-followed-to-our-custom-rv.html

This is only my second post on any forum, so I apologize in advance for breaking any protocols.

mlguy