More details, Ceiling Replacement....

The details up front have taken some time to finish....although I wonder when I will be finished with all the little things....if ever.


We've decided to replace all the interior Birch as best we can without removing the cabinets. We discovered the reason the old and new paneling are so different in color is that this trailer had "Blond" finishing on all the wood - more white looking then blond though - yuk! 


The ceiling piece I replaced most recently took some finagling to get into place and look good.  I also started insulating with the foil-bubble-foil type thermal barrier while the ceiling was exposed.


Here are pics of the progress which took more then a day to complete:

It may not look too bad here but the color of the old paneling would prevent a nice amber glow from the shellac that we are using

You can see staining here - as well as the Formica that we will not be saving as it is dinged, drilled,battered and bruised

Pretty rough around the edges too - Cabinets are fastened from above and below as well as the walls

I installed the blocks of wood around the perimeter of the cabinets as the means to attach the Birch, insulation added too

Here you notice the vent area and how nice all the framing is - all the original framing wood is clear! Now ya just get the knotty bent kindling when you buy 1x2 and 2x2 lumber

More photos of the firring installed for attaching the ceiling paneling

I used my new Multi tool with the wood cutting blade to cut around the cabinets - it worked very well in close quarters

Here is the piece as cut out - I was careful in removal so that I could use it as a pattern

Another view...

And magically here is the new one....I used my ancient Craftsman saber saw and some awesome Bosch blades, 20 teeth per inch for clean cuts on both sides of the Birch plywood 

Another view... I drilled pilot holes on the inside corners to get a nice clean cut with my saw

Here it is installed - it took several tries to make it fit well - a PIA for one person let me tell ya!

Another view....a sneak peek at the color of the Birch with one coat of shellac

It fit very well...I was impressed with myself but admittedly was screaming profanity by the time I put my first staple in...  

This is a good view of old vs. new... we will be replacing all the Plywood and stripping the cabinets too

This is the old rather yucky color of the paneling... that has got to go! Bye - bye now!