Should I plywood walls or ceiling first?

[belfert]

I am getting close to being able to hang plywood in my bus.  Should I do the walls or ceiling first?

Brian Elfert

[H3Jim]

Does it matter?

My ceiling and wall panels don't actually meet, so it didin't matter on mine.  If your panels do meet, having the walls up might help hold up teh ceiling panels while you fasten them.  As for internal walls, definetly the ceiling first.  I used pocket hole screws to hold 3/4 plywodd to the floor and ceiling, making for very thin but sturdy walls.

[jjrbus]

On my MCI5C I did the walls first. For the roof radius I used 1/4 in luan and used the wall as a stop as I forced the luan up against the ceiling. If useing thinker wood on walls than ceiling (you do not need 3/4in wood on the ceiling or walls) you can also put a rabbit in the top of the wall panel to blend them together. There is also bender board or wiggle wood available for curved areas.
Things to think about, What are you going to cover walls with? In my bedroom I was going to cover the walls with carpet, so I used 1/4 in plywood on walls. If you are gong to cover with wallpaper, maybe sandiply (very smooth finish) would be a good investment?  Befor plywooding I figured where my awning arms would mount and put 1X blocking, others have used plate aluminum.  If usseing thin stock for ceiling, you can put heavy gauge sheet metal behind it,where you are going to have upper cabinets, then you have something to hold the screws. Take a look around and think things through.
                                                                                                               Work?/Play safely Jim

[TomC]

On my AMGeneral transit, the roof is flatter than most.  What I did was strip the interior to the bare metal, repair a couple of cracks over the doors (not a surprise considering how many times a transit buses doors operate), wire brushed then Rustoleum primed it.  Blocked off the windows not used, then screwed to the steel cross members 1x2 wood strips going for and aft spaced about a foot apart.  Also cut 3 holes for the A/C's with reinforcing, and 2 holes for the Fantastic fans-one over the kitchen and one in the bath (one over the bed would have been good to). This did two things, it made for 2.25" of sprayed foam (foaming over the metal, I think, is important since any exposed metal will transmit cold or hot from outside).  Then covered the walls with 1/4" plywood and 1/8" plywood (bends easily) for the ceiling-also screwed to the 1x2's (practically the whole bus is screwed with no glue to allow flexing and can easily take anything apart if need be).  After the ceiling was up, also installed a sheet of Kemlite (looks like plastic plaster) on the ceiling above the bath for moisture blocking and ease of cleaning.  Now I installed all my walls and overhead cabinets.  When the interior was complete, then I finished the walls and ceiling. On the walls, glued outdoor carpet. On the ceiling, painted it white gloss with oak strips going along the same path as the 1x2's underneath.  Makes for a mountain cabin look and much easier than a headliner.  In the bedroom instead of painting the ceiling, used the same outdoor carpet on the ceiling for a warmer feeling.  Good Luck, TomC

[belfert]

It looks like I can do the walls first before the ceiling.  The ceiling will be complicated by vents and roof airs.

I have been thinking that 3/8" would be good for the walls, but 1/4" would be even easier to hang on the walls.  1/4" is so thin that I am not sure what type of screws would work.  Isn't 1/4" or even 3/8" going to be too thin to hang cabinets on the side walls?  I won't necessary have metal to screw the cabinets into.

The biggest interior issue/delimma I have right now is what to put on the walls as a final finish.  I would just use carpet, but I will be out in the desert on a dry lake bed often and dust will be a HUGE issue.  I would love to do tongue and groove like a Motorcabin, but I don't have the budget of $3,000 or $4,000 to do that.

Any suggestions for an easy to clean interior finish that is fairly inexpensive?

Brian Elfert

[jjrbus]

1/4 or 3/8th is too thin to hang cabinates on!  Can you back this up where you want cabinets with sheet metal? Could you mount cleats behind the plywood where the cabinets go? Think this one out you want the upper cabinets securly mounted.
  I was able to use 1/4 in plywood in the bedroom and bath (no cabinets) and then used 1/2in in the front where the cabinets would be.  I had framed windows with 2X stock, so  window treatments was not a consideration.

[Ross]

Any suggestions for an easy to clean interior finish that is fairly inexpensive?

Vinyl wallpaper.  It looks good, easy to clean and it's cheap.  I bought it on-line for 2.99/roll.  I hung some today in the bathroom.

[belfert]

Any suggestions for an easy to clean interior finish that is fairly inexpensive?

Vinyl wallpaper.  It looks good, easy to clean and it's cheap.  I bought it on-line for 2.99/roll.  I hung some today in the bathroom.

Is vinyl wallpaper any different from the wallpaper sold at Home Depot or similiar places?  Isn't wallpaper a pain to hang with the paste and such?

Brian Elfert

[Ross]

Any suggestions for an easy to clean interior finish that is fairly inexpensive?

Vinyl wallpaper.  It looks good, easy to clean and it's cheap.  I bought it on-line for 2.99/roll.  I hung some today in the bathroom.

Is vinyl wallpaper any different from the wallpaper sold at Home Depot or similiar places?  Isn't wallpaper a pain to hang with the paste and such?

Brian Elfert

If you pay retail for it, it can go $40+ per roll.  Just look for vinyl.  It comes in plain paper and vinyl.  I basically went on-line because no one stocks it.  There are so many different patterns they all special order whatever you pick out of the catalogs.  None of our HD's stock it.  It is sort of a pain to hang, but it looks good when it's done and it adds some color to the walls.  Laying tile on a 45* diagonal is more of a pain.  I worked on that today also.

This is the place I got mine....Enter "vinyl" as a keyword and it will display only vinyl wallpaper.

http://www.wallpaperdiscount.com/search.asp