Ceiling trim falling off

[TxCowboy]

A corner piece of the ceiling trim fell off in our Key West. The larger trim pieces and the second corner piece are now loose as well. Seems they were installed at the factory with brad nails that stick into the roof by 1/4 inch or less.

Can this be repaired with wood screws? I don't own a brad nailer but I also don't want to screw into something important in the roof. Clearly 1/4 inch into the roof is insufficient to hold the trim pieces.

BTW, I'm still under warranty for another couple of months but I really don't want to pay a RV tech to repair this trim if I can do it myself.

Here's the pic of the trim failure:

 

[cookie]

That ceiling material is pretty thin, probably less than a quarter inch so the brads are doing all they can.
But if I were you I would invest in a brad nailer. You can get a cheapo at Harbor freight that will probably do what you need it to do.
I would then use pins that are a little longer and shoot them in at an angle. That way the gravity force from the weight of the trim will not pull the pins out of the angle with their downward force.
Or, if you can wait till February I will be down in your area. Have pin nailer, will travel.

Peace
Dave

 

[ksucats]

Jeff: We had the same thing happen on our Key West - although over half of ours came down. LifeStyle (or RV Dealer) used some brads but they did also use screws about every two feet along. Has held up for over a year on some pretty rough roads (thinking Oklahoma - worst I've hit is a long time - and I do mean hit - kidney and back still feeling the pain).

 

[TxCowboy]

That ceiling material is pretty thin, probably less than a quarter inch so the brads are doing all they can.
But if I were you I would invest in a brad nailer. You can get a cheapo at Harbor freight that will probably do what you need it to do.
I would then use pins that are a little longer and shoot them in at an angle. That way the gravity force from the weight of the trim will not pull the pins out of the angle with their downward force.
Or, if you can wait till February I will be down in your area. Have pin nailer, will travel.

Peace
Dave

Dave, found a couple of nice brad nailers on the HF website. Do I need a special compressor for those or will my Viair 400P (used for RV tires) work?

- - - Updated - - -

Jeff: We had the same thing happen on our Key West - although over half of ours came down. LifeStyle (or RV Dealer) used some brads but they did also use screws about every two feet along. Has held up for over a year on some pretty rough roads (thinking Oklahoma - worst I've hit is a long time - and I do mean hit - kidney and back still feeling the pain).

Thanks for the insight, Ron. I would think a couple of screws might work but wasn't sure. Did you use the plastic inserts in addition to screws?

 

[cookie]

Dave, found a couple of nice brad nailers on the HF website. Do I need a special compressor for those or will my Viair 400P (used for RV tires) work?

That compressor will most likely not work because it holds no air in a tank. But.....if you add a tank...

Peace
Dave

 

[TxCowboy]

Yeah, thanks, Dave. How often do I really need to be dragging around a compressor with a large tank and a brad nailer? LOL

 

[wdk450]

I used RVers Goop elastomeric adhesive to reglue the ceiling trim strips in place with either duct tape holding it up or some sort of wood or metal support, until the glue dried overnight. This adhesive is clear and rubbery, so it will pull off only when you want it to.

You can get this in the RV accessories section (around automotive section) at Walmart.

 

[TxCowboy]

I used RVers Goop elastomeric adhesive to reglue the ceiling trim strips in place with either duct tape holding it up or some sort of wood or metal support, until the glue dried overnight. This adhesive is clear and rubbery, so it will pull off only when you want it to.

You can get this in the RV accessories section (around automotive section) at Walmart.

Thanks, Bill!

 

[ksucats]

LifeStyle only put the screws in - matched the color very well. No plastic inserts to my knowledge.

 

[Gary521]

More than likely, the roof surface is luan, which is just about 1/8" thick. I would use some kind of screws.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Yeah, thanks, Dave. How often do I really need to be dragging around a compressor with a large tank and a brad nailer? LOL

Probably not expensive to rent

 

[Stickdog]

Chisel point staples are better than the brads as they spread out while being driven. All the trim in my Hitchhiker is installed with them 14 years never had a piece come loose, unless I was doing some remodeling. Do need a matching color stick to fill the small depression left by the staple head.

 

[TxCowboy]

Borrowed a brad nailer and air compressor from a friend and made the repairs. Was very surprised how easy this repair was when using the right tools.

Thanks for everybody for your good comments.