Airstream Updates: Replacing the Mouse Fur Walls & Much More. Taking on a major Airstream renovation was NOT part of the plan for this winter. We thought we would rent a house in the Keys, enjoy time on the water and stuff ourselves with tropical fruits and fresh fish all while visiting with friends and family. Nowhere in that plan was “remove everything from our home and rip out the walls and floor.” But a funny thing happened after only a few days of living in our rental house. We started to realize that if we were going to continue living in the Airstream we really needed to make some much- needed changes.
There were a few large projects that we had been talking about for years but simply couldn’t do while it was our only home. We also had a pretty significant list of small changes and fixes that we wanted to make. Since for the first time, we not only had an alternative place to live but also a nice covered area under the house to stage our projects, and access to tools that we might not have from my dad and his local friends.
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So we made a list, created a rough schedule and went for it. Lists, lists, and more lists. In the end, we did a pretty good job of balancing fun stuff with renovation projects. I will admit though, that our last month in the Keys was skewed pretty heavily toward the project side of things. It was worth it as our little house on wheels is now better than ever and we’re excited a about all the awesome places it’s going to take us over the next few years and beyond. A little note before we begin: This is a really, really long post. Feel free to skip over the sections that don’t interest you.
I won’t be offended, I promise. Also, this is not a detailed how- to for each project. Instead, I will share before and after photos along with some of our methods and what we learned along the way. If you want more info please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments or send us an email. No More Mouse Fur Walls.
Up until sometime in the mid- 2. Airstream lined the interior walls of all their trailers with a carpet- like product called Ozite. It’s more commonly referred to as “mouse fur” for reasons that become apparent when you “pet’ it. Mouse fur walls are fairly common in the RVs. Not only is it cheap to install but it has a reputation for durability and resistance to mold and mildew. Unfortunately, it also has a tendency to stain and develop unsightly black marks — especially in areas where it gets wet for prolonged periods. In the past, both our large windows in the front and rear of the trailer had leaks that caused the mouse fur to turn an unsightly black color. The mouse fur had also developed small black spots caused by the aluminum dust that had shaken loose and stained through the walls.
Yup, that stuff has got to go! I found some information on Airforums. Back when we first got our Airstream I had some luck cleaning the walls, but at this point, they seemed too far gone for that method. And even if I had gotten it clean how often do I really want to rent a carpet cleaner for my walls??? I also tried the painting method, but I didn’t have a paint color that matched exactly so it looked terrible. What we really wanted to do was rip it out and replace it.
But with what? Without the curtains, you can see just how much mouse fur there is to replace. Newer Airstreams have an interior clear coat covered aluminum skin that looks awesome, but we knew that wouldn’t be a DIY project and our chances of finding someone to do that for us in the Florida Keys were slim to none which took that idea off the table. Simply polishing the aluminum under the mouse fur walls was also not an option as it’s very uneven with large gaps and overlaps that no amount of polish could have improved. Underneath the mouse fur walls we discovered lots of overlaps and uneven cuts. We also could have replaced the old Ozite with new Ozite, but to be honest we don’t really like the way it looks. Finally, in a moment of inspiration, we decided to use a foam backed vinyl similar to what we have on the ceiling. The ceiling in our ’9.
Airstream is original and in great shape. It’s also easy to clean and thick enough that it would cover all the imperfections underneath. We kind of like this ceiling. Finding a vinyl that matched the color of the 1. Since we wanted a cool, bright look a pale gray was decided upon.
We found a couple different marine supply places that sold the vinyl and ordered a bunch of samples. The winner was a light gray with a small pattern from a company called Great Lakes Skipper. We ordered a 1. 6- yard roll and got to work removing the old mouse fur. Our new walls all rolled up and a close up of the pattern. The mouse fur walls were very easy to remove. We simply found a seam and pulled. The glue underneath was completely dry and didn’t put up much of a fight.
The most time- consuming part of removal was taking down all the valances, curtain tracks, hanging cabinets and anything else on top of the walls. We quickly realized that the mouse fur walls were installed before anything else inside the Airstream and as a result, everything was screwed or glued on top of them. Mouse fur walls are gone! The bed platform and outside compartment items were removed soon after this photo was taken. Because we didn’t want to junk up the outside of our rental house too much we decided to tackle one area of the Airstream at a time which allowed us to shuffle the removed items around as we worked.
We started in the bedroom and removed everything from the walls, the hanging cabinet, the bedside table, and the bed platform. In other words, everything except the upper cabinet on the back wall that we couldn’t figure out how to take down. We also had to find a place for all the stuff that we store under the bed in addition to the items that live in the compartments under our bed platform that are accessed from the outside.
Some of it came upstairs in the house and some we piled under the carport, but most of our bedroom ended up in the living room. There’s a living room somewhere under all that stuff. It was at this point that we decided we might as well replace the floors while we had everything out, so they got ripped out too. With everything empty, I set about removing the dried up glue that had held up the mouse fur walls.
I used a product called Citristrip. It’s the same product we used years ago when we stripped the peeling clear coat from the outside. Except outside you paint it on, let it sit, then spray it with a high- pressure hose. Since that’s not possible inside I had to scrap it off using a variety of tools. It was smelly, messy and not very effective. My attempt at removing the old glue with a coat of Citristrip. I did get most of the old glue off but decided that it probably wasn’t worth the effort and when we got to the front we simply left the old glue in place.
I’m happy to report that method worked fine and removing the glue was not necessary. Not so happy that I spent so much time trying to remove it in the bedroom, but I guess you live and learn. Empty bedroom with most of the old glue removed. Now that the walls were clean and empty it was time to put up the vinyl.
We had watched a You. Tube video of someone installing foam backed vinyl in their sailboat cabin and had a pretty good idea of how to go about it. The challenge was going to be the curved section of the walls. Not only do the walls curve around the corner but it they also curve inward making it difficult to stretch and attach the vinyl without creating wrinkles. After a bit of trial and error, we figured out that we had to cut the piece that would cover the curve into a top and bottom section.
This allowed the vinyl to wrap around the curve without wrinkling. The first piece had to come off and be redone, but we eventually figured it out and by the time we did the living room curves it was a snap. The curved section required two pieces. Again, this is not a step- by- step how to, but the general method we used to install the vinyl was to divide the wall into reasonable size sections, cut vinyl pieces a few inches larger than needed on each side, and then stick them on with a spray adhesive. We started with a 3.
M 7. 7 Multi- Purpose spray adhesive and had some issues with it sticking that led to us re- gluing a few spots. Once we switched to 3. M 9. 0 Hi- Strength we had no issues. Measure & cut – Apply glue – Stick to walls. The final step was dealing with the edges and seams.