Carpet on ceiling

Soundman1 · 07-21-2012, 04:07 PM

So we started to try and get the carpet glued to the ceiling today and it was an utter failure

We are using the green carpet that looks like fake grass. We are using indoor outdoor carpet glue. We troweled it onto the ceiling and then stuck the carpet up. It would not hold at all at first. Then we made a couple "helping hands" out of 2x4's to hold it up and that did help mostly but it took a cople huts to get tacky enough to stay up. So after a few hours we had 12" of 40' total done. We have to be missing something?

Is it possible the roof is too hot? It is Ipin the sun and was around 100-102 when we were out there

Accordion · 07-21-2012, 05:54 PM

Read Browncrown's thread. Read my thread (link below). We have had success with carpet on the ceiling.

Stuff · 07-22-2012, 10:47 PM

spray adhesive works good to! 3M makes it.

chev49 · 07-23-2012, 10:10 AM

i think 8088 3M would be a little thin to hold a carpet. i use it on auto upholstery panels and some misc headliner work.
as far as interior carpet glue, if you get the thick glue, which is made to glue commercial carpet on walls, and let it tack up properly both on ceiling and carpet backing there is no way the carpet will come off the ceiling...

jkindt · 07-23-2012, 11:33 AM

Contact cement. Just make sure you have the carpet lined up properly because once you press it into place it's stuck!

roach711 · 07-23-2012, 02:45 PM

Last week I covered my ceiling with some very light weight indoor-outdoor carpet and used the water-based indoor-outdoor carpet adhesive to glue it up. First thing I did was cut a piece of 1/4" plywood about an inch wide and as long as the as the ceiling is wide and stapled it to the good side of the front edge of the carpet. I also made 3 "T" sticks out of 3/4" plywood to wedge between the floor and ceiling. I then screwed the plywood strip to the ceiling so the front edge of the carpet would be supported. Make sure the carpet is square with the roof or you'll end up with crooked carpet. After slathering on about 2 feet of the adhesive I found that the lightweight carpet would stick to the ceiling as long as the un-glued portion was supported with the T sticks. I would spread a section of the adhesive then move the T sticks back and press the carpet into the adhesive. Spreading the adhesive was the worst part of the job and I got it on most everything in sight.

Years ago I glued some heavier indoor carpeting on the ceiling of my van. The weight of that carpet would pull it away from the adhesive even with the T sticks holding it up so I ended up cutting a sheet of 1/4" plywood as wide as the ceiling and used the T sticks to press the plywood up against the carpet, holding it there overnight until the adhesive set up. Three T sticks worked nicely to evenly press the plywood against the ceiling. That method took way longer because I could only glue up one 4' section at a time but it worked fine.

roach711 · 07-23-2012, 02:50 PM

Another way would be to roll the bus over on it's roof and let gravity hold the carpet in place while the adhesive set up.

chev49 · 07-23-2012, 04:17 PM

lornaschinske · 07-23-2012, 09:04 PM

Might try 5mm (1/8") underlayment (plywood) or tempered hardboard then cut props to hold it in place. I think you would get more pressure spread out over a wider area and the thinner luaun would conform to the curved roof a little better,

edfrank · 07-23-2012, 09:24 PM

I used contact cement on carpet on my van and it held up for years. I used DAP Weldwood Original Contact Cement, 32 oz can. I carefully followed the directions, coated both sides, waited until they got sticky and put up the carpet.

Ed

roach711 · 07-24-2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edfrank

I used contact cement on carpet on my van and it held up for years. I used DAP Weldwood Original Contact Cement, 32 oz can. I carefully followed the directions, coated both sides, waited until they got sticky and put up the carpet.

Ed

I'm sure contact cement would work fine, but be damn sure you have the carpet lined up correctly because you won't get a second chance. That stuff sticks like grim death on contact and if you're using light weight carpet you'll have to destroy the carpet to get it off again.

I like my adhesives to have a bit of open time so I can fix the inevitable mistakes.

ol trunt · 07-25-2012, 08:03 PM

I was afraid to say that.

icnivad · 08-04-2012, 02:28 PM

roach711: haha

I was able to successfully carpet my ceiling with the 3M ultra strength spray adhesive. You spray both sides(carpet and ceiling), and let it sit a bit till it becomes tacky, then putting it up is a breeze as it just sticks in place. It's on extremely well, too, I haven't had any problems with peeling.

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