Secure ceiling material idea?

gmflash88 · 02-11-2021, 09:00 PM

I'm 6'2" and trying to conserve as much head room as possible while still looking nice. In looking at many flexible options, nothing is particularly appealing (aesthetically). I'm leaning toward the tried and true planking. In my own braingstorming, I thought that VHB on the ribs to secure 1/4" TG cedar might work well. I'm aware that the planking needs surface prep, but I would think that would hold well and be better than drilling, countersinking, and using 4587 screws.

Any thoughts? Anyone try it?

Danjo · 02-11-2021, 09:05 PM

What is VHB?

gmflash88 · 02-11-2021, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danjo

What is VHB?

Extremely strong 2-sided tape. I've read about many people using it to secure their solar panels (I'll be using bolts for that lol!). I'm just looking for it to secure 1/4 cedar planks to the ribs.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/vhb-tapes-us/

Danjo · 02-11-2021, 09:24 PM

Seems like a bad idea unless flexible panels.

There’s a forum member with the handle 01Marc who I believe used construction adhesive. Don’t know if he actually went through with it. You could try asking him in a DM

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/membe...arc-21216.html

musigenesis · 02-11-2021, 09:30 PM

VHB tape is probably not going to work very well to hold up a ceiling. It works OK in shear (i.e. preventing two surfaces from sliding relative to each other) but requires substantially less force to lift (aka peel) one taped surface off of another (which is what gravity will want to do with something affixed to the ceiling). A typical use case is 5'x8' aluminum sheets attached to the wall of a building with a 2" wide strip of VHB all around the edges; the aluminum is very light and the tape provides sufficient shear resistance to prevent the sheet from sliding down along the wall. The tape is also relatively unpredictable because of the need to prepare the surfaces extremely well; engineers typically use a 16X safety factor with the tape when considering its material properties.

I learned about all this after a person on reddit mounted the brackets for their roof deck on the sides of their bus using VHB tape. I went to some considerable lengths to try and convince them of the danger of what they were doing. Fortunately the taped brackets came off in his hand (!) which convinced him of the need for bolts.

peakbus · 02-11-2021, 09:34 PM

Having just installed 1/4" T&G on my ceiling, I don't thing you would have very good luck with the tape. You have to be able to move the planks around to align them decently and tap them into place. A 1/4"x8' board is pretty wiggly and the material I used had a good bit of irregularity and defects so it was test fit, remove, adjust, replace, repeat as necessary. Not to mention, the backs of T&G planks were pretty rough so maybe not so good adhesion. I screwed mine to the ribs with Stainless screws. Predrilled, and glued with construction adhesive for good measure. I just saw someone who used 4x8 beadboard panels. Almost the same look with much less time. That I could see doing with the VHB.
Here's my build thread: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/r...din-30905.html

Mountain Gnome · 02-11-2021, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by musigenesis

VHB tape is probably not going to work very well to hold up a ceiling. It works OK in shear (i.e. preventing two surfaces from sliding relative to each other) but requires substantially less force to lift (aka peel) one taped surface off of another (which is what gravity will want to do with something affixed to the ceiling). A typical use case is 5'x8' aluminum sheets attached to the wall of a building with a 2" wide strip of VHB all around the edges; the aluminum is very light and the tape provides sufficient shear resistance to prevent the sheet from sliding down along the wall. The tape is also relatively unpredictable because of the need to prepare the surfaces extremely well; engineers typically use a 16X safety factor with the tape when considering its material properties.

I learned about all this after a person on reddit mounted the brackets for their roof deck on the sides of their bus using VHB tape. I went to some considerable lengths to try and convince them of the danger of what they were doing. Fortunately the taped brackets came off in his hand (!) which convinced him of the need for bolts.

I gotta agree with this. Even if the tape holds for a while, over time, you may find boards falling off, especially with the bumps of the road.
Makes me think about the old argument about glass actually being a super-cooled liquid. In 100 years, a flat glass pane mounted vertically is wavy from the pull of gravity.

gmflash88 · 02-11-2021, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peakbus

Having just installed 1/4" T&G on my ceiling, I don't thing you would have very good luck with the tape. You have to be able to move the planks around to align them decently and tap them into place. A 1/4"x8' board is pretty wiggly and the material I used had a good bit of irregularity and defects so it was test fit, remove, adjust, replace, repeat as necessary. Not to mention, the backs of T&G planks were pretty rough so maybe not so good adhesion. I screwed mine to the ribs with Stainless screws. Predrilled, and glued with construction adhesive for good measure. I just saw someone who used 4x8 beadboard panels. Almost the same look with much less time. That I could see doing with the VHB.
Here's my build thread: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/r...din-30905.html

Yeah 3M specs are to pretreat wood with an additional adhesive but I’m gonna scrap that idea. Probably will just go with thin wainscoting and hope it’s flexible enough to make the curve. I was trying to avoid blocking the sides of the ribs with 2x2 like many do. That seems like a whole lotta work that could be avoided but it doesn’t appear so.

gmflash88 · 02-11-2021, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

I gotta agree with this. Even if the tape holds for a while, over time, you may find boards falling off, especially with the bumps of the road.
Makes me think about the old argument about glass actually being a super-cooled liquid. In 100 years, a flat glass pane mounted vertically is wavy from the pull of gravity.

Good call. I’m gonna go back to the drawing board on this one.

peakbus · 02-11-2021, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmflash88

Yeah 3M specs are to pretreat wood with an additional adhesive but I’m gonna scrap that idea. Probably will just go with thin wainscoting and hope it’s flexible enough to make the curve. I was trying to avoid blocking the sides of the ribs with 2x2 like many do. That seems like a whole lotta work that could be avoided but it doesn’t appear so.

I screwed the T&G into the ribs, but I know many frown on that, and pre-drilling was a pain in the a..

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