Looking for finish trim suggestions for wonky ceiling transitions

[Slapdash]

Hey Gang,

Any Dali-esque carpenters in the room?

On the cusp of finishing out this thing after 2+ years of on-and-off.

Since we all know there is not a straight, level, plumb, square anything in this things, coupled with an English major with a tape measure, and well, this happens. We used cedar closet liner planks for the ceiling, but where it transitions to the back arch of the ceiling and the front arch of the ceiling to the cab area, there are major gaps that are about as square, plumb, and level as the Grand Canyon.

Looking for a nifty way, doesn't necessarily have to be with wood, to close these gaps. In the pics, the one that shows the entire thing is a panoramic, but it's not really that flat in real life. It's pretty archy. The one with the left side gap is muuuch bigger than the right side gap, etc.

Is there anyone else who has overcome this discrepancy so it doesn't quite look like it fell out of a Kansas sky after a twister and landed on a witch?

Cheers

 

[Tejon7]

Some kind of compressible foam? Or perhaps non-compressible XPS if you cut it cleanly and paint it to match your boards?

I have a 1/2", fairly uniform gap like that where I pushed in some black neoprene foam and it looks pretty decent.

 

[Tejon7]

Second try: maybe some thick upholstery-type fabric. If you could get it on there without wrinkles it might look ok. Use an iron to fold under the raw edges and then screw/magnet it to the wood/metal every few inches.

 

[Slapdash]

Those are good ideas, both! I had to look up XPS, but I could sort of shape it paint it like you said. I was thinking of a foam tube, like 'classier' than a pool noodle for the rear situation, which isn't nearly as bad. I think that could end up looking like piping (I think they call it), like on a car seat, just larger.

I could screw it into the ceiling into the front as well, but magnets are out because the stock ceiling panels are actually aluminum in my bus. I'm kinda diggin' the fabric situation the more I think about it. Might blend in more, sort of like one of those articulated buses.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Tejon7]

It would be great to see pictures of whatever you end up doing on that transition! It's a fairly common hurdle that I don't see discussed very often. Good luck!

 

[Slapdash]

Thanks! I'll definitely post some shots when I get it done. Hoping to get it done by the end of the month!

 

[Slapdash]

OK, for anyone who's interested, here are some progress shots. I actually found an extra panel/slat of the ceiling material we had already prepped, so that was good and took up a lot of the gap. So I added that, then traced a line with some cardboard, then transferred it to some filler plywood and jimmied it in there.

The final step is going to be some 1" PVC angle moulding to cover the edge of the panel and the filler strip, then a bead of flexible caulking to cover the gap from the top of the filler strip, which will be painted white, to the ceiling. It won't be perfect, but at least it'll be closer to finished.

 

[Rucker]

Some folks just get it as close as they can and glue rope over the seams.

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

backer rod for filling expansion joints

 

[Slapdash]

Some folks just get it as close as they can and glue rope over the seams.

Hmmm... that seems waaay easier than caulking, which I have never had a good relationship with.

 

[Slapdash]

backer rod for filling expansion joints

Is that just like flexible metal rod, or PVC?

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

its foam like a pool noodle but does not have a hole in it and you can get it in different thicknesses.

 

[Slapdash]

its foam like a pool noodle but does not have a hole in it and you can get it in different thicknesses.

Ohhh, OK. That sounds good too. Thanks!