How to Install Vinyl Hull Liner With a Foam Backing

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Headliners and hull liners are the fabrics used to hide the fiberglass and smooth out the ceiling and walls inside your boat's cabin. If you have a fairly open wall, you might want to create a decorative design element in your headliner for a nice focal point. It's also a great way to tie in fabrics and colors you used elsewhere on the boat for a cohesive look throughout your boat. That's exactly what we decided to do in the aft cabin of our Regal Ambassador 245XL Powerboat Makeover project boat.

Video Chapters:

Preparation & Patterning — 0:28 min.
Gluing Foam to Fabric — 3:52 min.
Installing Hull Liner with Foam — 7:49 min.
Trimming Excess — 11:12 min.
Creating Upholstered Trim — 14:10 min.
Materials List — 14:52 min.

Materials List:

Dura-Skrim^® Patterning Material (#103134)
Marine Vinyl Fabric (we used Morbern™ Seabrook in Stinger Bisque #105978, Midnight #105987 and Lite Glacier #105975
Marine Vinyl Channeling Fabric
3M™ Specialty Adhesive Remover 32oz. (#108984)
Fabric Backed 1/4" Sew Foam 58" (#124306)
3M™ General Trim Spray Adhesive (#73211)
21 Gauge 1/2" (12mm) Staples 10,000/Box (Stainless Steel) (#8012SS) (if upholstering trim pieces)
Masking Tape

Tools List:

Sailrite^® Long Nose Upholstery Staple Gun (#121411) (if upholstering trim pieces)
Gingher^® Scissors Right Handed #19104
Marker, Tape Measure, Pencil, Razor Blades, Rags
PVC Lumber (optional – for making trim pieces)

How to Install Hull Liner With Foam Video 2

Along one wall in the aft cabin, Brian, a Sailrite® manager and owner of the boat, wanted to create a vinyl panel that would mimic the look of the exterior cushion upholstery in the boat’s cockpit. He used a foam-backed vinyl headliner for the other walls in the cabin, so to get the desired look and keep the same foam thickness, we sewed the design into a panel and glued a foam layer to the back. This technique can be done to make any marine vinyl fabric into a headliner fabric.

It doesn't take that much extra work to create this stylish design element. It's a great way to upgrade your interior cabin walls from plain headliner fabric and introduce new colors and textures to your walls. In this video, you’ll learn how to pattern the design for the space, how to attach the foam, and how to install the panel in the boat. To see details on how to sew the decorative piece together, refer to our "How to Make a Powerboat Lounge Cushion" blog.

This project is part of our Regal Ambassador 245XL Powerboat Makeover series. Explore the other DIYs in this series to learn how to install headliner, how to make lounge cushions and cabin cushions, and more.