# Ceiling Sagging



## Matthew (Oct 22, 2008)

Just had a big windstorm where we keep the OB at my inlaws house, it ripped our Adco cover in half so had to go clean up a bit. Nothing else hurt on the trailer and just had to pick up a lot of branches off the property.
But then I went in the OB to check out everything...
Well the ceiling panel in the hall area between the bathroom to the fridge, its about a 2.5'x2.5' panel is sagging. I pushed on it and its just the lamination, nothing structural as far as I can tell. Just curious if anyone knows what would cause this?
Would it be heat/cold causing it to expand/contract? Its just the one panel which would be the smallest panel in the ceiling and its just in between the two trim pieces that cover the joints.
Just figured this is the place to ask. I'll have to get over there soon and see about re attaching it? any suggestions on that to would be great.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Oh have I been there. My 2008 21RS has had that problem in various places ever since I bought it. From what I have been able to figure out, Gilligan had his air nailer set so that the nails were a little too far below flush. During our first winter with the trailer I had three ceiling panel seams come apart. It is worse when the temperature outside gets below freezing. The metal roof joists contract more than the paneling and the paneling tries to bow away from the joists. That causes the nail heads to pull through the panels. I've also had it happen to the wall panel on the back of the trailer, to the paneling on the back of the dinette and to the molding around the entry door. We had a couple weeks were the temperature never got above 25 degrees and the molding around the entry door was bowed out about 2"over about a tree foot span.

To fix it, I use paneling nails and liquid nails panel adhesive. First squirt some liquid nails between the metal joist or stud and the panel and drive in the paneling nails to hold it together. If the location isn't at a seam I just don't use the liquid nails. The problem is that I am trying to drive nails into metal. I'll usually bend the first two or three nails at each hole until I get one to finally make it through the metal. If you try this, hold the panel nail with a pair of needle nose pliers not your fingers. You have to whack the panel nails pretty hard to get them through the metal and when they bend you take a lot of the force on your fingers. I then take a fresh straight panel nail and drive it in the hole I made. I tried using a 1/16" drill bit but that is too big. I don't try to sink the panel nails into the panels because I will just end up with the same problem again. I also have a sample can of wall paint that matches the ceiling close enough that you won't notice the nail heads unless you are really looking for them.

I have shown this to my dealer but only after my warranty was over. They took pictures and sent them to Keystone but of course I never got anything out of them for a more permanent repair. I am curious about what year and model your outback is. If it is also a 2008 I would like to be able to tell the dealer that I have found someone else with the problem.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

What ^^ he ^^ said but I use my own air gun instead of hand driven nails.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I thought about using an air nailer as well. There are two main reasons I use the hand driven paneling nails. They are ribbed which I believe would give them a little more resistance to pulling out and have bigger heads to help keep them from pulling through the paneling again.


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

thefulminator said:


> I thought about using an air nailer as well. There are two main reasons I use the hand driven paneling nails. They are ribbed which I believe would give them a little more resistance to pulling out and have bigger heads to help keep them from pulling through the paneling again.


anyone tried a narrow or wide crown air stapler?? it might be more resistant to pull through and the stapler usually uses a divergent point to help prevent pull out. Don't know how well it would go through the metal though.


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## Matthew (Oct 22, 2008)

Well I have the narrow crown stapler so maybe I will give that a try when I fix it. Just gotta wait for a chance to get back to the trailer and get it done. Sounds like I should be glad (for now) that it is just the one panel.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Yeah, so let's see, we pound nails into aluminum and wonder why the fall out...









Use liquid nails just like the others said. I don't thin it matters how you pound in the nails, they will eventually come loose.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I'm just using the nails to hold everything together long enough for the liquid nails to dry.


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## mrw (Dec 7, 2010)

Had the same problem w/cold weather in a 2011 21rs. Instead of nails I recommend using 5/8 trim head screws to attach to the aluminum strut. Available at most hardware stores, and of course home depot. You will also need a #1 square drive tip for the screws, and then set the clutch on your screwgun so you don't drive the screws all the way through the panel. After adding screws about every 8 inches along both panel edges (Factory had used nails about every 2 feet), I used tite bond glue to re install the trim piece. As this just happened over last winter, I'll have to wait until next cold snap to know if this was completely successful. So far no recurring incidents though.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

That works as long as you can find trim head screws with threads all the way to the head. The paneling is so thin that if you have any bare shank on the screw it won't hold the panel tight to the ceiling. I may have to consider using them down the road.


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## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

Ceiling panels in mine have not fallen off yet, but the molding to cover the seams where two panels meet came loose at several spots. I tried liquid nail and it did not work. I eventually used stainless self-tapping screws..! now it stays.....


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