Headliner repair can be simple or complicated depending on the car, the damage and the type of headliner repair being made. Wondering whether you should do it yourself or have a professional do it for you? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Making a headliner repair can either be as simple as applying adhesive in a few keys spots and cleaning it up or it may need to be replaced.

Headliner repair – DIY

• Cost: if you would rather spend your time than your money then do it yourself. Headliner repair kits are readily available online at websites like Amazon.com or through any store that sells automotive upholstery supplies. The cost will be about half of what a professional would have charged you. Just like with everything else, experience is the key. Once you learn it, you can do the job faster and better the next time.
• Difficulty: a basic headliner repair like touching up adhesive is a lot less intensive than performing a whole new installation. Headliner installation will take about eight to nine hours for a first timer.
• Tools: for a headliner repair, you don’t need special upholstery tools to do the work. It is not a difficult process once you know what your doing all it requires is a few household tools and a lot of patience and care that you do not damage parts needed to re-hang the headliner.

Call a professional

• Safety: if you’re worried about damaging electrical wiring under the headliner or have an overhead console, sunroof or lighted visors that will make the job even more difficult, leave it to a professional. If you’re questioning yourself when it comes to wiring…it’s just not worth it.
• Time: if you just don’t see using up eight to nine hours of your valuable time replacing headliner material then you’re better off hiring a professional and using your time doing something else.
• Experience: removing clips, overhead consoles, sun visors and bolsters in order to recover the headliner and the visors must be done very carefully. If you don’t know your way around automotive trim, you may break the clips needed to hold the headliner in place or damage electrical wiring hidden under the headliner and connected to visors. This will cost a substantial amount of money to repair…you have been warned!
• Quality: fabricating headliner panels is not usually a task that the average home car builder can perform. Some headliner installation projects are very exacting and require precise planning and measuring in addition to practice and experience to get the professional results desired by most care enthusiasts

If you still want to do it yourself even with all of these other complications, I’m impressed, it takes guts to take your car apart. If you will be performing a headliner repair or install as a DIY project it is highly recommended that you purchase a prefabricated headliner that is ready to be installed. We would suggest leaving the fabrication to the professionals. This will save you time and money and is not worth the aggravation.

However, with a few tricks of the trade and a fair share of patience, headliner repair and installation is a job that can be done by a do it yourselfer with professional results.

Coming soon we will have step-by-step instructions dedicated to these weekend warriors on how to install a headliner with a bows system and a panel system. We will also go over installing a headliner on a vehicle with a sunroof and how to work around electrical wiring. Please come back soon for these valuable installation guides, it will save you time and money both of which I find equally valuable!