I have a cabin being built- and of course we are over budget, and the next big component (walls, roof, exterior, windows, and spray-foam insulation are complete) is the interior wall coverings. While we would love drywall, we aren’t skilled enough to finish it well enough ourselves. We also looked at tongue and groove siding. But we actually really like just doing plywood- simple, clean, fewer steps, and we can do it ourselves. We also like trying to keep it light in color (birch vs. pine) to let as much light bounce around as possible.
We have 8’ walls and then a 45 deg pitch ceiling and are planning to do both in the same general sheet style. We are talking about 60-70 sheets total. Similar to the 2nd picture in the link: All plywood interior examples It is spray foam underneath (4" on rafters or to the stud depth on the wall framing) so there will be an extra air gap on the ceiling. The rafters are 12" deep and spaced 12" for heavy snow load. The walls are standard 2x4" framing.
My questions to the builders and DIYers. How thick of plywood sheet do you recommend for the ceiling? For the walls? Thicker would mean less bowing or sag, but increased cost + work.
Does anyone have experience with Arauco? It is <30% the cost of birch.
The hardware store recommended a 1/4" inexpensive base layer (for sound and an extra insulation layer) and then 5/8" or greater on top. I think the base layer is overkill, but could we just do 1/2" or less on walls? on ceiling? We don’t need any more insulation and there is no structural component.
And we are planning on nailgun to put the sheets up with wood paste/putty to smooth nail holes and maybe even fill any gap between the sheets (sand lightly and then two coats of a very light colored sealant on everything). Any thoughts on this from anyone with experience would be appreciated!
There’s a whole lot of stuff you need to check into here.
Your local building codes will specify the particular properties of interior walls (including different standards for different spaces like exits and stairwells). These specs include materials, thickness and fire resistance. (The latter being really important for plywood.) The walls have to withstand a certain amount of flame for a certain amount of time.
Random people on an Internet message board is not the best way of getting this information. Esp. given the localization of building codes. (E.g., in Boston you can’t hardly do any plumbing yourself, per TOH. You can’t swap out a toilet, for example. Here the country water company will subsidize you swapping out an old toilet.)
The architect for your cabin should have specced out stuff for you. Any changes need to be approved by that person and filed with the suitable authorities.
Big spec mods to construction are not a DIY thing.
ftg, I appreciate the heads up. But all regulations and inspections regarding fire(s) are to the chimney, the exterior, and a 100’ perimeter due to either causing forest fires or attempting to survive. Architect did not specify interior “coatings” but assumed faux log or tongue and groove.
I’d probably go for 1/8” Baltic birch pulled tight. It’s nice looking wood and not too costly. You’re building a kind of torsion box so thickness should not matter.
I’d do it in 1/2 inch. I think anything thinner would have the possibility of looking like bad paneling over time. They have some 1/2 inch plywood with a radiata pine veneer that is really smooth and looks good. I’d get these decorative screw washers It will mean more work and measuring when putting in the screws but will look really sharp.
I’d also look at doing a modified board and batten style and covering the seams with 1x3 or a 1x4.
You should really be looking closely at blocking right now. A day of walking around with some scrap 2x4s and a nail gun might save you a ton of headache later. You don’t want to have to be ripping a bunch of boards. If your studs are 16" on center you want to know which direction the framers started at as that could cut the amount of rips in half.
How much experience do you have with doing this kind of work? My initial thought is that this is going to look bad. Nothing to do with you specifically, just that when I think of a room with exposed plywood, I think it’s going to look really cheap and unfinished. Unless you have the ability where the construction and finish will be done with high skill, I think the end product will be disappointing. The problems I’m thinking of are things like:
How to keep the edges of the plywood flush. You can’t just put two pieces of plywood together and expect the edges to match perfectly. With drywall, mud is used to blend across the joints for a smooth appearance. I’m not sure what you can do with plywood.
The plywood sheets will have visible lines where they meet. Those will need to be perfectly aligned and straight. Any imperfection in how the sheets align will stand out as defects, like slanted lines or gaps. You’ll probably have to put moulding over the edges to hide them.
How to finish the plywood. The pores of the wood will be uneven and will absorb finish differently in different places. You’ll need to do this carefully to get a high quality finish. The edges will absorb a lot of finish and will stand out.
How to deal with heat and moisture changing the wood over time. Expect the wood to shrink, expand, and twist over time, which will likely produce visible defects.
Before you proceed with this, get several sheets of plywood and test it out. Install it and finish it so you can see how difficult it is and whether you like the end result. Also, find guides specifically about doing these kinds of walls, as there are many tips and tricks you’ll need to know.
I don’t know if it applies here, but with crown molding or trim you cut the ends at a 45 degree angle. This way when they expand and contract, you don’t see a gap opening and closing. Like this, which I see is called a scarf joint. If those boards each contract by a 1/16", you won’t notice.
That takes care of a handful of the issues. But you’re still right, if you don’t have the woodworking skills, this project has the potential to come out really bad. I, for one, don’t…at all. I can’t gut a straight line in wood to save my life. I’d make a mess out of something like this.
OTOH, for someone who is good at it, I’d imagine it would be a quick project and not cost too much in labor.
But that’s me. I know my weaknesses (woodworking) and don’t attempt projects where everything has to look nice.
I agree with most of filmore’s concerns. However, expansion/contraction shouldn’t be much of an issue. Plywood is very dimensionally stable since each ply is at right angles to the plys above and below it. That’s one of the main features of plywood that causes carpenters to use it where solid wood would require making allowances for movement. But the rest of filmore’s points are good. If you don’t cover the joints somehow, I think it’s going to look bad. I think it would be easier to learn how to do drywall taping than to figure out how to make sheets of plywood align perfectly.
I was called out to a house fire at 4 a.m Monday morning. Garage interior was sheeted with plywood. Was. I think it is a crazy idea personally. Paint it with fire retardant if you do.
If you are going to use plywood I would go with 1/2". Anything less is going to be wobbly. Sure they finished rec rooms in the 70’s with 3/16” panelling, but those were shit basements. 1/8" anything on 16" or greater centers is going to be crap.
LP smartside panels may be worth considering. They are 3/8" but quite rigid.
You are aware of the huge price difference between plywood and drywall, right? From what I’m seeing, you can have buy drywall AND have it professionally installed for about the same price as just buying the plywood.
Installing drywall is much easier and much more forgiving of error than wood. Taping is not terribly difficult, leave texturing to a pro. Protip, don’t use nails for more than keeping a peice in place while you screw it down. Nails work themselves out over time as the structure flexes and settles, plus plywood finish never looks like anything but cheap and lazy imho
I’m not a pro. My experience comes from my dad and I building my parents retirement home some years ago, along with being a DIY-type homeowner for decades.
If you don’t think you have the skill for drywall mud and tape, then you definitely don’t have the skill to size and cut the plywood sections as precisely as needed to look decent. Cutting the sheets to fit (plywood that is) will have extremely tight tolerances, not to mention all the extra work involved in cutting out holes for all the electrical boxes. I myself would not do it. The main reason being it would be too difficult to pull off without a lot of uneven gaps and crooked lines, etc.
Like I said, I’m not a pro. But taping and mudding drywall seams is surprisingly easy/simple, even for the unskilled (like myself). And there are tons of videos on youtube and wherever on how to do it properly. I don’t expect there to be nearly as much on plywood covering (though I may be wrong).
If you’re still decided on plywood, 1/4" would be plenty thick, even on the ceiling. Just don’t use drywall screws to fasten it. Not sure about the practicality of using nails either, but in my mind (since the fasteners would be exposed) nails might look nicer than screws.
And if you do change your mind, go with 1/2" drywall, not 3/8.
As mentioned in the post immediately preceding yours, the use of batten strips to cover butt joints is common. In a cabin, this will look rustic; in a home, not so much. Batten strips are usually fairly thin, more like lathe than dimension lumber.
Me, I’m just thinking about the plywood sheets hanging at a 45-degree angle from the ceiling, just nail-gunned (uh, gun-nailed?) in place. :eek: I think I’d use screws for those.
The OP says the joists are 12" OC, so using a nail gun is just fine. He’ll need to line up the seams on the ceiling with the seams on the wall, or the batten strips will not look good. I’d also go with 1/2" ply for the ceiling; even with 12" joists, 1/4" ply may bow over time.
By the way, I don’t envy putting up the ceiling panels, regardless of what is used. Overhead work is brutal, especially on an inclined plane. Get help.
If you like drywall, get drywall. It will surely look better. To control cost, divide the job in sections. If it were my cabin, I’d do the walls myself, but have the ceiling done. Putting up the sheets of drywall is not hard. So do that yourself. Taping and mudding the seams is a little trickier: for a project the size of yours it is worth building the skill (it doesn’t take that much), but if you are not comfortable, hire it out. If you want to texture the drywall, hire it out, if just paint, do it yourself. I suggest at least some ligh texture on the ceiling.
