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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / plywood for interior paneling or other cheap options?
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tcmatt
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:56
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My neighbor just used birch plywood to finish the inside of his man-cave garage and it looks great. a bit dark, though, as he stained it with a "golden oak" stain (then clear coated it). I was pretty impressed. I need to panel the inside of my cabin and was wondering what others have done that was relatively inexpensive and light in color.
kitchen area
kitchen area


MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:46
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Drywall? It's fairly inexpensive as far as materials. And it can be any color you like. Personally I like a mixture of wood and painted drywall. Too many inexpensive wall treatments look cheap; like most of the 4x8 wood look paneling.

GomerPile
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:49 - Edited by: GomerPile
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The box stores sell a material I call "Luan" but its basically 1/4 inch wood-like paneling. The stuff I have used has a red oak color to it. With Poly and some pine trim strips it looks pretty nice. It costs about $7 for a 4x8 sheet.

The only downside is that you need to support it pretty well because its so thin. The attachment is pretty much what it looks like.
IMG0046S.jpg
IMG0046S.jpg


TheCabinCalls
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 14:56
Reply 


A word of caution: building inspectors won't like this thin stuff. Plus it won't be thick enough to meet all of the standard stuff; like how far out to stick electrical boxes, etc.

We looked at all the options and unfortunately nothing beat the price of drywall...when you approach a certain amount of wall area.

TheCabinCalls
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 14:58
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I will add. That nothing beats that warmth of wood if you can keep it light and cheery.

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 15:07 - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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I sheeted my entire interior with 3/8" plywood, good side out. Sanded off labels and pulled the stickers. Really adds to the shear strength also.

bobbotron
Member
# Posted: 25 Sep 2012 16:07
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Quoting: toyota_mdt_tech
I sheeted my entire interior with 3/8" plywood, good side out. Sanded off labels and pulled the stickers. Really adds to the shear strength also.


Ha! I imagine there is something to that.

brokeneck
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 00:36
Reply 


I used the luan on my exterior soffits and also for my ceiling -- at work I used it to build some cabinets and shelves and am in the process of using it to build some ski lockers in our big cabin -- clears up real nice with either oil or water based products -

TheWildMan
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 08:24
Reply 


I used Luann for my little cabin, Luann (aka Oak Luann, is a veneer plywood product, thiner than regular plywood but made with veneer quality wood), i needed something fast and cheap last year, snow was on the ground and i was wintering in the cabin, had to finish it fast. my big cabin was done with Brittany Birch panneling (very light color) got it on sale the same price as Luann.

trollbridge
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:05
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We covered our walls in Luan in our little cabin-painted some of it and left some natural. In our big cabin we used rough sawn boards and drywall. I too like a mixture of wood and painted surfaces. Can't beat the price of drywall either!

tcmatt
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 12:28
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Wildman and trollbridge,
How thick was the Luann that you used?
thx
matt

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 12:52
Reply 


Lauan plywood is usually 2/4 inch or 5 MM (0.196") and there is some 1/8 that is meant for skinning cabinets and doors. For use on a wall IMO any of those should be used over a substrate such as drywall or something to give stiffness.

trollbridge
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 14:36
Reply 


Thanks for the spell check MtnDon...I knew it didn't look right!

tcmatt I will have to ask my husband about thickness. He had a bunch accumulated from laying flooring. It is also called "underlayment" used for stapling down over the sub floor to create a smoother surface before vinyl flooring can go down. I want to say it may be 1/4 inch but I'll find out. Our little cabin has stud walls every 16 inches and it is plenty rigid for that. It does not work for ceilings unless it had other support underneath it.

Borrego
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 21:15
Reply 


I debated this over and over with myself, only to go with drywall. It is just too cheap and too easy to install (although I'm not saying it is an easy task by any means Anyone deterred by the finishing process should not be. It is just not that difficult to hand trowel a small cabin (mine is about 600 sq ft) and it looks kinda cool with a hand applied skip trowel. I do have wood, tile and other accents mixed in for flavor, though........

trollbridge
Member
# Posted: 26 Sep 2012 22:30
Reply 


Okay I asked my husband and I was wrong on a few things(what's new). What we used was not Lauan. That is a bit thinner and less expensive. We used quarter inch underlayment-it was a Russian Birch-and quite a bit more pricey. Not that we are big spenders it's just that we had a bunch on hand and needed something to do with it. I think it retails for about 20.00 a 4x8 sheet.

Borrego your place is awesome...

nicalisa
Member
# Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:01
Reply 


we used 1/4 inch ply and then put a decorator pine tongue and grove over it from Rona, all in it was about 500.00 to do all of the walls.
DSC05139.JPG
DSC05139.JPG


OwenChristensen
Member
# Posted: 30 Sep 2012 19:46
Reply 


There is no sealer or stain on it. It's about twenty years old.

Owen
T1-11
T1-11


rayyy
Member
# Posted: 1 Oct 2012 17:07
Reply 


I must admitt,I went with 6 inch wide T&G knotty pine board on all my walls cause I just love the look of the stuff.It was pricey but you cut and nail it up and your done.No coating,taping,mudding or sanding,priming or painting.You can throw a coat of poly on it after a while.
cabinnn_001.JPG
cabinnn_001.JPG


Anonymous
# Posted: 3 Oct 2012 21:13
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spruce t&g looks mighty fine.

Borrego
Member
# Posted: 3 Oct 2012 21:29
Reply 


You know, one of my thought along this process was to go buy basic pine (or whitewood) and cut a tongue/groove in it myself.
$.97 sq ft!

tcmatt
Member
# Posted: 3 Oct 2012 22:07
Reply 


Borrego,
I just came across some really nice 1/2' pine plywood at Home Depot ($33 for a 4x8) - nice and light in color. I'm seriously thinking of just clear coating that with Polyacrylic and calling it good. I don't have much wall space as it is - windows, cabinet and bunks take up the vast majority of 3 of the 4 walls.
tcmatt

OwenChristensen
Member
# Posted: 4 Oct 2012 07:14
Reply 


I love T&G paneling, but I've seen how many flies can hide in it.

Owen

Doo-drew
# Posted: 4 Oct 2012 07:26
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I'm planning on doing smart siding for the walls and pine tongue and grove for the ceiling. Smart siding is fire rated for building codes and has a rough look to it, it will just need to be painted. Should have a nice contrast to the ceiling. Also its only $20 for a 4x8 panel. Also if you care about the green deal, it is.

brokeneck
Member
# Posted: 21 Oct 2012 14:54
Reply 


Luan ceiling pic
ceiling.jpg
ceiling.jpg


jjlrrw
Member
# Posted: 31 Oct 2012 22:49
Reply 


We went with standard T&G pine from Menards so much better look and not the mess of drywall, mudding, sanding and painting.

The cost of the boards were $0.58 sq foot when on sale and a gallon of poly for $28 goes a long way.

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