Another decor question: shiplap

[iris lilies]

I dont even know why I am consulting you all, the group that simply makes fun of decor trends! Ha ha!

The spare house we are buying is a little house of horrors, one of the horrors being hideous finishes to the walls. They used some sort of papered wallboard in many places. DH thinks it is glued directly to original plaster. Living rooms walls are painted—something. Paneling I suppose.

so since I do not have another 30 years on earth to renovate another house (the timeline for our current house), I wonder about throwing up shiplap on the walls. shiplap is the new darling in home decor. The look of it goes along with our cottage style house.

or, is shiplap just the new era cheap paneling, remember that stuff from the 70’s? Also, our spare house has an entire room of that 70’s stuff, the room they converted from a garage. It sits there as a cautionary reminder about cheap construction solutions.

[Chicken lady]

Hunh. Had to look that up. I call it “pine paneling” and it is on the ceiling of both of our new porches. The intent is for the salvaged, wider, pine paneling from my grandfather’s office (circa 1950) to be used inside the addition.

i have absolutely no future in interior design. I like that which I like and it is usually not mainstream. So maybe the fact that I like it means you should skip it.

[iris lilies]

This article expresses what I was thinkng.

http://www.mariakillam.com/best-advice-shiplap/

It is largely a NO although shiplap might be ok in a small bathroom. But in the end I dont think pur hpuse is all THaT cottagey to have for shiplap from beginningto end. It actually wants to be Victorian even though the main part was built in 1941.

Some craftsman in its history recycled
Victorian staircase parts and furniture to make faux
victorian cabinets, and he also laid a very pretty oak floor with a fancy border.

I guess I cannot further disrespect this house, I need to be upstanding in giving it plaster look walls.

CL, I think shiplap look is perfectly appropriate for any porch, even one on a 1980’s tract house.

[Float On]

I think using Shiplap (basically paneling on it's side) is fine especially on little cottages in ultra cool towns. Go ahead...you have my permission.
I'm fond of this 2049 though I honestly didn't know you could buy it in panels. I thought you had to put up individual boards. I'd probably still go with the individual boards. I think it's a good accent wall and permissable in several rooms as an accent but I wouldn't do 4 walls in every room. That's overkill.

[catherine]

I agree, being a big fan of Joanna and Chip, I'm all for shiplap! :)

I'm even thinking about it for my new cabin. Right now it's covered in that old 70s faux paneling, and they painted it over in a myriad of colors. I'd love to shiplap the whole darn thing. I'm meeting with resistance from my DH and DS who actually love one wall being yellow, another magenta, another pink, another blue and another green. With red accents. It's a little bohemian/south of the border. Not exactly my New England classic cottage taste, but I'm not planning on changing anything this year, just to let the dust settle.

Is shiplap an easy alternative? I'm not familiar enough with dry-walling and paneling to know.


ETA: OMG, I looked at your link and it's gorgeous. Love it! That's what I would like my home to look like, but it might be too sedate for the over-stimulated tastes of my family.

[iris lilies]

I agree, being a big fan of Joanna and Chip, I'm all for shiplap! :)

I'm even thinking about it for my new cabin. Right now it's covered in that old 70s faux paneling, and they painted it over in a myriad of colors. I'd love to shiplap the whole darn thing. I'm meeting with resistance from my DH and DS who actually love one wall being yellow, another magenta, another pink, another blue and another green. With red accents. It's a little bohemian/south of the border. Not exactly my New England classic cottage taste, but I'm not planning on changing anything this year, just to let the dust settle.

Is shiplap an easy alternative? I'm not familiar enough with dry-walling and paneling to know.


ETA: OMG, I looked at your link and it's gorgeous. Love it! That's what I would like my home to look like, but it might be too sedate for the over-stimulated tastes of my family.

Shiplap would be super cute, and appropriate, in your cottage.

I believe it is wuite a bit easier to put up over existing walling, rather than tearing it all off and starting over. I suppose it depends on how far in juts i to woodwork and fram spaces.

[Mary B.]

I have no real opinion on shiplap, which I like when it is used to make boats and have no experience with as decor.

But boy, do I have opinions on the panelling you have now. Our owner-built (not this owner!) house was created beginning in the early seventies, and that panelling was everywhere. Gak. My only caution is in putting anything over it. It is so wretchedly flexible! Might be better to rip it off the wall first, though of course that reveals what lies beneath.

(in our house that is often not a good idea, yet we carry on)

[Tybee]

Shiplap is what houses in the South were paneled in from the mid 19th to early 20th century. Cracker houses have shiplap.
As a house in Southern Missouri, I think your house qualifies for a Southern house and you have my blessings to shiplap the heck out of it.

Catherine, we can sneak your house in on the coolness exception, because I don't think a house that is less than 1000 square feet should have that many different bright colors going on at once; it would make me nervous.

[catherine]

Catherine, we can sneak your house in on the coolness exception, because I don't think a house that is less than 1000 square feet should have that many different bright colors going on at once; it would make me nervous.

The guy who did the house inspection told me that he was going write up the colors, particularly the magenta, as a safety hazard. :)

[goldensmom]

I have no real opinion on shiplap, which I like when it is used to make boats and have no experience with as decor.

But boy, do I have opinions on the panelling you have now. Our owner-built (not this owner!) house was created beginning in the early seventies, and that panelling was everywhere. Gak. My only caution is in putting anything over it. It is so wretchedly flexible! Might be better to rip it off the wall first, though of course that reveals what lies beneath.

(in our house that is often not a good idea, yet we carry on)


I like shiplap but didn’t know what it was called before watching ‘Fixer Upper‘. The word shiplap to me referred to the edges of green water resistant 4x8 sheets of insulation. I’m rooting for paneling and wallpaper to become en vogue again. Why not? Tastes vary. <iris lilies>, go with what you like regardless of trends or what others prefer.

[Tybee]

The guy who did the house inspection told me that he was going write up the colors, particularly the magenta, as a safety hazard. :)
so funny!

[JaneV2.0]

One of the most memorable--and prettiest--formal dining rooms I've ever seen (in a turn of the century house in West Seattle) was painted magenta. It didn't hurt that it was a favorite color of mine...

ETA: I'm in agreement that shiplap looks best with beachy or cottagey architecture, but it really shines there. I love houses that resemble vacation retreats, so I'm all in favor. I'm sorry that it's become trendy.

Insufferable decor commentary in magazines and blogs makes me want to punch someone, while readers run out to buy gray paint, faux taxidermy, and Moorish lattice rugs. Like a pack of lemmings.

[mschrisgo2]

Is "ship lap" the same thing as "knotty pine"? I do see ship lap is generally painted white or gray,and knotty pine was/is mostly that ghastly (to me) yellowed stain, but is it essentially the same material, i.e. pine boards used on the wall as paneling?

I'm a little jealous that some of you have the option of using real wood on your walls. In California, real wood is prohibitively expensive, if you could get it at all. Walls are engineered products, drywall, i.e. sheetrock, plastered and painted, or engineered panels of composite materials. Almost all new construction is done with metal 2x4s, etc.

[pinkytoe]

Down in Central TX where the Fixer-Uppers live, ship-lap normally refers to a solid wood exterior siding and each piece has a groove that laps over the other. Interior pine horizontal boards which she also calls shiplap were used on old houses in place of sheetrock. In the old TX houses we renovated, the old pine boards were covered with muslin and then wallpaper. Ms Gaines seems to be calling any flat wood horizontal panels by that name. You can get all types of faux "ship-lap" to cover sins - made of some sort of engineered material. Or you can use real wood if affordable. We actually used some of the engineered stuff as wainscot paneling on the bottom half of a stairwell to cover ugly sheetrock. I think it would be very appropriate in a cottage style house but no doubt like paneling will be dated when we older folk are six feet under or wherever it is that we go.

[iris lilies]

This has been a very useful discussion, and I tha k everyne who chimed in. It did help center my thoughts on shiplap.

When Float-on spoke of it as horizontal paneling, that was the death knoll me. And then Tybee and pinkytoe talked about its origins in cheap houses. So, nope, wont be using it.

But shiplap can be very cute in the right place.

[Tybee]

IL, I never said it originated in cheap houses--I said it was found in Cracker houses, which is a lovely form of Northern Florida southern Georgia architecture, elegant and simple and acclimated for a hot climate. I like shiplap!

[iris lilies]

IL, I never said it originated in cheap houses--I said it was found in Cracker houses, which is a lovely form of Northern Florida southern Georgia architecture, elegant and simple and acclimated for a hot climate. I like shiplap!
Sorry! I had assumed Cracker houses were, well, not something to emulate. I stand corrected.

[Tybee]

Sorry! I had assumed Cracker houses were, well, not something to emulate. I stand corrected.

Check it out:
https://www.pinterest.com/dcgiles/florida-cracker-house/

I think you would like them very much; here's a nice example:

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/64/37/55/6437556257d1e6c04d56d787b615bbbf--florida-houses-florida-style.jpg

[Mary B.]

I like shiplap but didn’t know what it was called before watching ‘Fixer Upper‘. The word shiplap to me referred to the edges of green water resistant 4x8 sheets of insulation. I’m rooting for paneling and wallpaper to become en vogue again. Why not? Tastes vary. <iris lilies>, go with what you like regardless of trends or what others prefer.

I like wallpaper, and I don't mind panelling either. What I dislike is the almost-cardboard-weight panelling our house had. (I think had. There might still be a bit lurking here and there...)

[Tenngal]

I like it very much and it could be painted when you want another color.

[ToomuchStuff]

I dont even know why I am consulting you all, the group that simply makes fun of decor trends! Ha ha!

The spare house we are buying is a little house of horrors, one of the horrors being hideous finishes to the walls. They used some sort of papered wallboard in many places. DH thinks it is glued directly to original plaster. Living rooms walls are painted—something. Paneling I suppose.

so since I do not have another 30 years on earth to renovate another house (the timeline for our current house), I wonder about throwing up shiplap on the walls. shiplap is the new darling in home decor. The look of it goes along with our cottage style house.

or, is shiplap just the new era cheap paneling, remember that stuff from the 70’s? Also, our spare house has an entire room of that 70’s stuff, the room they converted from a garage. It sits there as a cautionary reminder about cheap construction solutions.


Papered wallboard? Are saying there was probably some unsized wallpaper that they painted over as it was too hard to remove, or is it just sheetrock? Your going to have the same issue with shiplap, that you would if you bought 1/4" sheetrock (an actual thing I have used), and overlayed the walls. Your going to have to move your outlets and all electrical/plumbing, etc. further out.
There is a downside to shiplap that I can think of. If used, how will you know it does't have termites?

[iris lilies]

Papered wallboard? Are saying there was probably some unsized wallpaper that they painted over as it was too hard to remove, or is it just sheetrock? Your going to have the same issue with shiplap, that you would if you bought 1/4" sheetrock (an actual thing I have used), and overlayed the walls. Your going to have to move your outlets and all electrical/plumbing, etc. further out.
There is a downside to shiplap that I can think of. If used, how will you know it does't have termites?
We arent going to shiplap this house, after all. Yeah, the dimension thing is a problem, but whatever we do, the dimension extension will be a problem. The material on
SOME of the walls appears to be a cardboard type material with paper over it. Ugh..but damn, the oak floor is pretty! And all new thermal windows!

here in this house where we live, all walls were gone when we bought it, the house was moatly stripped down to studs. That made it easy, actually, because we knew exactly what was there.

Termites may exist in one wet area of the basement, so we will have to look into that. It also has asbestos siding, so there is that to contend with.

[pinkytoe]

Tore up the old kitchen sub-flooring today (asbestos vinyl fun two layers and newer laminate) and found huge (now dried) water stains under the flooring everywhere - dog, human, leaks, I don't know but this old house reno stuff is not for the faint of heart. Almost fell through the floor in several places. I told DH let's just replace the rotten stuff and cover it up. Ditto the peculiar holes in the sheetrock behind the old cabinets. Thank goodness for all these modern ways to cover sins. Let the history be. The irritation is that we pay hundreds to home inspectors and they never find any of this stuff besides the obvious. I am so ready to buy a cinder block house with steel beams and a metal roof and get on with life.

[iris lilies]

Tore up the old kitchen sub-flooring today (asbestos vinyl fun two layers and newer laminate) and found huge (now dried) water stains under the flooring everywhere - dog, human, leaks, I don't know but this old house reno stuff is not for the faint of heart. Almost fell through the floor in several places. I told DH let's just replace the rotten stuff and cover it up. Ditto the peculiar holes in the sheetrock behind the old cabinets. Thank goodness for all these modern ways to cover sins. Let the history be. The irritation is that we pay hundreds to home inspectors and they never find any of this stuff besides the obvious. I am so ready to buy a cinder block house with steel beams and a metal roof and get on with life.

I was somewhat horrified by our inspector’s report and I broached to DH the idea of just bulldozing down this house and building new. But then we would have an $80,000 lot in Hermann, MO and that is a pretty pricey lot for the area. dH is not terribly concerned about all of the stuff that came up on the report. He regularly sees these reports for his work and says that everything is fixable, for a price.

[ToomuchStuff]

I have very VERY mixed feelings on home inspections. I know some who do/have done insect/termite inspections, and I would question their work, as well as having parents buy a house years ago, that after they moved it, standing next to the furnace and water heater, I saw a hole (not a crack) on the gas line that ran in between them, at eye level. What the heck did the inspector look at?

I would have a VERY specific list that I would ask and expect results from a home inspector.

[SteveinMN]

I would have a VERY specific list that I would ask and expect results from a home inspector.
There are inspectors and there are inspectors. Some are certified (for whatever value that holds for you); some "have been around a lot of houses". At least around here, none of them will open up anything that's closed unless it's a door. They would never see stains underneath an existing floor or a leaky pipe behind a tile shower surround. I almost see them as the fabled lucky lady who blows on your dice at the craps table. If things work out, she had something to do with it. If they don't, well, that's luck.

[Tybee]

There are inspectors and there are inspectors. Some are certified (for whatever value that holds for you); some "have been around a lot of houses". At least around here, none of them will open up anything that's closed unless it's a door. They would never see stains underneath an existing floor or a leaky pipe behind a tile shower surround. I almost see them as the fabled lucky lady who blows on your dice at the craps table. If things work out, she had something to do with it. If they don't, well, that's luck.

I just paid a lot of money (1500 dollars) for a home inspection of a house we wanted to buy near my kids. Here are some of the things it revealed:

knob and tube wiring, with live wires in the attic, in the insulation
no outlets on second floor
penicillum mold (to which I am allergic)
uranium in the water at 7 times EPA standards
radon gas
wood destroying organisms
water damage that might affect structure (was an oldhouse)
non working septic tank and field
etc.

Cost to fix house adequately would have been about a hundred thousand dollars, which I do not have laying around.

We walked from deal. We also had a friend who is local and a house inspector look at the house inspector's report, and he, too, advised us to run from the house.

So yeah, I have had inadequate house inspections that failed to pick things up, but this has kind of made me a believer.

[iris lilies]

Our house inspection cost $365 and it took 3 hours. It is pretty damned thorough. Mike, the inspector, is from our neighborhood and he is known amoung real estate agents here as The Deal Killer. He has to perform inspections to meet not only reasonable building standards of safety and sturdiness but also nit picky requirements to meet our city’s occupancy permit requirement.

Lord how I hate the occupancy permit requirement of our city. That was not in force when we moved into our St. Louis house, our neighborhood was exempt for very good reason—urban pioneers lived in their old wrecks and performed the work themselves, and they had the political clout to keep the political rewuirements at bay. It is one of the things that saved this neighborhood.

We would not have been allowed to live in our own damn house back then if that standard was in place. That is just foooked up. When we moved in we had electicity only in three rooms plus open studs plus lots and lots of other non compliant stuff.

But fortunately that permit thing does not exist in rural Missouri, they would laugh in the face of anyone who attempted to install
permitted requirements other than standard building code stuff.

For owner occupied dwellings I think occupancy inspections silly. but they are fine for rental units. Someone has to protect the renters, they are clueless all too often.

[befree]

I'm wondering if beadboard, which can be bought in big sheets, might be a good solution for your walls.

[iris lilies]

I'm wondering if beadboard, which can be bought in big sheets, might be a good solution for your walls.

I thought about beadboard but the classic use if it is on a half wall. It is something to consider, though.

About our house inspection and why it was relatively cheap: it was a general inspection, and did not cover radon or sewer scope or termite or other, specialized inspections. He suggested that termites might be inhai itng one area and a termite expert should be called. He suggested a couple of other expert inspections, and all of those woild drive ip the cost of inspections.

[pinkytoe]

We paid extra for the sewer scope as advised by our realtor only to find out from a neighbor later that the previous owner had replaced all the sewer pipe a year before. For whatever reason, that wasn't divulged by the seller. Buying houses is a crap shoot - there is no perfect. One of our fun surprises was pulling out a built in bookshelf in a stupid place and finding 1970s baseball cards behind it.

[iris lilies]

We paid extra for the sewer scope as advised by our realtor only to find out from a neighbor later that the previous owner had replaced all the sewer pipe a year before. For whatever reason, that wasn't divulged by the seller. Buying houses is a crap shoot - there is no perfect. One of our fun surprises was pulling out a built in bookshelf in a stupid place and finding 1970s baseball cards behind it.
We have had to replace the sewer line on every house we have purchased, it just goes with the territory in Victorian era houses. I am gobsmacked that our Hermann house has new thermal windows in each opening and also a brand new furnace. The furnace was installed since last summer when we saw the house and the day we put an offer in. These are very good and unexpected things.

[Tybee]

We have had to replace the sewer line on every house we have purchased, it just goes with the territory in Victorian era houses. I am gobsmacked that our Hermann house has new thermal windows in each opening and also a brand new furnace. The furnace was installed since last summer when we saw the house and the day we put an offer in. These are very good and unexpected things.
A new furnace is a wonderful, wonderful thing, ditto the windows!!