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I am installing wood wall panels on some walls and I am uncertain whether I need to install drywall first. Maybe someone here has some suggestions.
The wall paneling is tongue and groove roughly 5/8" thick (could be 3/4). Each piece is 3 or 4" wide.
The room has sloping ceilings (no attic space) down to walls that are about 3' or 4' high The wood will be used only on the vertical walls, not on the ceiling. The ceiling will be drywall. I planned to use 5/8" drywall, but I could use 1/4" It certainly woudl be easier to install.
It seems my options are to put the wood panels right over the studs and have the cirling drywall meet the wood and make a flush joint, or install drywall on the walls and then the wood over it so that the wood will stick out above the drywall. I would then have to make some top molding like a chair rail to cover the top of the wood.
If I do not put drywall in first, do I need some sort of backing for the wood panels? It seems like the tongue and groove connection nailed in at the top and bottom is probably enough to span the space between studs.
If I am not using drywall under the panels, should I install the ceiling drywall first or the wood first. I know normally it would be ceiling first, but if the drywall needs to meet the top of the wood, maybe the wood needs to be there.
If I use drywall under it, any suggestions for a top rail? The wood panels are so thick, I am not sure what I could buy or make that would cover the top edge of the wood and still reach the wall. I have installed wainscoting before, but it is very thin and pre-made molding is available to cover the top edge. Maybe I could just run some 1 x 3 along the top, but then my cuts on each piece of the paneling would need to be absolutely perfect.
I have never used wood panels this thick nor have I worked much in a room where the ceiling slopes down to low walls like this. It is puzzling.
Not sure whether i am explaining this sufficiently.
You don't technically need drywall, but it will create a little bit better draft stop than just the T&G paneling. Are you planning to insulate the knee walls? A simple plastic vapor barrier would be ok if there's no need to insulate.
I'd sheetrock the ceiling first and butt the paneling up to it. 1/2" GWB is sufficient, 5/8 is heavy and 1/4 is too flimsy. You can bevel the top edge of the paneling to match the ceiling slope, and caulk the joint where they meet..
I have several 1950s houses that have tongue and groove installed directly over the studs. You may need to add some vertical 2x4s for bracing and to give you something to nail to. Back in the old days before drywall that’s all they used around here.
Drywall keeps housefires contained for long enough for people to escape and (hopefully) the fire department to arrive before the place is fully engulfed. You may also want to see what insurance or a mortgage requires.
The walls are insulated with ICYNENE. Drafts are not an issue. However the fire issue is worth considering. No codes to deal with. The space is technically only permitted as storage. ICYNENE also supposedly helps slow a fire. I am not sure whether they ever got the testing approved to call it fire retardant.
The added studs are a good idea, but I would have to dig out the foam to get them in. Drywall gives me something to attach the panels to, but it is not a structural product. OTOH if I used 5/8" on the walls, it would hold the nails.
I use 5/8" reinforced drywall in all the walls, but for ceilings I think any size would be OK. The ceilings generally do not have to hold up to abuse. Since it is a second floor cieling and insulated with foam, I see no significant advantage for fire stopping to use the heavy stuff ont he ceiling. So I think you are right. First I have to measure what the light fixtures are set for. My guess is they are set up for 1/2" or 3/8" I did not do the wiring in this area, so I am not sure.
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