Interior wall finishing options for rustic charm

Started by AdironDoc, December 13, 2010, 09:57:16 AM

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AdironDoc

While talking with my builder about the interior walls, he suggested smoothly finished boards from his mill, lightly stained and preserved. A slightly glossy look will make cleaning easy he noted.

I, on the other hand, lean towards something more rustic. I asked about rough cut boards but he said cleaning would prove impossible. Sat at a "log cabin" steakhouse last week and admired their hand hewn log walls and chinking. Of course it wasn't a log building, but it looked good too.

I'm trying to avoid a refined, finished, or smooth look, in favor of a rougher, more rustic flavor. Something that asks for a bearskin or pair of snowshoes on the wall. Any ideas on wall options for the main room of a hunters cabin? Has anyone used rough cut boards horizontally arranged? When stained light brown and preserved, are they impossible to clean? Must walls even be cleaned regularly? I've had 4 houses and never washed a wall once.

JRR

A vacuum cleaner wand works as well on walls as floors, on all sorts of surface finishes ... if however, new paint is needed ... new paint is needed.


Ernest T. Bass

We finished the inside walls of a cabin with rough-cut boards. We got 1/2'' boards ripped out of the logs with their rustic edges still intact and did a horizontal board-and-batten type of thing.



They aren't super easy to clean, but how often do you need to scrub rustic walls? These are still looking good. With this style, you could still plane and finish the boards whilst maintaining the rustic look. As an added bonus, it's really easy to pop a board off and tinker with the plumbing or something. It's also cheap.. We paid $0.70/board.

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dug

A friend of mine has a home with rough sawn boards on the ceiling and some of the walls. They are unfinished and at least 10 years old, looks fantastic. I doubt they have ever cleaned them.

Personally I like the look much better than a smooth finish.

AdironDoc

Wow, that's a great look! I may not use the "live edge" Adirondack style only because I'm already doing that for the exterior boards. Great to know what others have successfully done. I'm leaning towards rough cut (rip sawn?) boards, lightly stained and preserved. Ship lap pattern, I suppose. I'll pick up a vacuum with wand after "the dust settles" ;)



MaineRhino

It's not an interior shot, but this is what my chicken coop looked like when I put on rough-sawn, shiplap boards with a stain.






I prefer the T & G V-match that many here have used.


muldoon

rough cut cedar locally milled.  the boards were about 5/8" thick and came in 10' lengths.  They are not planed smooth, but until reading this thread it never even crossed my mind that I might one day need to wash them. 


AdironDoc

Quote from: MaineRhino on December 13, 2010, 01:48:11 PM
this is what my chicken coop looked like when I put on rough-sawn, shiplap boards with a stain.

I'm kinda thinking your chicken coop would look great in my main room! Nice color, nice look. Thanks for posting that pic. The beveled V-match looks a little too finished. It looks smooth. Is it rough?

Don_P

Bandsawn is smoother than circular sawn. I've used an osborne brush, a cup wheel with grit embedded nylon bristles, to smooth and remove 165 years of accumulated crap from a hewn cabin, it would do the same on a roughsawn board. If you want a real workout you could also hew a surface with a broadaxe or adze. Western Redcedar often comes with a smooth face and a brushed face, even in V groove patterns


MaineRhino

Mine are smooth, with 2 coats of poly. We had considered something more rustic, but dust would accumulate on something more rough sawn, and I have allergies.  d*

glenn kangiser

Nice look there, Andrew.  We also have some similar to that, some home-made shiplap and some plain boards.  No cleaning other than dusting a bit in 8 years - they are band saw cut.

Not wood but old metal is cool - this one is from a burned down building.

 
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Ernest T. Bass

I've said it before but I still love that little table... The walls are neat too, and very practical around a stove.

Our family's homestead adventure blog; sharing the goodness and fun!

poppy

Other than maybe dusting for spider webs, who would clean walls in a cabin?   ???

Sassy

I dust for spider webs at least once a week - they love our cabin - Glenn has pet spiders & webs by his chair that he won't let me remove - he says they catch the moths & bugs flying around when we leave the doors open at night   d* 

I also vacuum the logs on he ceiling & boards on the walls - there's no way to scrub them - we have so much dust around during part of the year w/the fine clay ground & then when Glenn decides to do more building inside the house - there's tons of sawdust - I sweep up what I can & vacuum - but I've had to relax my standards of cleanliness here in the cabin   ::) 

I do like the rustic look of the rough wood walls, though.  And also like the metal walls   :)
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AdironDoc

A few people have noted that the walls above and around the wood stove tend to get darker or smokey. Aside from that, I've never washed a wall in my life.. ok, except maybe crayons in the kids room.

Doc

glenn kangiser

Quote from: Ernest T. Bass on December 13, 2010, 11:48:57 PM
I've said it before but I still love that little table... The walls are neat too, and very practical around a stove.

Some people wonder about my choice of connection hardware.... 3/4 lag bolts and washers..... but it gives the effect I want... simple natural materials contrasted by the industrial look... :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.