Framing for paneled walls?

[MushCreek]

As I mull over all of the house ideas I've accumulated, I've decided to use as little drywall as possible. I hate the stuff! I'd like to use tongue and groove paneling in much of the house. What is the best way to frame the walls with this in mind? Obviously, I need vertical studs, like any house, and I can fasten the vertical paneling at the top and bottom. What about the rest of it? I figured on horizontal blocking, but how close together do they need to be? Seems like all of that blocking would get tedious after a while. What about using 1X4's horizontally, attached over the studs?I don't care for angled or horizontal paneling- I want vertical. Are there any building code problems with paneled walls and ceilings? I know an attached garage has to have a firewall, but what about the rest of the house? Thanks for any input!

[MountainDon]

Some of your terminology is confusing to me. You say "tongue and groove paneling".

To me paneling is something that comes in sheets, usually 4 x 8 ft and is thin. Too thin to have T&G.  

T&G is usually boards, 4 inch, 6 inch wide or wider. It is normally installed horizontally on walls but there is no reason you can not use it vertically. Vertical 1x4, 1x6, etc would need the installation of horizontal strips to act as a nailing substrate. 24 inches apart would be fine. Maybe wider spacing but I've never tried it.

One wall of our cabin has 1x6 horizontally placed T&G boards. The wall studs were on 24 " centers. The ceiling is the same T&G, with joists 16" OC.

[Redoverfarm]

Normally there is no additional framing required unless you have a special situation.  You attach it to the top and botom plate of your framing.  Then with a small guage nailer just tack in between through the T&G (not face nail)every so often.  If you are going to finsih it with a darker stain this should be done before installation making sure that the tounge is stained and finsihed as well.  If you do not as the lumber moves with changing conditions the area of the touge may show the natural color. On my walls I just toenailed a few supports midways in a special situation.  You need to measure your wall area and divide that into your coverage area of the paneling to make sure that you do not end up with a very small piece on the other end. You can adjust this with your first piece.  Every so often I plumb the edge to make sure that it is plumb.  You can tweak it to get it in line every so often.  

[Redoverfarm]

Don in this area it is referred to as paneling as well.  The coverage on what I installed was only 5" but sold as a 1X6 (actually 5-1/2") then take away the tounge on the coverage you only end up with a 5" coverage. 

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http://www.tygartmoulding.com/TygartMouldingcatalog.pdf

[MushCreek]

My father put up 'paneling' (as we called it) in our old house before there were sheet goods like you described- I should have been more specific!
What else would you call it? Planking? Anyhow, I'm thinking old-style, probably 8" wide, maybe with a bead at the seam. I think I'll have to mill my own, or pay dearly for it! And I plan to paint much of it. In the colonial house I grew up in, such paneling was always vertical, just as bead board wainscoting would be. I may use bead board on some of my ceilings. I want the place to look like an old cottage. I figure since I can't afford a big or fancy house, I'll try to give it some character!

[MountainDon]

I've always simply heard of it being referred to as T&G or tongue and groove, with the implication that it is boards. Regional differences? Or maybe just me?

Anyhow, no reason you can't do it vertical. John makes an excellent point though on the finishing. With humidity changes it can grow and shrink. I've never painted any, but on the ones I've stained I've always stained ahead of installation. It would be good to hear from anyone who stained after it was nailed up. Say with at least a years worth of time past.

If you intend to use 8" wide you may run into board cupping problems.   On the exterior T&G boards wider than 6" often need to be face nailed.

How about board and batten? Or maybe the lower part of the wall vertical with the upper horizontal and a chair rail dividing them?

[MushCreek]

Our old house had wide paneling- maybe 10 or 12"- I really don't remember. As I recall, it was face nailed in places with finishing nails. The side we used was V-groove, and the back side had a wide molded area. Everyone thought we were nuts for not using the 'fancy' side. We started out staining it, but after my Dad passed, Mom wanted a more formal look, and we painted it. I wish I could remember what happened with the tongues, as I'm sure it was stained after install, but it was many, many years ago. We did those walls in the early 60's, and I know the boards were a stock item at the lumber yard. I don't know what the substrate was, as it was a 200 y/o house, with a timber frame and massive chestnut sheathing boards. The interior walls had been plaster and lath. I wish I had paid more attention to how that house was built, but I was just a dumb kid. 

[Don_P]

Blocking is the normal way. For 8' height 2 or preferrably 3 horizontal rows. Yup its a tedious job. You can strap the walls with 1x4's or I've sheathed them in plywood and glued and nailed to that... you can go any direction over that or get really wild and do a wood mosaic. I've always wanted to do a tree motif on the wall out of different woods.

Code says that enclosed stairways need to be sheetrocked. (maintain that escape in a fire as long as possible) We are allowed to rock under under panelling... carsiding,,, ahhh whatever 

The old style you described was probably cove and bead or pickwick. It was and is very common to get panelling with 2 patterns, one on each face. Those patterns seem to be less available than they once were but are still produced.

I've made a fair amount of wainscot using a matched V groove router set and a big table mount router setup.

[MushCreek]

I've got a shaper, so I can make what ever I want, if I can find some good, reasonable wood. I like the plywood idea- I'm worried about keeping the walls nice and tight for insulation. Sheetrock under would be fine, too, although it doesn't give a nail base like plywood does. Horizontal strapping would be fast and easy, but you give up some space to wall thickness. Decisions, decisions!

[rick91351]

MushCreek I too vote for wood and little sheet rock.  One reason is a cop out I am a very poor sheet rock finisher.  No really you seen one sheet rocked wall you pretty much seen then all.  While every piece of wood is different.   

I believe that in the old books that I have read both in ship and house building ship lap, tongue and grove or vee-ed edge center match was always refereed to as paneling.  I think in our modern thinking paneling is the thin want to be stuff.  So Mush  and Mountain Don you are both right.

Vertical application make the room look narrow and tall.  Horizontal leans to wider and deeper.   You can run horizontal wainscot with a chair rail with a vertical application above as well.  Could be done Craftsman / Arts and Crafts era Stickly, Greene and Greene style. 

[rocking23nf]

Im putting cedar t&G paneling in my cabin also, they are 6 inch wide strips that are 8 feet long. Very expensive but will look good when done. I am just putting 2x4's in the wall for a nailing  area, its cheap, each board is like 1.50$

I got a decent price on the cedar, i bought 2000 square feet for 2000$ dollars. 

[John Raabe]

There are a couple of ways I might suggest. If you are in a cold climate and building for high efficiency I would fully insulate the walls and then do drywall but just firetape it. This doesn't need to be finished and serves as the air barrier and as fire protection. Then you can install thin paneling with any type and direction of wood you want.  

For a lower cost solution you could do what we did in our Little House project where we put up black poly as an air/moisture barrier over the studs and then installed horizontal 1x4 or 1x6 boards (non-T&G in our case).

[MushCreek]

I may have to re-think hanging it vertically. The house will be small, and the ceilings 10', so I don't want to make it look too tall!

The areas I do drywall will be wall papered anyhow, I like the look of wainscoting with wall paper above it.

[Don_P]

If you have a shaper that changes things. I worked in a shop where we made raised panel wainscot as wall length frame and panel assemblies. They would go in and attach to the studs as wall length panels. Sheetrock above and then chair rail over the seam. It's still nice to have blocking in that area.

I've bored y'all with this shot before. This was site made T&G hickory panelling from one of the trees that fell during construction. I covered the wall with osb then hickory below and sheetrock above.

[John Raabe]

Nice sturdy wall Don_P!