1x10 pine for walls?

davidj · September 30, 2010, 11:44:56 AM

I can get a good price on a bunch of pine 1x10 #2/BTR S4S. I was thinking of using this as shiplap boards (with a square rabbet, no bevel or curve) for the walls in my cabin. Is this a good idea? Are there issues when boards get that wide? As far as putting it up, can I just shoot 4 x 15ga finish nails into each stud and that'll be enough? Or do I need bigger nails or to keep away from the edges of the boards?

For the ceiling I was thinking of regular 1x6 T&G for some variety.

MountainDon · September 30, 2010, 12:34:40 PM

So the 1x10 currently have square edges, and you would make the rabbet cut?

Depending on how dry they already are they may or may not have a warp/twist tendency. It seems the wider the board the more possible it is to have issues. Securely nailed in place that would not be a problem, but you will need to face nail. IF you were to rip the boards in two you could likely get away with hiding the nails in the rabbets similar to the T&G.

Or you could use the 1x10 vertical with battens to help hide the nails.

I'm not certain I'd trust finishing nails on wide boards; never done that myself. I'm sure Don_P, PEG or someone has experience.

September 30, 2010, 12:52:43 PM

Would construction adhesive be a bad idea if exposed nails would ( visually) be a problem? good luck ever getting them back off, but hopefully you would never have a reason to. also it would look cool if the joining rabbits werent the same dimensions and you left an aprox 1/4 reveal

davidj · September 30, 2010, 01:34:46 PM

Quote from: MountainDon on September 30, 2010, 12:34:40 PM
So the 1x10 currently have square edges, and you would make the rabbet cut?

I can probably get the rabbet added by the guy selling it. If not I'd have to break out my as-yet-unused dado blade.

Quote
Depending on how dry they already are they may or may not have a warp/twist tendency. It seems the wider the board the more possible it is to have issues. Securely nailed in place that would not be a problem, but you will need to face nail. IF you were to rip the boards in two you could likely get away with hiding the nails in the rabbets similar to the T&G.

Does nailing into the tongue (for the T&G ceiling) work with a finish nail gun? Or do you need to do it by hand (which is a lot more time consuming when I'm working alone)?

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Or you could use the 1x10 vertical with battens to help hide the nails.

I'd love to do vertical boards inside, matching the outside. But I've got 9' walls and the boards are 8s and 16s. Also, at this point I'm starting to get impatient to have walls up, and the extra blocking or furring, not to mention extra trim, isn't gonna make it any quicker. Although I guess with wide boards, maybe I could get away with 3' spacing on the blocking??.

Quote

I'm not certain I'd trust finishing nails on wide boards; never done that myself. I'm sure Don_P, PEG or someone has experience.

MountainDon · September 30, 2010, 02:10:43 PM

As for the air nailer and T&G a finishing gun works well. Just watch the placement. My little Senco has a pretty good guide line. It's also something you get used to quickly; at least I have. That's what I used on our cabin ceiling and the one T&G wall. Much quicker than hand nailing. Easier on the arm/shoulder, too.

September 30, 2010, 02:15:15 PM

I had another thought... Leaving a space in the rabbet would add interest to the appearance, but first think about whether or not the person who does the interior dusting would have any issues with that. My wife would see those as dust collectors and not be pleased.

davidj · September 30, 2010, 03:19:07 PM

Quote from: MountainDon on September 30, 2010, 02:15:15 PM
I had another thought... Leaving a space in the rabbet would add interest to the appearance, but first think about whether or not the person who does the interior dusting would have any issues with that. My wife would see those as dust collectors and not be pleased.

Wise advice. I guess I need to think of a way of rephrasing "What do you think of adding 1000 linear feet of minature dust shelf, dear?"!!!!

Pritch · September 30, 2010, 04:03:09 PM

Are you planning to use these for the exterior or the interior? I would think that pine is a little soft and inclined to cup, especially at that kind of width. I wonder how pine handles bugs, moisture, moss, and the like.

davidj · September 30, 2010, 05:14:04 PM

Quote from: Pritch on September 30, 2010, 04:03:09 PM
Are you planning to use these for the exterior or the interior? I would think that pine is a little soft and inclined to cup, especially at that kind of width. I wonder how pine handles bugs, moisture, moss, and the like.

This is for inside.

September 30, 2010, 06:19:05 PM

It depends. If the wood is dry and if you are tolerant of some cupping, less than perfectly flat walls,etc, it will work. Narrower boards will fit tighter, stay flatter and "look better" all depending on your desired look.

Depending on the moisture content of the wood and the final moisture content when it acclimates in the house there can be issues. I've seen plenty of people nail wide boards near the edges and get away with it. I've also seen wide boards shrink and either split because the nails held it, or pull the nails out. You won't be able to get away from face nailing with wide boards or shiplap.

All of those are reasons why narrower panelling and narrow strip flooring came to be the more common sizes. Last night I mentioned to Dug that if he could bring in lumber, sticker it and run the heat through a good part of the winter it would help getting the wood moisture content down and it would probably be fine. Ornery boards will probably show themselves during that process. and might be able to be broken down for trim widths.

Pine is more forgiving than most hardwoods, the lower the weight generally speaking the less the wood moves and the less powerfully. All just some basic info to think about while deciding.

davidj · April 25, 2011, 04:11:08 PM

Finally getting around to doing the interior walls (probably hauling the wood 2 miles on the ATV for the coming weeks, given the amount of snow on the ground). It looks like I'm gonna be using 1x8 pine running vertically, still with a square rabbet. I was thinking of doing a 5/8" wide rabbett, resulting in a 1/4" square groove and a 3/8" overlap. Does that sound enough to cover any shrinkage?

I'm gonna have to put up horizontal furing strips to hold it. Should I do them every 16" or is 24" enough? I'm gonna try and peel off a thin layer of fiberglass to fill the 3/4" gap unless anyone has any other good ideas (given that foam would be pretty expensive, time consuming and probably not code-approved without drywall in my neck of the woods).

How should I nail it to minimize the chance of splitting and cupping? 3 face nails equally spaced with the outer maybe an inch from the edge?

PS Some pictures of the ceiling are up on the project thread.