Alternative to sheetrock?

[Steve_B]

Hello All... besides fake wood paneling which can be painted, is there any real alternative to not having the trouble and labor of sheetrocking, taping, and mudding an entire house?

Is there some type of "paneling" which gives the allure of sheetrock and is paintable without the trouble of taping, spackling, and mudding out all the lines?

I would love to wood plank the walls, but the budget is way too tight for that!

[MountainDon]

Nothing I can think of off hand.    Drywall is still about the least expensive that does not look cheap, IMO.  For me the hardest part of drywall is the jointing between panels. I have three knives; 6, 8 and 10 inch I think.   ( 6, 8 12???)  I go from small to largest letting the compound dry between applications. No sanding required for the most part. I also have a plastic tool made special for inside corners that works well. Here and there after a coat has dried I knock off the excess ridges with a knife before going to the next largest.

I just did a 10 foot partition wall on both sides and only had a few spots I dry sanded with fine paper over a 2x4 block. Primer/sealer paint and then the finish coat.

[NM_Shooter]

Yeah, what Don said. 

I cheated on my cabin.  I put up sheetrock, but did not mud the seams.  I caulked them with silicone, and I intend to install battens over the seams.  I hate sanding drywall. 

[speedfunk]

Tongue and Groove  pine "roofers".  So much better then sheetrock IMO.

You can keep clear or paint(stain) for a more cottage look. 
It wears much nicer then drywall and all the seams poping apart in time. Your  shelter flexes drywall does not.  Constant fixing of the seams for life...awesome . 

It has strength , you might  not have to worry about hitting a stud if you have 3 /4" of wood .  It actually strengthens your home/shelter. 

I would wager a guess it is much less energy intensive to "create"

[considerations]

I heard (somewhere) that the justification for sheet rock (yes, I don't like it either) had to do with fire resistance.  Any comments on this rumor?

[MountainDon]

The IRC does not state you must use drywall for ordinary interior walls and ceilings. Furnace rooms are an exception.There are standards in the IRC that apply to all finishes...
http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/irc/2012/icod_irc_2012_3_par061.htm

I have no idea about where wood falls in that standard. One could probably find more info if they looked.  The big thing about srywall from a contractors perspective is, IMO, speed on completing the interior and the low cost of materials. A good crew can do an interior in a surprisingly short time. Are there any other products that lead to a finished wall for the same materials cost as a sheet of gyproc. If there was it would probably be in use in most housing. Drywall done right is a good wall, IMO. Nothing is easier to change than a coat of paint when one grows tired of the decor.

[Don_P]

The underside of enclosed stairs is another place drywall is required for fire resistance, a basement garage, I'm sure there are other places that I'm not thinking of. It does increase the fire resistance more than is obvious. The drywall contains a lot of bound water that has to be released before it's temperature can rise on the other surface to the kindling point. It's got to "boil" its tea kettle dry before it rises above 212.

It was originally developed as a form of plaster lath and was in much smaller sheets that were fully plastered over. Prior to that sawn wooden lath was nailed to the framing and plaster, burnt, slaked, lime was applied over the lath. There is a lime kiln nearby on the property of a grand old brick home. The bricks and plaster were made onsite.

Prior to sawn lath, it was split out with a froe. In the old serfs cabin it was split from what was on hand, the better bolts of firewood on long winter nights by the fire. The twigs and limbs that the landlord allowed the peasants to harvest from his woodlands "by hook or by crook" was firewood, the clear bolts were lath and other treen. When the lath was complete, wet plaster was applied to the wall.

Before that wattle, woven willow or whatever was handy, was fitted between the framing and daub, which could be clay, cob, or plaster was daubed over the grid of sticks, wattle and daub. Kicking through a wall built this way is where the term "breaking and entering" comes from.

The old plasters and lime renders are neat, they tend to dry and preserve the surrounding timbers if there isn't undue dampness or leaks where contact between cement and timbers is the kiss of death. Lime also absorbs the CO² in the surrounding air to slowly turn back into limestone. ( it does take a whole pile of CO to burn the limestone though, this is not a green thing!)

Just pointing out that if its a time/money thing there are some dirt cheap walls out there. I seem to never have enough of either 

[MountainDon]

With an attached garage like homes around here there is another need. Many of the garage sections are unfinished, trusses open to the garage below. There must be drywall separating the attic space over the habitable area from the garage area.

[Alan Gage]

If you go with Drywall I'd highly recommend the book Drywall by Myron Ferguson. I read it a couple times before I did any sheetrock work and got a lot of good information. I read it one or two more times after I'd mudded the first coat and got even more good info. (some stuff makes a lot more sense after you've got a little experience) and referred to it many more times during the process. I consider it a must read. So glad I did before I just went ahead and hung sheetrock and mudded the way my dad taught me growing up. 

Alan

[flyingvan]

Nobody really sands drywall anymore.  The 'sanding' is done with a wet sponge sold for that purpose.  Better finish and no dust to breathe.

[NM_Shooter]

I refuse to do a half-hearted job with drywall seams. 

Especially when a little bit more texture and paint will make a quarter-hearted job look just as well 

[paul s]

this has always bothered me.  so many new things and sheet rock a big fat zero.  my thought is some type of mesh stapled to the studs and then something like pool gunite shot on to it and  the color already in it.

[Ndrmyr]

I sand, but it is with my variable speed Porter-Cable drywall sander with vacuum attachment.  Hook it up to a shop vac with a drywall bag and you are sanding in style.  Wickedly fast,e xpecially in the wide open spaces.

That being said,  I'm not fond of sheetrock for buildings that may go unheated in the winter like cabins.  If the budget can't stand it, fine, but, I would exhaust my options for wood siding first.  Sawmills, reclaimed, auctions, craigslist, habitat for humanity re-stores, etc.

[flyingvan]

Yeah  I took the hit and did all T&G spruce, which somewhat sadly all got painted white (It's NOT a cabin, it's a cottage! she sez) it really wasn't too expensive, and sure a lot nicer to work with.  Only drywall is the bathroom and one kitchen wall that's covered in cabinets anyway
What are the advantages to dry sanding over wet sanding?  I've seen the pros doing both.  I imagine the dry sanding goes faster

[EvoQ]

I think you need to take a look at Homasote Board sheets. It comes in various sheet sizes like typical 4x8 and so forth. It has an awesome insulating value, and sound deadening too. very light weight and easy to install. The Costs are typically very low as well. Take a look at the description of the material as it is a Fiber Board that was widely used back in the days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homasote. I have it in my current home and could not be any happier with it. Check it out and if you need any more info about install or just let me know.