Drywall Alternatives . . .

bayview · April 14, 2009, 05:12:40 PM

Been busy on weekends since the tornado . . . I was able to get the electrical and plumbing stubed-out. The insulation is in with a vapor barrier.

Waiting on drywall. I prefer not to do the drywall, so, I was hoping to "sub" it out.

I am having a problem finding "subs" who would work on such a small project. I had a guy out on Saturday for a bid. He was far from interested.

What would you suggest as an alternative for drywalling the walls and ceilings? Inexpensive and ease of installation are big pluses.

I could go with pine tongue and groove boards . . . But am concerned that I wouldn't be able to get insurance. (possible fire hazard???)

MountainDon · April 14, 2009, 05:24:50 PM

Paper and paint on drywall burn too. I'd ask your insurance agent if there is any problem or surcharge with certain types of wall or ceiling materials.

We like T&G boards in a clear finish but we find that having all the walls and ceiling all in T&G to be "too much" for our personal likes. It also costs more and that was also a factor for our cabin.

Neither of us like 4x8 sheet "wood" panels.

April 14, 2009, 08:53:18 PM

I hate doing drywall taping and texturing. i'm still going to install drywall on the walls, but i am going to run them vertically, and use battens over the seams. My use is for a hunting cabin though, so I am not too concerned about aesthetics.

Redoverfarm · April 14, 2009, 08:54:23 PM

One nice thing about being a DIY'r is that some aspects of building you can accomplish with a savings over hired labor. With 1X6TG you can hang it yourself vs. drywall. The added cost of the T&G over drywall will almost balance itself out when you consider the cost to hang and finish drywall. Maybe not all but the majority of the cost. In this neck of the woods they are wanting $17 a sheet to hang and finish. So it is basicly 32sf. Add the cost of the board and you are getting close.

They do make a sanded pine veneer panel which mimics T&G 1X6 and can be stained or sealed. It is unlike the old wood paneling. A friend/contractor tried to convience a client to use it instead of T-111 but ended up using T-111 in some room

I did some drywall in my project because of the cost factor. I finished it myself. Maybe not a professional job but I pleased the owner.

Redoverfarm · April 14, 2009, 08:57:03 PM

Frank you might still have to finish a few seams to make the batten strips work evenly spaced on the wall wouldn't you? Everytime I put it up the seams usually didn't come out evenly spaced.

April 15, 2009, 06:04:24 AM

If the drywall was about $17.00 a sheet installed and drywall was about $6.00, it would cost about $1000.00 for the cabin. I could live with that . . . Now if I could only get someone out here to do the work!

Windpower · April 15, 2009, 08:41:17 AM

It takes about 15 gallons of mud 'practise' before it becomes a reasonable task, IMO

learn how to load the mud on the knife by clipping off the outside edges so that you don't get those ridges all the time

the fiberglass tape helps too (if you have trouble getting those damn paper tape bubbles)

and they have glue on edges now that work well

eventually you'll get to the point that the sanding is minimal (I hate sanding too) (home depot has a shop vac thingy that keeps the dust down -- haven't tried it yet but it looks like a good tool)

I like the 'lightweight' mud

oh, and a real dry wall screw gun helps alot (as opposed to a drill)

NM_Shooter · April 15, 2009, 09:17:48 AM

Quote from: Redoverfarm on April 14, 2009, 08:57:03 PM
Frank you might still have to finish a few seams to make the batten strips work evenly spaced on the wall wouldn't you? Everytime I put it up the seams usually didn't come out evenly spaced.

I shouldn't have more than 1/4" gap on any of the sheets. I am planning on caulking the gap and gluing a 1/4" X 1.5" batten over the seam. No texture... just prime and paint. Being lazy, I probably will just use "old work" electrical boxes for the few outlets and switches rather than cut the drywall to fit stud mounted boxes. I'm going to have a grand total of three light switches and three outlets

Don_P · April 15, 2009, 09:48:48 AM

I'm not much more than tolerable with drywall but I do like having areas of color or white as opposed to all wood. nothing wears like hickory down below

April 15, 2009, 12:16:31 PM

That hickory looks great. Where did you get it? is it T&G?

How did you run it vertically? are there nailer strips behind it?

Don_P · April 15, 2009, 05:58:18 PM

It was the homeowners horses' favorite tree when it broke. I sawed it, dried it on site while we built and then planed and T&G'ed it with a set of router bits. A friend of theirs is going to paint a landscape in the panels. The ceiling was a dropped grid but we made 2x2' panels out of t&g wood to set in the grid.

That is actually in a Superior Walls basement. I covered the walls with osb then the T&G below and drywall above. I could have done it with blocking but sure liked the ability to nail and glue anywhere. with the osb backing you could do the panelling in any pattern, you could paint a picture in wood or weave a pattern.

Straying for a minute, for affordable construction it would also be worth looking at Superior Walls for a single story home. It sits on a gravel trench footing, the panels are craned in and bolted together in a day. A truss roof sitting on top of that and it would be dried in in a week. A radiant slab inside and a stucco parge on the exterior would be the cheapest but it could have anything. The walls are already insulated and ready for wiring and drywall.

bayview · April 15, 2009, 08:51:41 PM

The drywallers called today . . . ($1250.00) Includes hanging 1/2" sheetrock, tape and bed, framing out the windows, knockdown texture and all materials. Guessing cost of materials about $450.00. So, they are charging about $800.00 for labor. Minimum wages if I were to tackle it!

Seems that the delay on my bid was they are on a big job . . . They are finishing a 3500 sq. ft. home. I guess that gets priority over my 320 sq. ft.

They are scheduling my place in about 10 days . . .

(Sheetrock, wallboard, plasterboard, drywall . . . remember when they called it gypsum board!)

fishing_guy · April 16, 2009, 02:46:54 PM

Not a bad quote Bayview, especially since it includes knockdown texture. Back in the 70's I had an uncle who did texture on the side. He calculated he made $100/hr, AFTER buying the materials. Of course, he had a nice truck setup that had to have cost him quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I remember gypsum board also. How time flies.

bayview · April 16, 2009, 03:37:19 PM

fishing_guy:

I noticed that you hail from the Twin Cities . . . I spent my teen years on a farm in Farmington. My mother has moved into town near the Dakota County fairgrounds. West part of the fairgrounds was my grandfathers farm. Aunt and Uncle in Coon Rapids and Anoka. Uncle has built a home on one of the lakes in Brainerd.

Beautiful country . . .

April 16, 2009, 05:59:07 PM

Don_P

could you give a little more info on your superior Wall sytem?

How large is your cabin?

How much did it cost?

I Have seen this type of foundation and am trying to get an idea of what it would cost for my 20 x 32 cabin.

Thanks

Don_P · April 16, 2009, 09:21:23 PM

NLO, I'm a carpenter, this was used as the basement on a house I worked on. As I worked on it I realized it would make for a fine house on its own.
From the bits I think I know, I believe the walls would have cost around $80-100 per lineal foot of wall. You do need to be able to get a large crane and tractor trailer in. We had a dozer shove him up a pretty fair mountainside.
We gave them window and door sizes and locations and they had the openings bucked out for us. Let them know your slab and insulation thicknesses as it does affect their cast in footing. I think it's worth investigating.