Anyone used wood paneling on the ceiling before?

[Scarpozzi]

I've got a bathroom in my boathouse that had a leaky roof. The roof was repaired, but the sheetrock on the ceiling bubbled from the water and ultimately needs to be taken down because now there's mold growth in a few areas.

I was thinking about the mess and trouble and think I may just install wood paneling to replace the sheetrock. It's probably only 120 square feet, so the extra cost would be absorbed by the ease of installation.


I found this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weathered-Grey-Plank-32-sq-ft-MDF-Paneling-169779/302944333

I'm just concerned because MDF might droop due to humidity alone if it's hung on the ceiling. I just liked the price point and look of the product. If i leave the sheetrock in place, it will have a solid surface I could potentially adhere it to with adhesive.

Anyone got any ideas of a similar product? I'm not stuck on any one look....I could go with 1/4" stained plywood. I'm just wanting to cut the boards, nail them up, and maybe trim the edges with quarter round or something cheap to seal it up. I also don't have to do this now. I can wait. Just trying to get a plan together for the next 8-12 months.

 

[Greenman]

You can use anything that will take a nail. I've seen wood flooring used om walls, would work on a ceiling just as well.

 

[Scarpozzi]

You can use anything that will take a nail. I've seen wood flooring used om walls, would work on a ceiling just as well.

Yeah...I'm just reluctant to use MDF cause I've seen the stuff crumble over time. I just gotta record the ceiling measurements to estimate materials when I'm back out there this weekend, then hit up the big box stores and see what's available this Fall.

 

[Paperdoc]

I did something like this a couple decades ago, but not exactly the same.This was in an unheated but finished front porch closed in with glass. The ceiling was wood strip boards (a little like wainscotting) about 4" wide nailed directly to the rafters and painted. They had developed stains from minor roof leaks. I was re-surfacing one wall with wood panelling sheets, and wanted to update the ceiling, too. For that I used sheets (¼" thick, maybe a bit less) of dense wood fibre with one surface lightly textured and painted white to look rather like stucco. I just nailed that directly to the existing ceiling board, using 1½" nails with white heads. To cover the small gaps between sheets I got some white plastic strip mouldings about ¾" wide that were slightly rounded with a "T" on the back, but I cut off the "T" to leave a flat back. Then I just used a glue to set those trips over the lines between sheets. With wood panelling, you generally do NOT need those strips - you just use the "natural" look of tiny "gaps" between "strips".

Those panels I used were probably stiffer than common wood panel sheets, but nails (more than a foot spacing) into solid backing have been quite sufficient to hold them smoothly. If you are using construction adhesive, the trickiest part may be holding the sheets up tight against the sheetrock for a while for the glue to set.

Maybe because I have replaced the shingles on the sloped roof over the porch a couple times, there have been no major leaks that created new stains. The ceiling still looks good.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I did something like this a couple decades ago, but not exactly the same.This was in an unheated but finished front porch closed in with glass. The ceiling was wood strip boards (a little like wainscotting) about 4" wide nailed directly to the rafters and painted. They had developed stains from minor roof leaks. I was re-surfacing one wall with wood panelling sheets, and wanted to update the ceiling, too. For that I used sheets (¼" thick, maybe a bit less) of dense wood fibre with one surface lightly textured and painted white to look rather like stucco. I just nailed that directly to the existing ceiling board, using 1½" nails with white heads. To cover the small gaps between sheets I got some white plastic strip mouldings about ¾" wide that were slightly rounded with a "T" on the back, but I cut off the "T" to leave a flat back. Then I just used a glue to set those trips over the lines between sheets. With wood panelling, you generally do NOT need those strips - you just use the "natural" look of tiny "gaps" between "strips".

Those panels I used were probably stiffer than common wood panel sheets, but nails (more than a foot spacing) into solid backing have been quite sufficient to hold them smoothly. If you are using construction adhesive, the trickiest part may be holding the sheets up tight against the sheetrock for a while for the glue to set.

Maybe because I have replaced the shingles on the sloped roof over the porch a couple times, there have been no major leaks that created new stains. The ceiling still looks good.

This is also an unheated space. I turn off the water in the winter.

I was just going to glue it/nail it if I did that. The only function of the adhesive would be prevent sagging....but I wasn't going to go crazy with it in case I want to take it down for some reason.

If the material is rigid enough, I won't bother with it.

 

[waffleironhead]

Ive seen people put tongue and groove carsiding on the ceilings before. Easy to put up and would look fine in a cabin. Rigid enough not to droop and the nails would be hidden as well.

 

[Sukhoi]

I'd personally use the plywood for dimensional stability with all the moisture potential.

 

[Homerboy]

120ft, using a few shiplap boards and it should go up easy and look good.