Making shiplap for a wall - kerf on back? And other questions, too.

[Bob Cooper]

Are you doing a big section. You may want to cover that wall with plywood first and then cover that with shiplap. I just did some walls with Nickle gap for a similar use ans I like it better because the entire surface is flat. Let me see if I can find a couple pix. Well...seems hard to do from an iPhone so I’ll do this tomorrow

[Mel Fulks]

I think it needs to be vertical...not Lincoln Logs lateral. We usually made the stuff on a shaper . To make the face work well with a no gap fit
back was made to be open about a scant 1/16th. I prefer a bead front,with old type pointed bottoms ....not the bowling alley gutters.
And I think it always looks best painted ,and nailed with the 19th century type squarish flat head nails.

[Peter Kelly]

I don't feel that 16ga nails shot through 3/8" of ash and 1/2" of drywall will be strong enough for this. What are my best alternatives?

2 1/2" 15ga finish nails. Which way are the boards going to be oriented?

[Brian W Evans]

Are you doing a big section. You may want to cover that wall with plywood first and then cover that with shiplap. I just did some walls with Nickle gap for a similar use ans I like it better because the entire surface is flat. Let me see if I can find a couple pix. Well...seems hard to do from an iPhone so I’ll do this tomorrow

This is basically the look we are going for. How did you attach the boards? Was there drywall under the plywood?

Is this shiplap, or just straight boards? If straight, did you do anything to the surface underneath to make it blend in?

[Brian W Evans]

2 1/2" 15ga finish nails. Which way are the boards going to be oriented?

Horizontal. Can't change that.

[Brian W Evans]

Here is an example of what the client wants - very clean, no nail holes.

example10a.jpg

[Phillip Mitchell]

Brian,

I installed some horizontal Nickel Gap “shiplap” for a client in their walls a few years
back and can offer some of my experience. I actually used 1x8 MDF that was T&G and not an actual shiplap joint because I also didn’t want any visible nail holes or filler used. I prefinished the MDF off site spraying with a white pigmented lacquer so touching up after install was something I was avoiding.

If you think through the mechanics of the shiplap joint, you realize that there isn’t a good way to only blind nail the board enough to be secure and flat against the wall across its width (and avoid visible fasteners.)

Say you start at the bottom with the open side of the joint up - you can nail through it near the floor if there’s going to be some type of base trim to cover then nail through the open tongue that’s on the top side, but the next course you can only blind nail the top open tongue again and this leave the bottom edge of the 2nd board and after “floating” as it’s not captured by the joint itself and you don’t want to face nail it to pull it in.

Ok, now say you inverse it and start with the closed side of the shiplap joint facing up and you won’t really be able to blind nail anything as you go because you are capturing the open tongues behind the closed side. With a true shiplap joint, you will run into this problem whether you start from the floor and work up or from the top and work down. This is why you traditionally see it face nailed as well.

I chose to use a tongue and groove nickel gap that looks exactly the same as all the shiplap once installed, but has the mechanical advantage of a truly locked in joint along the T&G edge and nailed through the tongue on the “open” edge. I also used a decent amount of construction adhesive behind the boards as I went for extra peace of mind. This was installed over existing drywall. I would absolutely not rely on just the board cladding to support a TV or audio equipment and find studs for that. You will need to find them anyway for the cladding install so just keep notes for each wall as to where your centers are and you will be fine...or add strategic blocking ahead of time as several folks have suggested.

I cut around existing outlets/switches/etc and used longer screws to mount the covers back on with existing ones and simply installed new boxes in a few places where we added new electrical.

Here are some photos of what I did. It was a satisfying job overall, as I have some other woodworking scope (floating shelves, walnut accent wall, built in hinges benches, etc) aside from the nickel gap, but the white nickel gap does provide a pretty clean and bright look.

Ash is one of my favorites and I feel like it could be absolutely beautiful with some carefully selected stock with clear grain.

[Brian W Evans]

Thanks, Phillip. Your point about the T&G makes a lot of sense. This won't take much more time than cutting shiplap but will definitely be more secure and less prone to warping. I don't know why but I hadn't thought of a square profile T&G before.

Nice work, BTW.

[Mel Fulks]

. To make the face work well with a no gap fit
back was made to be open about a scant 1/16th.
Did that by adjusting , the fence, so that cutters could remove right amount, then putting feeder on high speed and using climb cut

[johnny means]

Are you doing a big section. You may want to cover that wall with plywood first and then cover that with shiplap. I just did some walls with Nickle gap for a similar use ans I like it better because the entire surface is flat. Let me see if I can find a couple pix. Well...seems hard to do from an iPhone so I’ll do this tomorrow

This. OSB is cheap and will prevent any future issues with mounting/ hanging fixtures.

[Brian W Evans]

This. OSB is cheap and will prevent any future issues with mounting/ hanging fixtures.

Yeah, it USED to be cheap. Right now it's $52 for 1 sheet of 1/2" OSB. Cheaper to use 1/2" ply at $47.

Fortunately it's not a very big space, but it will still add a few hundred to the materials cost.

Drywall -> ply -> ash t&g (or spline & groove) is going to be my plan.

[Brian W Evans]

Still no opinions about saw kerfs or relief cuts on the backs of the boards?

[Mel Fulks]

I have never seen the need for routine kerfs. If some of the stuff gets gets too curled up before install, then kerfs can help.

[andrew whicker]

When you put the construction glue on, do you spread out with a spatula before attaching to the wall?

[Mel Fulks]

I just put a number of blobs .