Wood Plank Ceilings

Well after the realization that we'll be getting a new kitchen ceiling (due to moving walls and short joists) I've been contemplating these gorgeous wood ceilings:

via primitive decor

via pinterest

via Design Chic

My most favorite of all, though, comes from For the Love of a House:

It can have a Scandinavian vibe, but I think it adds to the industrial-farmhouse look I'm trying to pull off.  

However, it's not something I'm willing to spend a fortune on.  But I figured since I'm going to have to replace the ceiling anyway, it could be worth it to get something really neat.  For a basis I'm assuming drywall professionally installed is about $1/ square foot (I hope that's a fair assumption).

  So here's the research I've found:  The most surprising thing is that you basically can't use blown insulation above a plank ceiling because the particles could, potentially, rain down through the cracks.  Spray foam was recommended a lot of places (garden web, etc.) but is expensive.  Rolled insulation was considered to be an ok solution.  It's still more than blown so that should be taken into account.

As for the wood installation: The DIY Diva installed a tongue and grove ceiling as a DIY (shocker right?).  

She used bead board and went straight onto the wood joists with only a plastic sheeting between.  

At Home Depot, pine bead board planks (1 x 6 inches and in boards 12 feet long) are $9.12 each.  That comes out to around $1.66/ square foot.

Lowes sells pine v-groove plank paneling that is 3.5 inches by 8 feet.  It's a bit thinner though (at .31 inches and it's recommend to have a solid backing behind it - aka drywall).  A package of 6 boards is $8.77 making it around $0.63/ square foot.

This looks similar to what the inspiration pictures used.  However, the fact that it has to be backed by drywall makes it 100% an extra (although no more than the bead board).  For us it looks like it would be around a $350 - $400 extra (assuming we installed it ourself).  Not too bad for such an awesome detail.

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Getting Started

We finally got to work on the new house last weekend - YAY!!

All the doors that are going to be moved were taken down (and all of the crystal door knob were removed and put into safe hiding from renovation dangers).

Then we started in on the walls that will be removed.  Thankfully we thought to check in the attic just to make sure these weren't load bearing - because they are.  One is holding up the ceiling in the kitchen and part of the back roof.  Awesome!  The back roof is coming off anyway to allow for the addition, and I guess the framers will just have to redo the kitchen ceiling too.

We did get the plaster and lathe off of these walls though.  That's the hardest part about taking out a plaster wall - the wood will be down in no time (after something is done so the ceiling doesn't fall in).

Another (not-so) awesome surprise:

Knob and tube wiring.  This is the original 1920's kind.  I think it was very progressive for the time; now it is know to burn down houses.  It cemented my suspicion that we were going to need to rewire the entire house (as opposed to just adding new lights and outlets where needed).

On a positive note though I had a really good surprise.  The attic is in pretty good condition - the ceiling is really high and there is already sub flooring.  It's not going to be finished space but it will be great storage (something there never really seems to be enough of).

All in all - a productive weekend.

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