Tongue and groove info pooling / questions

[flying kurbmaster]

this a picture of the studs
with insulation
partly finished
completed I painted the wood before installing then splashed a finish coat over it probably needs one more coat

 

[GotSmart]

I used sheeting.  The build thread is here.  

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Rebuild-91-Dodge-short-van

 

[Vanada]

if you shop around on line you can find those in colors that would look good exposed.  that would eliminate a couple of steps,  like the counter sinking and wood putty.  just throwing that out there.  highdesertranger

Very true, perhaps a trip to the US is in order. It's mind boggling how much more selection there is over the border. I was talking to another friend who moved here to Canada from the UK a few years ago and he agreed that online presence for almost everything is just awful. Amazon.ca ends up being a go to and even then it has maybe 1/5th or less the selection as on Amazon.com. There must be another way! On another note though; Even if the heads were exposed, it could look kinda' cool but I'd at least want them to be flush so they're not snaggy snagging on everything all the time.

Aaanywho, for that reason flying kurbmaster's suggestion to shop around may or may not be worthwhile. I already have the stuff from Home Depot but it's still within the return policy for a little while if I get cold feet.

flying kurbmaster: Looks awesome! Were you not tempted to keep a natural wood finish? What influenced the decision to pre-paint them?

 

[flying kurbmaster]

flying kurbmaster: Looks awesome! Were you not tempted to keep a natural wood finish? What influenced the decision to pre-paint them?

no I never wanted the wood look on the ceiling, I already have so much wood in the van.I felt Knotty pine would not match the existing wood. I almost painted it a lime green color but decided to go with white to reflect the light. The lime green felt like it blended with the wood too much oddly enough and looked like I was trying to impersonate the wood color, Someday I plan on making it a bit happier with bright coloured curtains and cushion covers perhaps floro orange and green pocodots

 

[Txjaybird]

I used sheeting.  The build thread is here.  

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Rebuild-91-Dodge-short-van

  I was just fixin' to refer to that sheeting....I liked it!!

Jewellann

 

[kamturbo]

Lowes has the thin T&G knotty pine for about $10 if you're looking to get it from a more convenient big store. With this stuff I would always predrill as it will tend to crack. I also would suggest to not putty over the screw heads. This way you have the ability to remove single panels at a time to access wiring or whatever underneath later on. I recently sold my van and the new owner decided to start pulling panels to access wires which he was able to do since the screws were available. I used black drywall screws all over my van and it blends in nicely with the existing knots in the wood. A square drive screw looks nice I actually prefer it to seeing a bunch of putty holes.

An issue from using the t&g stuff is that each piece will expand and shrink at different rates. Not drastically different but enough that small gaps can start to appear in some areas. The largest I saw was less than 1/8"...but big enough to bother me.

 

[highdesertranger]

you can't pull out T&G one board at a time. you probably have shiplap. highdesertranger

 

[Vanada]

Coming back to this since I might finally start paneling soon. It's been mentioned in a few places that to slow down warping, expansion, contraction and general effects of temperature and humidity, that it is best to seal all sides prior to installation. About 90% of my being does not want to do this. Yeah, I can be lazy too. The 10% though is that part that keeps me honest and doing things the way they're supposed to be done.

My question is this: When people say "seal" what do they actually mean? Stain it? Shellac? Polyurethane? Any of the above?

For the interior I didn't want to use anything beyond just the stain due to aesthetic preference and it could get kinda' complicated (slow and a PITA) using one or two different things for different sides.

Then the lazy part of me comes back and asks: How essential is this REALLY? Is it something that will have benefits over the course of 25 years because that's beyond the lifespan of my build. Or is it something which would benefit in the first 6 months alone?

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I didn't seal mine on the back side but it won't hurt if you intend on having the wood look, what ever you seal the front with a (polyurethane, stain, varnish, shellac) could be used on the back prior to installation, if I was doing it I would go over everything with a coat then once it was finished I would do another coat on the exposed surface. Some of the sealing people may have been talking about was if you intended to paint the wood a colour, the knots tend to show through if you don't seal them with some kind of primer and putty prior to painting.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

oh another thing that you may consider I decided to glue mine together because it is in a vehicle and it tends to move and I didn't want it to open up, so I used a product like No More Nails or construction adhesive to glue it to the studs and carpenter glue or white wood glue in the grove of each plank, then I used a brad nailer and nailed it through the tongue into the stud.

 

[Vanada]

My intention for the exposed side was stain conditioner followed by a single coat of Minwax stain. If that's enough to seal it then I can consider doing all sides, it'll just take a fair bit longer. Good call on the glue!

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I am pretty sure the stain on it's own will be enough to seal it, here is another thing to think about, if you are going into the existing van studs with your screws and you live in a very cold climate the screws will be connected to the outside metal, meaning they will bring cold inside at each of the screws. That may not be an issue if you are not living in it in the winter but what may happen if you use a drywall screw like someone suggested, or any plated screws, they may form condensation and then rust. If I was doing this I would buy stainless steel screws not a lot more investment but they wont rust, I would also use Robertson or square heads, one of the greatest Canadian invention ever, no smaller then #8. I am not sure if you have installed tongue and groove before but assuming you haven't they don't all fit together and close up real easy so a good thing to have is a cut off piece 6 to 10 inches long that you can place on the board you are installing to hammer it in so you don't damage the tongue. Alternatively installing a wooden stud on your steel studs and using brad nails will give you a thermal break and no screw heads would be exposed eliminating this issue. good luck

 

[DannyB1954]

The largest amount of moisture going into or out of a board is the end grain. That is how the tree used to send moisture up to the top of the tree. At minimum seal the ends. You can use glue, varnish, shellac, paint, or most anything that is waterproof when it drys.

 

[Vanada]

@flying kurbmaster: The Robertson screws were new to me on arriving in Canada. Just looked up what their advantages are and I sort of get it now. Either way, these are what I had already bought for this stage in the process. They're zinc plated so might do what you're suggesting which is cause thermal bridging and give a surface on which moisture can condense: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.8-x-1-teks-lath-screws-self-drilling.1000540068.html 

Because I work full time and have more than just the build going on that leaves me with one day per week to work on the van and that's if the weather doesn't have its own ideas. I could start cutting boards to length and sealing the end grain before installation in evenings, but that could lead to errors if I know myself. If a cut needs altering it would have to be sealed again just to continue. Perhaps it's possible to seal the end grain on each board during installation but without waiting for it to dry before doing the adjoining board. Would that be wise or am I being way too hopeful?

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I never sealed mine nor did I seal the back, I splashed a few coats of paint on the finish side before installing but that is because it is easier to paint a ceiling on a table then once it was installed. I am not worried about it absorbing water from the end grain it is an inside installation, water is not likely to ever get to it, if it was outside I would maybe consider doing that but that is a major hassle and yes you could do as you said install them wet, just a bit more messy, the boards would be hard to cut ahead of time as your studs are not going to align and you have to alter where you end your boards, they can't all end at the same stud all of the time or that would look odd, unless your boards can make it from one end to the other.

 

[GotSmart]

I used Minwax Polyshades.  Stain and sealant in one can.  Just brush it on, and put it up.  If you need to touch it up after you are done, no problem.  It blends to make a rustic finish.  Buy the larger can.  

 

[ArtW]

I know nothing about sealing wood and such, but +1000 to Flying Kurbmaster's suggestion of Robertson screws, no other drive type comes close, unless you go to hex heads, and that'd look like crap

 

[Artsyguy]

I know nothing about sealing wood and such, but +1000 to Flying Kurbmaster's suggestion of Robertson screws, no other drive type comes close, unless you go to hex heads, and that'd look like crap

Is the idea to pre-drill wood and then let the Robertson screw self tap into the metal frame ?

 

[highdesertranger]

the square drive screws are a vast improvement over Phillips heads. there are also torx head drive screws that I really like. you can also get them in colors. highdesertranger

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Is the idea to pre-drill wood and then let the Robertson screw self tap into the metal frame ?

 you could buy a self taper but I think you would get better results with predrilling the metal at the same time you predrill the wood and use a metal screw. I think it would be cleaner, a drill bit is usually easier to get through then a self taping screw so less spinning in and around the wood, less chances of slipping off and damaging wood etc. it could work it would all depend on how easy it went through the metal.