shiplap

Problems With Shiplap Walls

The Rise: Shiplap in Home Renovation

A Shiplap wall has become one of the “in” things to do within home decoration. I call it what it is, the shiplap fad. It definitely has become a trend within interior design in home renovation.

I am a wood guy, a wood artist to be specific, so why would I care about it at all?

The next step with this fad has also turned to creating shiplap art. Yes wood carving, and burning, along with other ideas people have come up with has crept in.

Author Amanda Harding at cheatsheet.com detailed in an article pertaining to some shiplap’s issues, but also its rise to popularity.

Improper installation can cause a multitude of problems. High humidity can further create complications. These are the mere beginning in how your home can be impacted.

Joanna Gaines aided in its rise within our culture with all its spin off fads. Amanda points out one of the most common annoyances of shiplap in that it is a dust magnet.

I like Harding’s greater point of shiplap potentially harming the resale value in the long run. Eventually as the fad it will ultimately burn out.

Impact on Wannabe Art Trends

I tend to hate art snobs, but at the same time I hate calling just anything art. Beware of trends as an artist for they are not smart to follow. To each their own, yet for me I will never call carved shiplap boards of any kind art.

Staining or painting a few boards then putting them together in some pattern to me is not wood art. Much of what makes wood art unique is the wood that is used within the artwork.

Unlike other art mediums, wood is not a blank canvas. The grain of the wood with its species allows for stain to be used displaying its beauty.

This kind of wood has its own term being called a wood canvas.

Generic farm grown wood with nothing special within its grain may be fine for hardwood floors. Taking this wood and carving a doodad saying does not make it art. It would serve fine calling it home decor.

Shiplap art is much the same as wood pallet art, it is cheap. In other words its a cheaper way to get a design out in trend with a fad than working with quality wood and real art design.

This comes down to a fast dollar if it can be unloaded quick enough before the fad burns out. Art defines trends, decor follows in its footsteps. Nevertheless that is my opinion.

Why Shiplap is Used in Interior Design

Within interior design people will use shiplap to just have lines or a groove going down their walls. The wood ends up painted an accent color and it provides no real value to the room.

In fact it can cause a room to look odd or out of place. Add to this the wood that is often available for shiplap is generic boards or even plywood. It has no culture, color, or definition.

If one were to acquire quality wood with beautiful grains, and perhaps of different species to stain then seal, I definitely see its benefit on walls.

To me if done any other way we have simply changed painted old school vertical paneling into very expensive horizontal paneling. It is an expensive way to have a painted wall that in some cases can create a lot of issues down the road.

Yet do not worry I will help all I can as I go if you still insist on using shiplap. There are factors that people overlook when utilizing it within their home in a DIY situation.

Not all homes should have it. Despite me being all about art, the lessons I have learned may aid some poor soul along their journey.

The Right or Wrong Home for Shiplap

Any modern built home should have little issue in utilizing the product. Nevertheless if your home has humidity issues you may want to rethink its application.

Older homes where renovation is likely to be done may be a real cause for concern. Great care should be taken with its use in mobile homes due to the humidity problems most have.

Where you live will be a major factor that will play into what I am about to describe. Any home new or old can run into these issues. If your home checks this box, rethink the use of shiplap.

Wood Likes Consistency

I work with wood day in and day out for art. For me to say that wood breathes with the environment another woodworker would understand yet you may not.

An example would be humidity. Another would be temperature. Add these two factors together and watch your shiplap wall from summer to winter.

The wall grows and shrinks! This becomes more evident if the wall is an outer facing wall especially with a southern exposure.

While this alone is not a major problem it is the vehicle that leads to the problems that will come.

Wood likes consistency. Take your living room or kitchen hardwood floors as an example.

They all lay flat on top of a sturdy surface being your sub floor. Behind that sub floor are nice supporting boards that allow you to place things such as 1000 pound aquariums in your home.

Hardwood floors are happy there where they are.

Yet what makes the hardwood floor happy? It has the dry air and fairly constant temperature. The sub floor buffer under it with insulation aids in making it happy.

In the summer the crawl space beneath the house will generally be much cooler than the outside temperature. There is a major relationship between temperature, air, and moisture.

Specifically it is how temperature and air work together creating a carrier for water vapor. Here is where your home will pass or fail.

Air, Temperature, and Humidity Relationships

Let’s understand what I mean by dry air for a moment. Humid air will rise as it has less density than dry air.

Think of how the cycle of rain works in our environment. Water evaporates and goes up, clouds form and then it rains.

Inside of some mobile homes in the summer you can see the ceilings and upper walls sweat while the floor is dry.

This basic principle of humidity helps your hardwood floors become a success story.

Why does temperature matter? The general rule is that for every increase of 20 degrees the amount of humidity that air can hold doubles.

The hardwood floor has a very nice buffer supporting it from sub floor to crawl space. Your outside facing walls do not. Any humidity that can seep through is aided by the air temperature behind that wall in what it can hold.

Creating a wood wall becomes a different beast than a floor. Interior walls are not all the same. Any inner wall where it is not exposed to the outside is best and preferred for shiplap.

Any wall that faces the outside elements will cause the wood to suffer. Most shiplap is mounted directly to the surface of a wall whether it be sheetrock or similar material.

How to Protect Shiplap

What may shock you is to know that a sheetrock wall which is painted is still a semipermeable material. In other words it does very little to stop water vapor from passing through it.

If you wanted to create a better barrier use 6-mil polyethylene thermoplastic to stop the vapor before it reaches insulation or sheetrock.

It would surprise many that in a cold climate just one standard size piece sheetrock can allow 1/3 of a quart of water to pass through it as vapor in one heating season.

If good insulation was installed into your home with something similar as asphalt-coated kraft paper, it prevents water vapors from penetrating up to 80 percent relative humidity. Beyond this point it reaches 3 perm so it is a decent retarder.

Homes that are decked out in wood from ceiling to floor typically are nicer homes. You will notice most have higher ceilings in those rooms.

Most importantly the home will have these various barriers to aid in preventing problems with the beautiful wood inside. The question is, do you know what is in your home behind those walls?

If it is an older home in a remodel just tossing up some shiplap may become a little less appealing.

How Problems Can Begin With Shiplap

As the shiplap is installed to the wall, the pieces interlock. Once this is done typically the boards are primed and painted.

Behind that wood, in between it and the insulation, now becomes further dead space for air. While we all like to keep excessive humidity out of our home, you never want to trap it.

In effect this is exactly what can happen if your home naturally has humidity issues.

The average home should keep inside humidity no higher than between 40 to 50%. Yet there are many regions in the United States where to do this you would need to run a dehumidifier all summer.

The real key if shiplap is properly installed is keeping the home temperature consistent in line with the level of humidity. One must do this while keeping the unwanted water vapor out.

Granted many people will never have a major issue with this, but many others will. What you do not want is to create a trap for mold or mildew to begin setting in.

A home must be able to exchange the air that is within it as it tries to keep unwanted things out. Air circulation and adequate air conditioning help especially in the upper third of the home.

What will happen if you do not ensure the home is suited for shiplap? Aside from the mold and mildew issue the humidity will begin to attack your wood.

As moisture begins to enter the wood the first sign will be swelling. The lap lines will begin to close. Assuming that it was installed properly seeing this happen would be an indication something is wrong.

To continue ignoring this problem as further temperature swings happen the boards will begin to crack under the stress. Some boards may bulge, or if painted, peeling and cracking of paint could begin.

Wood may breathe but it is not as permeable as sheetrock. If there is moisture behind it then it is trapped if it cannot breathe out.

Ways to Help Shiplap Stay as It Should

After wood has been harvested and processed there is a drying process which takes place. The very drying process of wood requires that moisture be removed from wood.

Once the moisture is removed you want to keep humidity low. The wood will respond based upon the humidity of the environment it is within.

There are ways you can help protect your shiplap pending that what goes on behind it in the wall is not a major concern. Seal every edge of the board.

Whether you use a primer if painting or a urethane sealer, any edge that is not sealed is an edge that humidity can reach.

While you cannot help temperature swings on the outer part of the wall, you can fight against the humidity keeping it from reaching the boards. If painting and you worry about the boards not locking properly due to primer being in the groove, thin the primer down.

If you decide to not prime or seal locking edges, at the very least prime or seal the back of the board.

When installing be sure to leave enough gap between the boards based on the season that it was installed. Pay attention to this please.

If you run a tight gap in the winter, by summer you may be replacing boards. The wood needs room to breathe and move.

If installing in summer and you leave the gap too wide it may surprise you as to how much gap you see Christmas day.

Alternative Art Uses: Wood Art Panels

Lastly for art, do not invest too much money into art designs with shiplap. I wouldn’t spend more than I would at Hobby Lobby for any arty decor made with it.

Small wall hanging pieces will fair better than larger boards. Never cut art directly into a full size shiplap wall.

The end result after a few years may surprise you. Letters cut into individual boards would be fine. Any detailed or intricate design which transitions from board to board will be the major issue.

humming bird wood art

If you really want a flush wall with inlay art, then wood art panels are the way to go. Wood panel art consist of multiple boards that have been jointed together.

With this method the boards all breathe together uniformly. Alternating species of wood can impact this yet typically is not a concern.

As expansion and contraction takes place the art will remain uniform as well. There should be no cracking or breaking.

How do you use panel art inside shiplap? Beyond what I will suggest here there are other uses for panel wood art that you can employ within your home.

Measure the size of the panel art then cut a space within the shiplap for the panel to be fixed. Gap it accordingly so that the shiplap does not cause damage.

This way you have the art set into the shiplap as compared to a piece of wall art hanging from a wall. Yes it is more work yet it is worth it as you maintain the desired accent of that wall.

If this kind of shiplap wall was made with panel art I might could be convinced that it was a good idea after all. I have seen this done but it is still not as common. It requires more work than most are willing to put in. Nevertheless the payoff is rather impressive.