Our shiplap is here…

It’s fair to say I am obsessed with shiplap. My obsession began, like a lot of peoples, when shows like HGTV’s Fixer Upper started using it. I love the amazing textural interest that the repetitive horizontal lines create on the wall. It’s so simple, but gives life to what would be an otherwise boring space of drywall. Paint, wall paper, wainscoting… sure they could do the job of jazzing up the walls, but nothing does it better than shiplap.
Yep, completely and utterly obsessed!

(Photo credit: Pactrim)

I hadn’t even heard of shiplap when we were designing, building and decorating our first two homes, but I knew when we got our hands on this 1940 farmhouse I wanted to shiplap the heck out of it. (Good thing Steve likes the look too!)  You may remember we ripped out 2 1/2 inch bead board that covered the entire upstairs (it covers the entire first floor as well!) so we could insulate (the house had no insulation).  We attempted to salvage the bead board as we removed it but it split in weird ways and would take way too much time and patience to repair. It’s definitely important to both Steve and I to reasonable honor the original design during this remodel, but I am not a huge fan of bead board. Those wonderful horizontal lines I love about shiplap take on a new dimension when they are every 2 1/2 inches, on every wall and ceiling in the entire house, it’s a bit much for me. So we need an alternative wall covering that’s not so busy and can fit up the narrow stairwell. My beloved shiplap would fit the bill.

There is a lot of confusion about the term shiplap. In the traditional sense it refers to a specific type of wood siding that started to be used in the late 1800’s on the exterior of barns, outbuildings and some homes. It has a specific groove cut out, on the long sides of each board (see below), which creates the shiplap joint and gives shiplap it’s name. This joint allowed the boards to overlap and rest on top of each other which created a weather tight seal and much needed protection from the elements.

(Photo credit: Peerless Forest Products)

It wasn’t until recently, when shiplap evolved from a functional element used in construction to a creative element used in design, that the confusion arose. As new ways to achieve essentially the same look have developed, we are still calling it shiplap. As we stray from the traditional shiplap joint to maybe a tongue and groove joint, that when up on the wall looks just like traditional shiplap, we still call it shiplap. But is is really? Sometimes boards are just nailed onto the wall next to each other (no joint) and it looks like traditional shiplap and we call it shiplap. But is it really? Other products besides traditional wood are being used such as MDF, particle board or cement fiber board and yes we are calling it shiplap. Of course there other terms people use such as interior siding, paneling, bead board, T&G (tongue and groove), V groove… nothing seems to have caught on like shiplap. So to me, and a lot of others, shiplap is a catch all term to indicate any type of boards placed vertically or horizontally, with or without a joint, on a wall or ceiling.

Okay, with all that clear as mud, lets take a look at another aspect of traditional shiplap that has evolved. The original tight joint, so necessary when used on the exterior, has relaxed and a gap or space is allowed between the boards called a reveal. This reveal creates a fantastic shadow line across the wall. (This is the part I love!) The wider the reveal the more prominent the shadow line. A nickle sized gap between the boards is quite popular and while you could get a boat load of nickles to use as spacers, you could also make your life a whole lot easier and locate a milled board that has that gap already set. That means that when you fit the two boards together it leaves a space the width of a nickle or however wide you want it. In the picture below, G indicates the gap that will be left when the boards are placed together, they just mill the E end of the board a little longer to accommodate the desired gap. The dashed lines indicate the next board so you can see how they would fit together. Thanks to Buffalo Lumber Company for a great graphic.

The above example is with a true shiplap joint, but you can find T&G joint products that are milled with a reveal. You can also just nail boards leaving a space between them without any joint at all. If that’s the route you take, you will want hang the boards on drywall or some other solid surface or else insulation and wiring… would be visible in the gaps. Your starting wall will dictate what kinds of products to look for. We will have just studs to work with. We are not hanging drywall first upstairs as we can’t get it up our narrow staircase, so we will have to have some kind of shiplap with a joint. This will not only hide what’s in the walls but will also create a barrier to air infiltration. My search was also narrowed by the type of product I was looking for. The shiplap will be painted, so expensive species of wood or even reclaimed wood was out. I also didn’t want to have to deal with knots showing through, so that limited the species of wood. (I know there are techniques and products to use on knots for this purpose, but I didn’t want to risk it.)

So, I started my search for an inexpensive paintable shiplap at the local big box building stores and local lumber yards. All that I could readily find was tongue and groove planks with a V groove (below). The V shaped groove is achieved by angling the edges where the two boards meet. When it’s up on the wall it just looks like an indent. I did find a V groove board that had a reveal or gap, but the shadow line it created was minimal. I had my heart set on a squared off edge at the gap because it creates the best shadow. The lumber yards were willing to mill me anything, but at a price. I needed to find something pre-made.

 Thankfully, I stumbled upon a question on Houzz.com, one of my most favorite websites, from a homeowner asking for advice on interior lap siding. They had a picture of what they liked but didn’t know what it was called or how to achieve the look (it was shiplap). After reading 71 of the 76 comments I found it. Someone mentioned a product line called Pactrim manufactured by Pacific MDF Products.

I’d never heard of it so I googled the manufacturer and come to find out, not only are they the largest manufacturer of interior MDF mouldings in North America, but they have a plant in South Carolina.  The product line for the shiplap is The Pioneer Series.

Isn’t it gorgeous!

There are 4 plants around the US and Canada and they manufacture different profiles. The South Carolina Profile is a T&G product with a nickle gap, just what I have been looking for. It comes in two widths, 7 1/4″ and 5 1/4″.

The Canadian Profile is a true shiplap joint with a nickle gap which would work too and comes in 7 1/4″ and 5 1/2″ widths. There are California and Arkansas profiles which offer variations of a V groove and a bead board look.

I hadn’t really considered a MDF product but it has it’s advantages. It won’t expand and contract like wood so the gap should stay consistent throughout the different seasons. It doesn’t have knots so I could get a smooth flawless finish. It’s supposed to be about the same weight as wood and you don’t need a special blade to cut it. It sounds perfect, but I had to see it and touch it. I contacted a couple local building supply stores near us and they had never heard of it, so I requested a sample directly from Pactrim. I also contacted Pactrim to find out who the  local distributor was, BlueLinx. The sample arrived and we loved it.

Now I just had to find a building supply store that used that distributor and we could get this product bid out. I contacted Blevins Building Supply and they used BlueLinx, hooray! After explaining the product I was interested in ordering, the manager remembered the Pactrim Rep had been in a few days before to detail them on it. He put me in touch with the rep and after some discussion I learned that it’s just now infiltrating the wider market. He can readily get me the South Carolina profile, but the Canadian profile would take some extra time and a whole lot more money. He reassured me, much like I explained above, the end result will look the same no matter which product we use. I got two other bids and amazingly they were within a few dollars of each other. We went with Blevins as they are our supplier of windows and they have been great to work with.

So, I couldn’t be happier to tell you all that the shiplap is here! All 150 sixteen foot boards.

It comes primed and ready to go. The Pactrim Rep talked with some installers and called us to give Steve some ideas of how best to install it. Isn’t that incredible. Now we just need to get the insulation finished and pass inspection and we can actually start installing it! I’ll keep you updated.