My wife and I bought a home with a lot of character(s). One of the lead characters is this weird wood paneling in the family room. The walls and ceiling are covered with it, and a custom book shelf is made out of it. We were told it was something called "well wood," though we've had no luck with that term.

Maybe we misheard and the response was actually, "it's called... well, WOOD."

It's like wooden corduroy. The ceiling is checkered by just rotating half of the squares 90 degrees. It's a super cool effect, and it has crown moulding, but it's unfinished (as in not stained/sealed). I was thinking of going modern with the room and doing a whitewash finish on the walls so as not to lose the texture, but that's not the main issue. It has tons of potential!

First thing first, has anyone ever seen or heard of this stuff? What is it?!

ANY help would be amazing! I've spent countless hours scouring the internet with no luck. GI2

 

I'd really like to see what the edge looks like. Maybe remove an outlet or switch cover....

To me..based on what I see...it looks like some sort of paneling as you said. Maybe a coordinated system of wall and ceiling panels? I'm sure its some sort of fabric covering over a paneling substrate.

 

I've removed a piece. It's all wood and is about 1/8" thick. It even splinters! If it looks like wood, feels like wood, smells like wood, and splinters like wood...

 

Can you take some picture of the piece you removed?
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

 

Is it plywood or single thickness?
What are the dimensions of the pieces on the ceiling?
Can you find the joints in the walls? How wide are those pieces?

 

This looks soo......Californya!! Sorry TC. Look forward to pix and dimensions.

 

I meant to take some cross section pictures this morning before work, but was running behind. I'll get them up when I get the chance. All specifications and measurements aside, based on the pictures, have any of you SEEN anything like this?

 

I'd have to say No..never saw anything like that. I lived in CA off and on for about 15 yrs in houses and apartments and don't recall ever seeing it. I was never in Fresno...just coastal cities. The Navy seems to like it near the ocean for some reason.

As to what you plan to do...it might indeed look pretty good if it was painted. Very modern style kinda thing. Not sure a true whitewash would work though...

 

I actually live in a 50's era neighborhood in St. Louis, MO. Who knew we were hip? Violent, sure, but hip? Go fig.

 

Do any of the neighbors have anything similar.
I have seen something similar but I can't remember where or when. I don't think it was in Fresno and I think it might have been in a commercial building. Not sure. Only walls not a lid.

 

Oops.....I took the CA thing off of a prior post...guess I didn't look close enough. I feel stupid....

 

I haven't been in any neighbor's homes, so I can't say for sure. I have had local utility people (cable, security system, roto-rooter) say they have never seen anything like it. So, if the neighbors do have it, it's still not common in the area. Oh, and my wife has asked the next door neighbors. They had no clue what she was talking about, but were intrigued!

 

I painted some old paneling once that looked similar, I remember it being unique but that's about all I remember. It was only the walls. Looks like someone took the same paneling and cut it up into squares for the ceiling - might be a one of a kind


Vic, we're probably all a 'little stupid' but some days we're just better at hiding our stupidity

 

It appears the pattern is similar to the split side of cedar siding. Although the widest siding I have seem is about 16".

 

What are the dimensions of the ceiling panels? Have you figured out if the walls are plywood?
Can you figure out how wide the wall panels are?