We just purchased a townhouse that is designed to look like a swiss chalet. Though we can admire the beauty of it, its not our style. Every ceiling is covered with thick wooden cedar planks. Pics are below. In some areas there are watermarks from previous roof leaks. I know that these cannot be ripped out because there is nothing behind them but the roofing. Soo...First option we want to go with is putting drywall over them. I know its a shame, but its just too much wood. From the little info i've found, there was a vague post that the wood planks have to be treated so they won't rot and mold won't grow. Anyone have any thorough advice of how to do this properly?

If drywalling isn't an option, we are thinking about possible sanding down/refinishing the planks and supports. But they are all rough cut and have never worked with this kind of wood before. any advice?

Thanks for all help, we are new to this kind of project and don't want to mess up!

 

Welcome to the forums!

If the topside of the ceiling wood is the roof decking [no insulation] how would you keep your house warm/cool?
I've never heard of a need for PT wood in an attic or any inclosed space other than where the wood meets masonry.

The cheapest/easiest thing to do would be to coat the wood with a solvent based primer and then 2 coats of paint.

 

Ugh. I hate to see wood covered with paint but it's not my house....

Both as the cheapest/easiest option for you and for a future homeowner who may want to restore the wood look, I would just prime and paint.

 

Here is a better pic of what the planks are like as far as the view of thickness and how they are constructed. This house was built in 1972 so i don't know what material they actually used. But it doesn't seem as though there is much between this and the actual exterior roof.

We are still trying to research this and the more we think about it, drywall over this would be worrisome because as the wood expands and contracts, the drywall would start cracking, correct?

So as of now we are going to either paint it (ya i know i'm not a fan of painting it all white) or finding a way to stain it all.


Any tips on how to go about removing water stains, prepping, and staining would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

I've worked on houses in the S.E. that were built on the cheap and the rafters and roof decking doubled as the ceiling - no insulation I wouldn't think a house that far north would be built that way. How far apart are the ceiling beams? are they spaced close enough to support the roof load? If not there is likely 5.5" or more of 'attic' space above the ceiling.

To stain wood that has already been finished - you need to completely remove the existing stain. You could apply a 'white wash' finish that will lighten the wood considerably and still allow some of the wood grain to show. A white wash can be tricky to apply because it needs to all be even. Lap marks or areas with 2 coats will look more like paint.

About the only way to get rid of water stains in wood is to sand down to unstained wood. Sometimes they can be 'bleached' out. For painting purposes, water stains are coated with a solvent based primer to seal in the water stain.

 

You may be able to bleach the stains, oxalic acid or a 50/50 bleach water solution would be my choices. That said, I'm used to putting them on a deck, I can't help you figure out how to contain the mess of spraying this inside

 

Paint raw beautiful wood Is there no sanctity in life?

 

Before doing either of those, I would clean it. The first product I would use would be Murphy Oil Soap. Bruce - the hardwood flooring company - also makes some good wood cleaners.

You might be surprised at how it turns out.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys! This house is build in northern lower peninsula Michigan. It was actually built in 1972, and you know how it was back then..anything goes! Lol. As far as spacing between the roof and planks, there isn't much. I doubt there is insulation behind it which will really suck for winters!

We are going to be working on the place this upcoming week and will try some of the methods you guys recommended. Like I said, the biggest thing is (since we are not covering it up) getting those water stains out. My biggest fear now is that even though the roof leAk is fixed, there is no way to seal the other side of these planks. So if there is another leak one day..knock on wood there isn't (we have plenty to knock on lol) I fear we are going to have to redo the entire stripping/bleaching/refinishing process. I guess that is inevitable and we will have to just deal with it as it happens. But if anyone has any other tips or advice, please let me know by Saturday for I won't have Internet access up there. I will post some pics of the process and developments when I'm back in town.

 

Just an update/still looking for some more tips.

We tried Murphy oil. Some surface stains did come out but after a LOT of scrubbing! If we kept going with this method, it would take a year to clean all the wood we have. All it really did was contain the dust from the steel brush we used to gently scrub the plank.

Still looking into oxalic acid. Just scared to use it because I don't know if it will leave any discoloration or make all the wood color uneven as we go through the walls. Anyone ever use oxalic acid?


We are still open to some more tips. So share em if you got em!Thanks in advance.