
Can you use shiplap boards as exterior siding?
You can use shiplap boards as exterior siding for your home, barn, or garden shed. Shiplap paneling design provides excellent insulation when installed on your home exterior, making it a practical exterior siding option for homes in colder climates.
Is shiplap right for your home?
Shiplap has a groove cut into the top and bottom which allows the boards to fit together and gives it a unique appearance. Thinking of using shiplap in your home? Here’s a look at some pros and cons. 1. Shiplap is an easy way to add interest to a wall or room.
How do you use shiplap?
Shiplap is an easy way to add interest to a wall or room. It is easily installed and you can stain or paint it depending on your decor. 2. You can use shiplap anywhere. Try using shiplap on a living room wall around the fireplace. Create a shiplap ceiling. Use it in an entryway.
Can shiplap sheathing be used indoors?
Nowadays, people often find shiplap sheathing underneath the wood siding of historic homes during exterior renovation projects. The wooden planks, which are highly coveted as reclaimed construction materials, can be carefully salvaged and brought indoors for use as decorative wall coverings.

What is shiplap siding?
As its name suggests, shiplap siding dates back to the time of Viking ships. Shiplap was designed to make vessels sea-worthy. Its durability led it to be used to build homes that would withstand the elements. But it wasn’t until many years later that it would be used decoratively.
When did Chip and Joanna discover shiplap?
In 2013 as the first episode of HGTV’s Fixer Upper rocked the design world, shiplap stole the limelight. When Chip and Joanna renovated a house built in 1911 , they discovered shiplap underneath some drywall. To keep costs low, Joanna suggested painting the shiplap instead of covering it back over. The owners reluctantly agreed and a trend was born.
Is shiplap tongue and groove?
Contrary to popular belief, shiplap is not your typical tongue and groove style siding. Instead, it has a rabbet fitting.
Can shiplap be used on siding?
Yes, shiplap works well for interior siding.
Is it important to know what you are getting into before you take that shiplap dream from Pinterest board to reality?
But you have some questions — and rightly so. It is important to know what you are getting into before you take that shiplap dream from Pinterest board to reality.
Is shiplap siding or drywall?
But for many years, shiplap was only valued for its sturdy reputation. While often left visible on home exteriors, interior shiplap was covered with siding or, eventually, drywall.
How to tell if a board is shiplap?
You can identify shiplap by the overlapping "rabbets," or grooves, in each board.
How to tell if shiplap is weather resistant?
You can identify shiplap by the overlapping "rabbets," or grooves, in each board. It's a design feature that gives the panels their tight spacing and sturdy, weather-resistant characteristics. These grooves also ensure that you get the telltale thin stripes in between each board—a feature beloved by homeowners seeking to use shiplap in their spaces.
What is shiplap wall?
Tailored shiplap walls made of paint-grade wood contrast with the rough-hewn floors and ceiling. The wall's subtle hue (Lambswool by Pratt & Lambert) keeps the space feeling both casual and antique.
Where does shiplap come from?
Shiplap is a feature that comes to us from the design traditions of homes in harsh climates. It was often used on the exteriors of homes in forest or coastal settings characterized by challenging weather. Shiplap can stand up to most anything, and now it can be found everywhere.
Is shiplap a design feature?
While shiplap itself is a distinct design feature, you can also find other, non-grooved strategies (like planks and panels) to achieve the same look. Though if you fake it, you'll have to find another term for it, because without the grooves, it's not proper, honest-to-goodness shiplap.
Can shiplap be found everywhere?
Shiplap can stand up to most anything, and now it can be found everywhere. It's been adopted and adapted in homes across the country—and on television, of course. You're sure to notice some shiplap-accented walls if you turn on any of your favorite design or home renovation shows.
Can you use shiplap on a wall?
The first is identification. While shiplap may look like plain, run-of-the mill wood panels, that's not the whole story. If you nail plain wooden boards to a wall and call it shiplap, that's not quite accurate.
Can you paint shiplap?
You can paint our Exterior Shiplap any color of paint, including black and dark grays. As for the type of paint, a high-grade exterior paint is recommended. Because this product is highly resistant to moisture cycling, the paint will adhere and perform well over the longevity of the siding.
Can shiplap be painted?
This is a primed only product and it must be painted for the warranty. However, there is no color spectrum limit and our Exterior Shiplap can be painted any color, even dark grays and blacks.
What do you need to know about shiplap?
All You Need to Know About Shiplap. Shiplap can add rustic charm to any blank wall. Learn more about the trendy wooden planks and how you can install them in your own home. Shiplap has been popping up everywhere lately. The rough-sawn wooden planks arranged as horizontal panels can take any wall from drab to dramatic.
What Is Shiplap?
Shiplap paneling takes its name from the horizontal planks once used to construct boats. Thanks to the grooves cut into the top and bottom of the boards, builders could fit shiplap panels tightly together to keep out the water. In fact, shiplap boards were so effective that builders began adapting the material for use as exterior sheathing on homes to block cold winds. Until the advent of plywood, shiplap boards were commonly used to construct the sheathing between a home’s structural framing and its exterior siding.
How to cut shiplap boards?
Cutting the Boards: Before installing the plywood boards, you’ll need to “rip” them (cut them parallel to the grain) to the correct width, either using a table saw to do it yourself, or by seeking the help of employees at the hardware store where you purchased the wood. Any width of board can be ripped from a sheet of plywood, but 5-7/8 inches is a safe starting point for shiplap panels. This cut will give you exactly eight 8-foot-long boards from every sheet of plywood (because the saw eats ⅛ inch with every cut).
How to space a board?
Spacing the Boards: Enlist spacers to create uniform gaps (typically 1/8 inch) between each board. You can use any type of spacer you’d like, such as the edge of a carpenter’s square or tile spacers. Make sure that you position each board using the same spacer so the boards appear evenly spaced.
What do wood panels add to a home?
The wood panels add visual character and texture to otherwise blank walls in a home, and have the ability to adapt to any decorative scheme, depending on how the homeowner chooses to incorporate the material.
Can you put shiplap on a wall?
No matter your home’s style, installing shiplap paneling on one or more walls will enhance your decor. For more adventurous designers, shiplap can go beyond standard wall coverings. Consider installing it as wainscoting, or use it to cover the backs of built-in cubbies or bookcases.
Can shiplap be used as siding?
Nowadays, people often find shiplap sheathing underneath the wood siding of historic homes during exterior renovation projects. The wooden planks, which are highly coveted as reclaimed construction materials, can be carefully salvaged and brought indoors for use as decorative wall coverings. Homeowners looking for an affordable alternative to traditional shiplap may choose to mimic the look by installing long boards ripped from sheets of plywood, leaving slight spaces (the standard gap is 1/8 inch) between each panel.
Why is shiplap bad?
1. A big complaint from those with shiplap in their homes is that it is a magnet for dust. Dust will settle in the gaps and grooves and can make the space look dirty.
Can shiplap be used in a bathroom?
This is especially true if it is installed in a bathroom or basement where moisture can seep in. 3. Shiplap can make a home look cliche if it doesn’t fit with the rest of the decor. While it is an inexpensive way to transform a room, shiplap doesn’t work for every space.
