Wood Slat Wall...Need Guidance

[nalurash]

Hey Woodwhisperers,

I want to cover one of the walls in my room with some wooden slats like in the picture below:

How difficult would this be?

Do I need to leave any room between the slats for wood expansion? how much?

How should I adhere the slats to the wall?

Thanks for any advice and taking the time to read my questions.

[Olly]

Basically you will be laying a floor. Baton out the walls and then secret nail the slats using a paslode/nail gun. Expansion gaps will only be needed at the top and bottom ideally. The top one can be hidden by a coving or something similar and the bottom could be lost behind a skirting board or if you wanted it to be seamless then leave 10mm and butt the flooring up to the wall covering.

If using mechanised boards the movement will be minimal but its best to be safe imo.

Edit: for what its worth i would try and break up the joins in the wall to give it a slightly more ''natural'' (probably not the best word) appearance.

[nalurash]

Thanks Olly!

You know, i've never really thought about it that way (laying a floor, but on a wall). There's a pile of dried up planks behind my warehouse that I wanted to reuse as the wall slats for my room. I think i'm gonna leave a slight gap (1/16" using spacers) between the slats. Maybe it will look more rustic. Thanks for the advice and I'll be sure to post some pictures when i'm done. and when I get a camera, haha.

Oh one more thing...I don't know what you mean by baton out the walls. (sorry, i know, im an idiot )

[usacomp2k3]

If this is for a shop, I'd recommend not leaving enough room for sawdust or dirt to get in there. I wonder if you can get rubber expansion joints to fit the tongue/groove design.

[Olly]

sorry for the late reply and i apologise for the baton out comment. It is a common term over here in England but i guess not round the world lol. Batoning out is simply putting 2x1 timbers (batons) onto the existing wall so you have a solid fixture point for the nails. If leaving a small gap i would suggest putting a chamfer along the edge of the boards so it is more of a feature.

[Vic]

Before you go milling any wood that you may want for a nice project, consider a wood laminate floor. Cork and Bamboo look extremely cool on a wall as an accent, also. Because I grew up in the 60' and 70', I have an adverse reaction to anything that remotely looks or feels like paneling. In that case, I would recommend the "batons" (which is what I know them as, also) and use construction adhesive to mount. You'll still need expansion top bottom and sides.

[wjbelknap]

We put natural cork insulation panels on one wall of the living room in our first house. These were about 2'x3'x1 1/2", dark brown, looked cool, smelled a little funky. However, an unintended consequence was that it made the room look like it had been shortened by about 4'. Something they probably teach in design school, but we had no idea!

[sbarton22]

I think your idea is extremely contemporary and very cool. Can't wait to see you complete it. Chamfering the edges of the boards will give it a more traditional look. It might also lead to a more 70's wood panel look. If you are thinking you want to land on the more contemporary side, try varying the width of the boards. You can go as simple as 2 widths in a specific rhythm (a - a - b ) with each vertical run being the same rhythm or you can go way out and make 3-4 widths and stack them randomly with each vertical run being different as well.

AJ is correct. They make little rubber balls to inset as spacers. They will allow expansion and hold equal spacing while you nail. I think this assumes a tongue and groove or lap edge.

Another idea you might consider is some kind of channel to keep your boards in place and you just slide your boards in the channels. Maybe adding vertical aluminium/steel channels enhances your design.

Whatever you do, I think it is going to be dang cool. Keep up updated with construction pics and final product.