You need something on the walls and ceilings. What will you use? There are many choices available for new walls and existing ones covered with painted drywall. A popular, beautiful, and affordable choice is knotty pine paneling. If knotty pine fills your needs and tastes, you can find high-quality wood paneling online.

Why Choose Knotty Pine Paneling?

Knotty pine paneling has been a favorite choice for more than one hundred years. It has qualities and benefits you simply cannot overlook that include:

  • Knotty pine paneling typically costs less than one-half the price of hardwoods
  • This product goes up faster and easier than the tedious process of drywall installation
  • The tongue and groove/end matching system end butts anywhere between studs
  • This paneling is virtually a “no-waste” product and none ends up in the landfill
  • Knotty pine can be ordered in an unfinished or pre-finished condition
  • Homeowners with woodworking skills can install it in a professional manner

You can be creative with knotty pine paneling by choosing different layout patterns. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, chevron, herringbone, and unique designs can all be used. It can be installed the same way in every room or the patterns can be varied from area to area. About all you can do to vary drywall from room to room is painting it different colors.

Assemble Your Tools And Supplies

Before getting the tools together, estimate the amount of paneling needed for each room. Multiply the length by the height of a wall for the square footage of each area. Add all the rooms, hallways, or other areas together for total square footage. Order the paneling by the square foot to get a better deal on the pricing.

The tools and supplies you need depend on whether the paneling is installed directly on the wall framing or over top of drywall or other material. Let’s consider both ways. You will need paneling, nailgun, nails, rubber mallet, level, small pieces of wood, a block of wood, and possibly furring strips.

If you want to install the paneling yourself rather than hiring a carpenter but lack the tools, you can always borrow or rent them. This will cost less than paying a pro to do the work.

“ A popular, beautiful, and affordable choice is knotty pine paneling.”

Install Knotty Pine Paneling On Wall Framing

Attached To Studs – This is the fastest and easiest way to install your paneling because you don’t need to remove existing material or put up furring strips. Place a few small pieces of wood on the floor the height you want the first row to start above the floor.

Next, put the first piece of paneling in place with the tongue side up and make sure to level it. Put a nail flush into the tongue on each stud and add the next piece to the end of the first one to complete the first row. The end piece you saw off will be used as the first piece on the next row up.

Place the first piece of paneling on the second row and tap it down with the wood block and rubber mallet. Nail it and continue across the second row and onto the next row. Once finished, install the trims and baseboards. Be sure to stagger the end joints from one row to the next.

If you install the paneling vertically or diagonally, it will be necessary to mount horizontal blocks between the wall framing where needed to support it.

Install Paneling Over Drywall

The other choices for putting up the paneling are removing the drywall or installing the paneling over the drywall. If you choose the first way, put down a protective material on the floor before removing the drywall. Follow this up by removing the trims and baseboards. Next, remove the drywll and clean up the mess.

Placing the knotty pine paneling over the drywall can be approached two different ways. If you can locate the studs behind the drywall, you can nail the paneling up with longer nails. The other choice is to install 1×2 furring strips vertically and nail into the wall framing. Put the paneling in place by following the steps in the section above.                                                               

Installing paneling over drywall requires pulling the electrical outlets and switches out further into the room and reattaching them to the wall framing. Hopefully, there will be enough extra wire in the boxes to do this.

Install Knotty Pine Paneling On Ceilings

Knotty pine paneling looks great on ceilings as well as on full walls, accent walls, or wainscoted walls. Follow the steps for ceiling installation as you do for installing paneling on the walls. Ceilings and rooms can be brightened up by applying a whitewashed stain. The pros tell us to avoid painting knotty pine paneling because the wood can’t “breathe” through paint. Stain the wood instead in the colors of your choice.

Knotty pine paneling is a thing of timeless beauty. Put it up and enjoy it for years to come.

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