[jackery]

Hi there,

I'm considering replacing old interior wood paneling with wood plank, like pine tongue and groove, or aromatic cedar. I've read a few things but it seems lots of folks are just gluing these onto existing walls. I'd rather tear out the old paneling which I think just has studs and insulation behind, maybe an underlayment, not sure.

Am I cool to install wood plank directly onto the studs or not and if so what's the method?

Thank you, and I hope to ask plenty more questions in the future! (First time home buyer, haha)

 

[XSleeper]

You need an air barrier behind it. Drywall or poly. And most places would require drywall (taped but not necessarily finished) since that is your fire barrier.

 

[jackery]

Got it, thank you. If that's the case, given there's already paneling there/the air barrier already in place (assumingly so?), am I ok to just leave the paneling there? I'm assuming it's less than 1/2 thick; I'm trying to maximize the total volume of the space given its size already, so I might just remove the existing trim then place the wood plank directly on the paneling. Does this sound reasonable? It sounds more time and cost effective to me, if tearing out the paneling means I have to put something up again, then the wood planks.

This is the space I'm working with. It's actually an attic space previously converted to a living space, so I'm not sure where the air barriers play in (are we talking about air exterior to the house/outside the roof? Or air in general, as you can see there are those "storage"/crawl spaces(?) that are also floored).

 

[XSleeper]

People who improperly convert attics and garages into living space ought to be strung up by their toes. It's not going to be "right" no matter what you do, because an attic is not designed and built to be living space, and its practically impossible to make a room like that meet building codes or even be comfortable year round. But no, paneling is not an air barrier, and has no fireblocking rating. An air barrier is just that... a barrier. Stops outside air from coming in and inside air from going out.

Do what you like. Personally I wouldn't stick much $ into any "improvements" up there.

 

[jackery]

Ten four, hahaha 😁 😁 🤣🤣 Hey it passed inspection somehow, "Has an egress" (thumbs up, lol)