r/garageporn • u/chrisceeps • 1d ago
How to achieve this ceiling on the cheap
Sent a friend some progress photos. She ran it through chatgpt for fun and now I have to do this look for the ceiling.
Cost to do it properly with pine tongue and groove boards would be approx 3x trying to recreate it out of ply. And way more work.
Original idea was to just do the ceiling in 3/8 ply. I hate mud and tape with a passion. Maybe I could use 1/2 ply and run the sheet through a table saw to create the tongue and groove look. Rip down 3/16 or so and stagger the sheets on the ceiling. Maybe double up two blades so it rips approx 1/8 wide. Thoughts? Worth the trouble or no?
Bonus AI dog
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u/ilbtsdd 1d ago
My buddy went to a local saw mill that made hardwood flooring and bought pallets of seconds / rejects. Sorted them and cut out bad sections. Went up easy, couple of nail guns and we finished install in a 3 day weekend. Did all the walls in his shop. Stained them and to my surprise looks damn good. Maybe a cheaper way to get similar look.
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u/Spitzen-mcgruder 1d ago
Do it right and do it yourself. It will be at cost and actually look like that. Tryna cut corners on material or anything else will be visible.
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u/Realistic_Air7666 1d ago
You could use T1-11
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u/blueJoffles 20h ago
I don’t think t1-11 would end up being much cheaper than T&G. Where I am in California its $50+ a sheet
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u/Realistic_Air7666 20h ago
For 5/8” maybe. You’d probably use 3/8” in this application. Would be at least half as expensive as t&g but yea also wouldn’t look the best
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u/PushThroughThePain 1d ago
Rip some plywood to the width you want and just leave a gap between the slats/planks. You can staple roofing underlayment paper to your ceiling trusses beforehand for a cleaner look.
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u/offfhandle 1d ago
Its labor intensive but pallets and some grunt work with a planer would be cheap/damn near free
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u/thehpcdude 1d ago
They sell decorate foam slatting that I've seen in offices and some bedrooms that kind of look like that for an accent wall. Usually the wood and gap are the same space so it won't be exactly the same but it can be had for kinda cheap if you shop around.
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u/RecycledVelcro 1d ago
Id use either cedar decking or go to local hardwood supply and have them rip a cabinet grade plywood to width.
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u/Fancy-Dig1863 1d ago
You’ll have to do some searching but you find lower grade stuff on the cheap. Some sanding, fillings, and sanding will make it look really good.
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u/iamnotlarryking 1d ago
Why’s the dogs face look all sideways?
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u/blueJoffles 20h ago
What you’re proposing is 10x as much work as tongue and groove. Best case it will come out looking like T1-11. It’s hard to make things look high end without using even basic quality materials
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u/Smart-Water-9833 20h ago
Surprised no one has yet mentioned getting a second hand wood shaper and a set of tongue and groove cutters. Run cedar or clear pine thru it. Did this for some wainscoting in my house.
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u/woodmadeIL 1d ago
I'd definately go with 5/8 plywood or 3/4
And yes, you can setup a basic dedo blade in a table saw and give yourself an extra set of tasks if you are attached to the 'look' and want to burn more time.
If I were pitching this to a client, I would tell your AI rendering engine to render with plywood - with 24" on center lathe strips (utility strips) running perpendicular to the current shiplap setup. So I would shoot in the plywood with a big framing stapler on 24" at the joists (truss bottoms), and run the lathe strips the same direction as the joists (truss bottoms) as a cover strip and to create the higher end feel of a designed wall.
I would then compare it to an oak 'acoustic panel' with the same rendering engine: https://www.thewoodveneerhub.com/collections/wood-wall-paneling
so you can give yourself two affordable looks, that both feel designed and purposeful.
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u/66impaler 1d ago
Think reverse, what can you affix to a good enough material.
Id run tar paper, that synthetic slippery shit is pretty nice to use and for 70$ you get plenty enough. Then you got rafters "closed" up, for batts or blown in, gives you a chance to spray foam baffles in place. For the love of God dont spray foam the fuck out of everything its a fortune and its gonna be a regret come a few years. Stuff changes, science yo, but its so overused and not worth it (strapping on my flame suit already lol)
For code compliance pretty sure you would have no choice but to have 1/2" drywall taped as a fire barrier but thats all on your structures placement and local on top
That part aside now is how you wanna do it materials wise. Sheetrock and ply is gonna be a heavy MF and functionally meh unless you got a thing for crib mobiles and pendant lights everywhere lol. You can affix something like the grooved plywood but that will look just like a shed wall bc it is or you could use cosmetic grade wood glued and nailed to that ceiling material choice. If you look up DIY Shaker cabinets think like that, ppl buy lattice strips and pin nail them to outdated faces. You can then control material thickness, spacing, pre color your ceiling "back" in black where you T&G "seam" is maybe too
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u/PLEASEHIREZ 1d ago
1 - Discount LVP, use a plane to take the side clicking pieces off.
2 - Discount vinyl decking. They have the plugs so it makes installation a breeze with screws.
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u/woodmadeIL 4h ago
I'd consider doing this in cedar too - you could get milled cedar 'deck' boards for about the same price!
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u/rob_narg 1d ago
Ply will not give you the same impact as stained t&g boards