Wood Ceiling

[Michael Stevens]

Hi,

I have a vaulted family room ceiling that is currently drywalled. I'd like to place a wood ceiling over the drywall, but I'm having some trouble deciding which product to go with, and I'm hoping someone out there can offer some advice.

First, since the project is over 500 square feet, I'd really like to keep the cost down..

Armstrong makes a laminate product called Woodhaven designed specifically for ceilings, but it requires furring strips to be installed over the drywall, and although it looks better than you'd think, it is afer all a laminate and so doesn't look quite real. It does have the advantage of running $2.50 per sq ft (plus furring strip cost)

Instead I was thinking about going with an inexpensive prefinished flooring product, maybe a wood veneer or engineered product. I've seen some of this stuff as low as $3-3.50 per sq ft prefinished. I would presume it could be installed directly onto the drywall via nails through the underlying joists (It's only 3/8-9/16" thick, so I assume weight wouldn't be an issue.)

While I wouldn't put it on my floors, since I doubt it would wear very well, wear is not really an issue for me, since we do very little walking on the ceiling...

Is this a reasonable route to take or is there a better alternative? Thanks for any response

[Curmudgeon]

think, it is afer all a laminate and so doesn't look quite real. It does have the advantage of running $2.50 per sq ft (plus furring strip cost) Hi,

[Joe Bobst]

Sure there is. Erect a scaffold and paint the ceiling, 2 coats, 2 gallons, $25. Now get a faux wood finish kit and do the ceiling on your back like Leonardo Da Vinci. Don't know the kit prices but maybe $50? Using your figures you've saved over $1300, right? And to satisfy the humorists here, paint a few footprints up there for conversation topics. HTH

Joe

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Furring strips would still be far less than the buck a foot difference for the flooring.

Wanna bet? Wood flooring is probably about 40 pounds per cubic foot. 500 square feet at a half inche equals 20 cubic feet. You could be hanging 800 pounds up there. Some trusses are not designed to have weight hung from them. Better check things out before you procede.

I don't know about the $3 stuff, but the better flooring will wear for many years.

Paint?