5/16" Luan Plywood Subbing for Drywall

After many (many!) brainstorming sessions to come up with something to use as a wallcovering instead of drywall, which is way too heavy, I finally settled on this thin luan plywood.  Not particularly environmentally correct in any way, the choice of luan came down to weight, expense, and ease of installation.  This is a thickness usually used for underlayment, and it has considerable flexibility, and I only hope that it doesn't droop or sag too soon.  I plan to do a sort of board and batten look eventually, covering the seams and lines of nails with strips pf lath, and, when painted, I hope it will look simple and clean, not cheap and crappy....

Kyle and B set up a cutting station right outside the house, since no rain was forecast, and after that the installation went very quickly.  

Here they are putting up the loft ceiling sheets. It was handy for them to work as a duo at this point, although either of them could have managed it alone.  Using a lot of measurement, and a lot of compressor nail gun work, they fastened the luan up with 3/4" finishing nails or tacks.   The ceiling was up in an afternoon that stretched to sunset.

To B's right may be seen wallcovering on the loft dormer cheek walls.  It was grand seeing that fiberglass-covered polyiso getting covered up so quickly. No moisture barrier was used on the ceiling, but plastic sheeting was installed on the walls as the work moved down to the first floor.

   
Work continued until dark and beyond some days, and the weather was very benign, giving us day after day of delicious Indian summer.

Enter M, a recent sculpture and new media graduate, whose name was given to me by the department technician, and who brought cheerful steadiness to his labor. He was very amiable about getting pulled into the time-crunch of the last week before the housewarming party.  We wanted to get as much completed as we could, since a week after the party the house would be towed to a new location.  Both Big D and B were incredibly gracious and generous about allowing the use of their equipment, and putting a well-deserved trust in Kyle's good treatment of it.

When the time came to start cutting holes in the luan for electrical boxes, I got an electric roto-zip tool, having used one on drywall in the past (as assistant instructor for a woman's home repair class program).  It was a good tool to have even if it did have a mind of its own at times. Kyle's proficiency increased as he and the tool came to a better understanding.

This view shows the aft wall, which was covered entirely with luan, since the windowseat will be built in and would cover any wainscoting.  On the far right in the photograph may be seen the unfinished area below the future chair rail; this will be covered with tongue and groove pine wainscoting or bead board.

Looking forward up into the loft, it may be seen that almost all paneling is in.  Kyle spent some careful time working around the windows, so as to use as few small pieces of paneling as possible; he cut out rectangular holes from large pieces for the window openings.  The unfinished triangular area in the bow wall will have two small triangles covering the insulation, and eventually in the center two openings will be cut out, to allow access to the upper part of the shed from inside.  On the outside of the house, this area of the shed will be difficult to reach anyway, and it will be handy to have a cubby up in the loft.  A final note on the luan:  obviously it looks different in different lights, and often looks rather pink.  I plan on painting it, or at least staining it, to tone down the pink, even though the actual grain pattern is very pleasing.