Tips & Comparisons for Reclaimed Wood Wall Paneling
There is no denying that the decorative touch of reclaimed wood. When Reclaimed Lumber Products started over ten years ago the easy assumption was that the primary market would be the rustic and green building crowd, but that has turned out to be a very minor component of the customer base. We are not surprised anymore with where our products ship. You name it; we have probably serviced that type of client- from Doctors' offices, hotels, restaurants, DIY homeowners, resorts, cabins, and lodges to airports.
The natural, authentic feel of the reclaimed wood adds a fresh splash of color and texture to your reclaimed wood wall. Surprisingly it appears now more in contemporary settings to add warmth. An accent wall is the perfect way to introduce a little bit of flavor without having to make major structure remodels or planning ahead. Also if your tastes change it is fairly easy to tear out a small wall and cover in a different surface.
Our interior paneling ships free. The intended use is to add color and texture on the wall or ceiling in a simple, cost effective manner. The 3/8" thickness means that it will not drastically change electrical outlets, trim, and can easily go over any substrate. Our preferred application is to glue with PL brand construction adhesive over plywood or OSB. If this is not an option some customers have opted to paint the sheetrock black and glue directly to that in existing retrofits.
This reclaimed plank paneling is sold by the square foot and pricing improves with larger quantities. If you are on a limited budget, though, plan your wall to cover what you can afford. For example, you might be able to get the bang by starting and stopping the coverage and leaving some areas undone; this will save on material. You could consider a wainscot.
You will find significant cost savings in both labor and materials using our reclaimed wood paneling products because of the accurate processing done ahead of time. Even if the material costs a little more initially you will probably save because of the waste factor being less. The install time can be reduced because of the accurate milling. Quality shows because of the steps taken ahead of time such as metal detected, pressure washed, kiln dried and sterilized, then machined to specifications. Our manufacturing methods ensure that you get a high quality product made from authentic, real reclaimed barnwood and not faux or fake distressed substitutes.
Often customers ask us for a comparison of our paneling products we sell in our online store; here are some features.
Idaho Barn Wood Blend Paneling
- Width: Random combination of all three in 3, 5, 7"
- Length: Random from 1 - 7.5'
- Color: Blond, brown, tan, red, pink, grey, silver (most variety in color of any of the paneling products)
- Texture: Completely sanded smooth to mildly sanded to some spots of original patina and texture left untouched (the goal of this skip sand process is to make feel smooth with light sanding but maintain look of original character/ rougher and excessively aged boards get sanded more aggressively)
- Thickness: sanded to 3/8" with some spots slightly thinner (most accurately calibrate and flat of all of paneling products)
- Edges: Freshly cut on sides and ends square. The butt joint is better for interior applications in this aspect because of faster install and higher yield from not having to mate profiles.
- Species of wood: Softwood with majority being red fir and ponderosa pine - chance of other species showing up such as cedar, spruce, white pine, white fir, hemlock
- Comments: This is our most popular paneling product for barn wood walls and has the most accurate machining. It will match our sliding barn door slab.
Original Antique Texture Reclaimed Wood Blend
- Width: Random combination of all three in 3, 5, 7"
- Length: Random from 1 - 7.5'
- Color: Brown, tan, grey, silver (all original dull color tones from reclaimed aged patina/ no fresh machining showing on face so brighter colors not as likely)
- Texture: All original old texture from weathered, rough sawn, to naturally distressed. The material is sorted for the cleaner and sound material to go into this product yet still has nice color. Some pieces will have been originally planned and smoother yet some will show old circle sawn marks.
- Thickness: Sanded to 3/8" on backside only with some spots slightly thinner
- Edges: Freshly cut on sides and ends square. The butt joint is better for interior applications in this aspect because of faster install and higher yield from not having to mate profiles.
- Species of wood: Softwood with majority being Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine - chance of other species showing up such as cedar, spruce, white pine, white fir, hemlock
- Comments: Same as our Idaho Barnwood Blend except not sanded on face.
- Width: 5" only
- Length: Random from 1 - 7.5' (option on some larger orders to get material at 10' 3")
- Color: Honey brown to grey (all original dull color tones from reclaimed aged patina/ less color variety than other blends)
- Texture: Saw marks may be band sawn or circle sawn. This product is less aged and not weathered as much as our barn wood blends.
- Thickness: 1/4 - 9/16" (much greater thickness variation than our barnwood blends/ not calibrated with planer or sander on backside- resawn only) Most average at 3/8".
- Edges: Freshly cut on sides only. The butt joint is better for interior applications in this aspect because of faster install and higher yield from not having to mate profiles. Ends are not square cut or defected on this product so it has slightly higher waste factor than our other products.
- Species of wood: Mostly all mixed oak species with very minor chance of other hardwoods showing
- Comments: Some customers intentionally choose this product because of the thickness variation adds depth to the application. This is our most affordable.
With these above items, many times we get calls for a custom size or color sort. This just has not proven to be cost effective on most orders under 1000sf. The way our pricing tables work is based on the fact that when we manufacture we do thousands of square feet at a time, and we are constantly blending batches to achieve that random effect. This savings in the packaging and large batches are passed on to the customer so they are not paying for the customization to do a special setup for a small batch. Usually a special sort doubles the cost and just is not worthwhile. It is better to manage expectations, that the personality of these blends is always random, and we do our best to keep a variety of colors in each batch. With reclaimed wood even if the specifications stay the same each time it turns out with a personality of its own.
Curious? Buy a sample from our online store and we will rush you out a sample with a nice variety!
