Shiplap 101

If you’ve ever seen any show with Chip and Joanna Gaines, “shiplap” will be a familiar term. They’re definitely two prolific homebuilders that put this strategy and material on the map. What does this have to do with giving you a better view, say our dutiful readers? When your home looks great, your windows and doors look great. And that’s ultimately our goal at Valley Windows.

Regardless of any show, shiplap has definitely seen a hay day in the last couple of years. If you’re not familiar: The term shiplap refers to floor, ceiling or wall boards whose edges have a certain shape that fit together with the next board in an overlapping manner. Homeowners have been shown to love shiplap, especially lately, because it helps showcases character and creativity. If you’re going for a rustic element in your home, shiplap is a key ingredient. It’s affordable, which is probably one of the main reasons that it gained initial popularity. Bonus? All you need is a few basic tools. You simply need a stud finder, a hammer, a saw, a level and a variety of nails.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t share – Just remember that as is the case with all trends, in thirty years, shiplap may be reminiscent of some of our favourite trends from decades ago. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is something to keep in mind. It’s also just fine in this scenario because everything is updateable.

If building at home isn’t your preference, you can certainly buy any element of your home in a panel, pre-sized and ready to install (either by you or by professionals), but if you want to do it from scratch, we can share how to plank a wall.

1. First up, you need to measure the space where you’d like to install shiplap. This will help inform what size planks you buy. Then store them for ten days in your home, so that they’re totally used to the humidity level in your home.

2. Decide whether you’d like to fasten the planks to your walls either horizontally or vertically. All you need to do is find the wall studs and nail the planks straight into them.

3. If you need, find construction adhesive when you’re working with ceilings or some other surfaces. Just make sure that you finish-nail the panels in the place that you want them, so that they’re held as the adhesive does its thing.

4. Finally, you’ll want to trim corners. For this, you’ll want to have boards that are approximately one inch by four inches. For this step, you’ll want to source miter joints, bevel joints and butt joints. Sounds complicated? The Valley Windows team liked this video as a tutorial.

The Valley Windows team will continue to make giving you a better view a priority. But it’s fun to think about the elements of the home that our windows and doors highlight, right?