Man cave advice wanted

[hornadylnl]

I've got a guy who's supposed to be giving me a quote on finishing the drywall and building some chases in my safe room. I'm not sure what it's going to cost but the room is 26'x22' with a 9' ceiling. I'm guessing it's going to be at least $1500. I'm kicking around the idea of putting up wood instead of finishing the drywall. I can get rough sawn 1x6 for about $2 a foot or I can get 1x8 cedar siding for about $2 a foot. I should have roughly 900 sf of wall space to cover. If I go with the straight 1x6, I'll run it verticle. If I go with the siding, I'll run it horizontal. I want it to be relatively light in color to keep from killing the lighting. Thoughts?

 

[irishfan]

My aunt in Idaho added a great room to their cabin home and used light colored timbers for the ceiling and the upstairs interior walls. Without seeing it I thought it would be odd looking but once I seen it they looked really nice. Also, they used some kind of sealer that just gave it protection for cleaning but didn't change the wood smell or appearance. Although they both would be nice it would be the rough sawn timber for my choice if it was my room. Good Luck!!

 

[doug1980]

You could always do the drywall yourself. It really isn't hard. The wood will make it much darker than painted walls. I prefer the wood look myself so I would go that route, but that's me.

 

[hornadylnl]

I've finished drywall before but it looked terrible. I'd feel more comfortable doing the wood. I thought rough sawn cedar siding would look nice with just a sealer and no stain.

 

[cornfused]

My dad did some cedar, just plain no stain. Ran it horizontal and it looked great!

 

[OZZY.40]

My dad did some cedar, just plain no stain. Ran it horizontal and it looked great!

+1 Cedar is totally the way to go. Everybody has drywall, be different.

 

[hornadylnl]

If I go the cedar siding route, I'll either use a laser level or transit to mark the lines to get started. I'm wondering how I'd go around my electrical boxes. I'm wondering if making the holes for the boxes the size of the cover or larger and putting in a block of wood so the covers will set flat.

 

[6birds]

I did drywall on the walls, and wide plank pine on the ceiling. Two walls are full shelves One pime, the other painted white), th other two are open for painting/wall art, etc.

The trim is all pine (4" wide"). It looks real good, but not too much wood, and still feels like a large room (full wood tends to close things in).

 

[slinkus25]

My last house had a room with partial cedar walls. It looked great in my opinion.

 

[FWP9MM]

I vote for Sheets of Aluminum Diamond Plate!!

On a more serious note, I would go with cedar before I would do drywall.

 

[shawkpilot]

Up could get 4x8 sheets of barn siding (the stuff they cover sheds with) and cover the seams with regular boards. Would be quick and easy, and could be painted any color you like.

 

[Danemon]

Cedar. Manly and Practical.

 

[Hoosier8]

Wood paneling. So 70s.

 

[Farmerjon]

Going the wood route (cedar) and outlets, cut the square out in the board, get a box extension and the regular face plate or make some wooden ones.

 

[hornadylnl]

There's no way I'll use regular paneling. The room is 26' x 22' so I don't think it will get the "too small" feeling. I also think that as long as I don't go with a dark wood, I won't have any issues with lighting. I have 9 - 4' flourescent lights in there. Every bit of that drywall in that room is green board (even the ceilings) and I'm impressed with how bright it is in there. If I go the cedar siding route for the walls, I still plan to mud and texture the ceiling so as not to darken it too much. This is going to be my reloading/work/gun room so I do want a good amount of light.

 

[Hoosier8]

Hey, mix the cedar with diamond plate, very manly.

 

[hornadylnl]

Hey, mix the cedar with diamond plate, very manly.

I'm wanting to do this on the cheap sorta. I'm not about to buy diamond plate. Besides, the room is already completely encapsulated with concrete. I've got all the strength I need already.

 

[Woodsman]

two words: shag carpeting.

I have seen one room where cedar was used in a diagonal layout. That was very nice.

 

[hornadylnl]

I'm getting gray epoxy for the floor.

 

[jclark]

I'd cover the whole room in FRP.
Easy to clean.