The official real wood paneling thread

[666666]

I would love to learn more about real wood paneling, real wood planking, real wood boards etc, with respect to adding it to the walls and ceilings of studio rooms.

Let's discuss different available woods, different cuts, different thicknesses, different finishing options (stain, varnish, etc), different installation strategies (nails or glue, etc), etc.

Please POST PHOTOS of your wood paneling job and list all specifics with as much fine detail as possible.

There does not seem to be too much detailed info on the web regarding real wood paneling / planking specifically. Also, no help from local vendors either, Home Depot / Lowes only seems to carry a small selection of very generic paneling, and my local "paneling specialty store" is not much better, sadly.

[doorknocker]

Great idea!! I'm really interested as well as I'm planning to add another room to my studio operation soon.

[Weasel9992]

I'm looking forward to this thread. I'm seeing lots of good pics in our future.

Frank

[666666]

This is exactly what I mean... not one post to this new thread in a week and very few views... there is some mysterious lack of interest, lack of available info regarding wood paneling, even though some consider it the "essential" wall treatment for recording studios. No matter where I turn, there seems to be a huge void in terms of info regarding real wood paneling.

Well, I'll bump this thread now and include some pics of wood paneling in studio rooms, these below pics were grabbed from other posts at Gearslutz.

Please guys, let's kick this thread into motion. Post pics of really nice wood paneled studio rooms.... and better yet, include as much info as possible about the paneling.

[Rick Sutton]

Not sure this qualifies as paneling but it shows the wood treatment in my studio. The ceiling is also treated the same.

[666666]

Originally Posted by Rick Sutton

Not sure this qualifies as paneling but it shows the wood treatment in my studio. The ceiling is also treated the same.

Nice!

Come on guys... let's kick this thread into gear. With all the hundreds or thousands of pro studios out there covered with rich wood paneling, how can we not get a wood paneling discussion going here?

Everywhere I go or look, I cannot find good info / details regarding real wood paneling. It's like some sort of big mysterious secret. I sometimes go to studios and drool over the wood paneling, but nobody ever seems to know anything about it.

I'm wondering if paneling is a regional thing, maybe paneling is more abundant in predominantly wooded regions, and the demand in urban areas is not high enough to justify trucking it in? Maybe I need to go up into the backwoods of Maine or Vermont or whatever and search for a small custom paneling mill and have stuff trucked to my site...? But I can't imagine that everyone does this.

Or I'm wondering if wood paneling was just more abundant in years past when there was less focus on preserving the forests. Maybe the real wood paneling industry has been squeezed by conservationists and thus it's just harder to get a large selection of paneling now?

With all the beautiful real wood paneling I've seen out there in studios and other buildings, I would have thought I could easily find one or more distributors / lumber yards that would carry a large selection of all types / configurations of paneling. So I must be missing something.

Home Depot and my local lumber / paneling "super-store" DOES carry pine and cedar paneling, very limited selection of configurations though etc.... I hate the idea that my studio would have the same exact paneling as every other home in the area.

Anyone out there mill their own custom paneling? One thought is to buy pine planks from Home Depot, rip to custom sizes and then route a tongue and groove etc, essentially make my own paneling. In some studio pics it almost appears as if this is what had been done... and some studios seem to just have pine planks nailed up, sometimes with a small space in-between each (not T&G)... perhaps for acoustic purposes? Or just aesthetics? Anyone care to comment?

And we need more paneled studio room pics in this thread!!!

[gn87berner]

no pics(yet) but...after seeing pics of studios with the wood, I have decided to incorporate some, around the drums and side walls part way. I'm going with cedar planks t&g ($18 package of 6,3''x8' @ HD) installed in a "chevron" pattern ^^^^ behind drums then for the sides random pattern of cedar installed horizontal with gaps and fabric behind. I saw someones control room with the gaps, looks sharp. They probably have absorption behind but it looked so cool I'm doing it for the looks. Chose cedar so I am not staining/finishing. Mostly doing it for the "vibe" for musicians. Good smell to boot. Hope to be able to post pics in a month or so. added cost $350, but the wife gave the go ahead so no turning back now.

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by 666666

and some studios seem to just have pine planks nailed up, sometimes with a small space in-between each (not T&G)... perhaps for acoustic purposes? Or just aesthetics? Anyone care to comment?

My wood treatment was made from 1x12 "Merch" grade redwood (rough and very cheap back in the day, basically fence wood). I selected the best wood I could find from several lumber yards in the widest, straightest, best stuff I could get and ripped all the pieces into 5 or 6 different widths. The wood is nailed up to an acoustic grid that is on my wall at the back of the studio and folds up to cover the entire ceiling. The grid is out a minimum of 4" from the sheetrock and triangulates at the wall/ceiling interface for a 3' deep bass trap above the CR window. The space behind the redwood is 2" Owens Corning 703 with air traps behind that. There are random width spaces between the wood planks to allow sound into the trapping and to expose the depth and edges of the redwood to get a more random diffusion back into the room. It was a big project but an integral part of the overall room design and was conceived as the major acoustic feature of the live room. It has worked well for 35 years now!

[666666]

Originally Posted by gn87berner

no pics(yet) but...after seeing pics of studios with the wood, I have decided to incorporate some, around the drums and side walls part way. I'm going with cedar planks t&g ($18 package of 6,3''x8' @ HD) installed in a "chevron" pattern ^^^^ behind drums then for the sides random pattern of cedar installed horizontal with gaps and fabric behind. I saw someones control room with the gaps, looks sharp. They probably have absorption behind but it looked so cool I'm doing it for the looks. Chose cedar so I am not staining/finishing. Mostly doing it for the "vibe" for musicians. Good smell to boot. Hope to be able to post pics in a month or so. added cost $350, but the wife gave the go ahead so no turning back now.

Cool. Yes, I know the cedar paneling you're talking about. I actually bought some of the pine planks (same size / package as the cedar at Home Depot) for some other spots in my house. The good (or bad) thing about this paneling is that it's super thin, I think it's 1/4" thick... and thus light. This is great for ceiling work as it will not add a lot of extra dead weight to the roof framing. But in terms of aesthetics, the bevel at the groove is not too deep once installed, this makes the paneling look thin, a trained eye will know that it's just the "thin stuff" and not the hardcore 1/2" or 3/4" thick stuff. 3/4" paneling has a much deeper bevel once installed. This type of detail may not be noticeable to many, but now that I've been studying paneling, the shallow bevel itches me a bit. The thicker stuff just looks thick... and is ultimately more lush. But what's also good about this thin paneling, you can even install it with adhesive easily... great if you do not have a good nail gun or are just going over sheetrock without adequate nailing material behind. And, oh yeah, it's cheaper than the thick stuff too. So, like everything else, it has pros and cons. I do have a few hundred $ worth of it sitting in the garage, I plan to install it in the entrance hallway in my house, on some of the walls and ceiling. I would have chosen the cedar, but I have a strong pine theme in my house (windows, furniture, etc) , so I figured I'd just stick with pine. I love the smell of cedar though!

[666666]

Originally Posted by Rick Sutton

My wood treatment was made from "Merch" grade redwood (rough and very cheap back in the day, basically fence wood). I selected the best wood I could find from several lumber yards in the widest, straightest, best stuff I could get and ripped all the pieces into 5 or 6 different widths. The wood is nailed up to an acoustic grid that is on my wall at the back of the studio and folds up to cover the entire ceiling. The grid is out a minimum of 4" from the sheetrock and triangulates at the wall/ceiling interface for a 3' deep bass trap above the CR window. The space behind the redwood is 2" Owens Corning 703 with air traps behind that. There are random width spaces between the wood planks to allow sound into the trapping and to expose the depth and edges of the redwood to get a more random diffusion back into the room. It was a big project but an integral part of the overall room design and was conceived as the major acoustic feature of the live room. It has worked well for 35 years now!

Really nice!!! Thanks for the details! Excellent info!

[xaMdaM]

Here's some pix of my "paneling"....









The oak "paneling" and walnut trim in the tracking room, the cedar "paneling" in the iso booth (not pictured) and the oak trim in the control room are all from lumber here on the property.

The trees were milled into 5/4" rough sawed boards that I stacked & stickered for about 3 years. The guy brought over a woodmizer porta-band and did the whole lot for about $300... The trees were taken down and trimmed up for another $300...

After air drying, I milled them to 1x material with a planer, and cut to width on the table saw and squared the edges on the jointer.

The boards are similar to Ricks' spacing, except the spacing distance between the boards is very specific widths... held to a tolerance of 1/4" total variation across any single wall, not to exceed, 1/6" between any two boards.

The tracking room is essentially 2 different spacings on the walls and a 3rd on the ceiling.

The CR is 2 different spacings and the iso booth is one spacing on on the walls.

You want to take the time to calculate the amount of Sabines required in the room to establish the total reflection and absorption areas... then pretty much divide that space out to get your wall spacing.

[666666]

Wow, that is awesome, man! Hardcore!!! Can't get that at Home Depot!!! Very nice!

This is starting to make sense... a cool, unique paneling job... wood cut and milled by owner. I guess this is why the concept of nice, unique paneling is so evasive... guess this type of thing indeed must be custom cobbled from scratch, and that's no easy task.

I have an even greater appreciation for fine wood paneling now... and the realization that I'll probably never be able to obtain / afford anything that nice. Well, I guess there's always Home Depot.

[xaMdaM]

Originally Posted by 666666

I have an even greater appreciation for fine wood paneling now... and the realization that I'll probably never be able to obtain / afford anything that nice. Well, I guess there's always Home Depot.

Well, if you aren't insane enough to save 3/4 of the price by doing your own wood working, you can actually do what I did...

The darker wood in the control room is jatoba, or South American cherry, 3/4" tongue and groove flooring.

After I purchased it, I figured the widths I needed and trimmed the tongues and grooves off that would be exposed on the edges. I let the remaining tongues and grooves hold the boards together, along with the nail patterns.

You can try places like Lumber Liquidator's, flooring shops, mill outlets, local saw mills, etc.

The thing you want to watch out for is to NOT use flooring that is pre-finished... provided you are basing your reflective surface on the numbers presented for wood, in your Sabine calculation.

If you hunt around, you can still get pretty decent pricing on hardwoods. Especially if you are willing to accept #2 grade. Which, IMHO, you want wood that has character and minor defects such as knots and figuring.

[shortyedwards]

That is astounding! How does it sound in there?

[johndykstra]

Doesn't get anymore "wood" than this. This is a photo of the live room of my buddies place. He went to a lumber yard, and bought the scraps. Cliche, but it sounds warmer in there... more "woody". Clearly there's far less flutter.

[Ca$h Marty]

Originally Posted by dykstraster@gmai

Doesn't get anymore "wood" than this. This is a photo of the live room of my buddies place. He went to a lumber yard, and bought the scraps. Cliche, but it sounds warmer in there... more "woody". Clearly there's far less flutter.

Holy smokes that is awesome. A nice way to "spruce" up the place. I am "pining" over the prospect of doing that to my place.

Dont worry, I am just jOAKing.

[johndykstra]

Originally Posted by Ca$h Marty

Holy smokes that is awesome. A nice way to "spruce" up the place. I am "pining" over the prospect of doing that to my place.

Dont worry, I am just jOAKing.

"wood" you knock it off... i'm "knot" joking

[johndykstra]

Sorry, didn't mean to "bark" at you





I'm done now

[jeremyglover]

mate, your barking up the wrong tree

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by dykstraster@gmai

Doesn't get anymore "wood" than this.

That's great. I'd worry a bit about bugs coming out of all that bark but I love the look.

Doesn't the bark fall off when the wood shrinks ? It does on firewood.

Paul P

[xaMdaM]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

Does wood paneling on the walls add any absorption properties ?

I've been told no.

My 20 X 20 space has tongue and groove pine in the ceiling. It's an A frame type starting at around 7.5' on the sides and peaking at 15 '. My walls are composed of drywall. At one time I was thinking of doing wood paneling in there to increase absorption (without deadening the sound too much) but after hearing that the effect would be nil (from sellers of acoustic panels ) I passed on it.

I'd be curious to hear from other wood paneled room owners how they feel this affected the sound. I have a 9 ' Steinway and do more acoustic Jazz type stuff, no rock or electronic music fwiw.

Here's a lotta wood.
Studio A

I'm just a little familiar with Avatar... Rod did the treatment in there... and it's a "similar" basis for my place...

Wood adds no appreciable absorption, and should really be considered as reflective surface. The amount of reflective and absorptive surfaces is split between the spacing between the boards and the absorption behind them... in a pseudo Helmholtz fashion.

Make sense?

Please forgive me, but a 20x20 sure seems quite a bit too small for that 9' grand... e.g. not enough acoustic volume to properly "sound" and voice. Solely as an example, my room is approximately 18x28 with ceilings that slope from 9' up to 14'... and by my understanding, a 7' grand would be way too big for the room. I was advised by several studio owners, producer's and musicians that somewhere between 5' and 6' would be about the the largest instrument to put in there.

However, if I had a 9' Steinway, I'd prolly keep it too... So, I ain't bustin' your chops.

As far as your acoustic treatment goes... it's actually a pretty simple formula... Calculate what you want the RT60 to be for the space, then convert that to Sabine's for your room volume. Then adjust the reflection and absorption to that Sabine value...

How you get that Sabine value into real world numbers is up to you... and the fun part of treating your space.

[Weasel9992]

Man...those are amazing rooms. I've got a "woody".

Frank

[WalkoftheEarth]

Wow. I LOVE these rooms! keep em coming!

Here are some pics of my Studio.
It is 90% pine. with the exception being the Floor in the Control room, which is Oak, and a drop Ceiling in the control room. The control room desk is also 100% pine / poplar which I designed myself. It is built into the wall and has hidden removable access panels below, where all the connections and wires are. I also designed a fan cooling system within the desk to keep everything cool.

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by WalkoftheEarth

Here are some pics of my Studio.

Beautiful rooms you've got there !

Paul P

[Disjointed]

Originally Posted by xaMdaM

You want to take the time to calculate the amount of Sabines required in the room to establish the total reflection and absorption areas...

any chance for a link/calculator/ or more information on this subject?

thanks.

[666666]

Originally Posted by WalkoftheEarth

...It is 90% pine....

Nice!!!

What type of pine paneling is that on the walls and ceiling in the first two pics? What are the dimensions of the panels? Thickness? Where did you get it? What brand? How is it finished, stain, lacquer, etc?

Thanks!

[WalkoftheEarth]

Originally Posted by 666666

Nice!!!

What type of pine paneling is that on the walls and ceiling in the first two pics? What are the dimensions of the panels? Thickness? Where did you get it? What brand? How is it finished, stain, lacquer, etc?

Thanks!

Its been a while... but I believe the panels came in 8ft lengths. (maybe 4x8?) . it was only about 1/4 of an inch thick. It is layered over 5/8" sheetrock. However, there is a 1/8" layer of acoustical foam buffering the layers. I just felt that keeping the wood from direct contact with the walls would be a good idea. I dont remember the brand. but i got it from a "builders surplus" in my area. I put 2 coats of poly on it and thats all.

Hope this helps! good luck!

[666666]

Originally Posted by WalkoftheEarth

Its been a while... but I believe the panels came in 8ft lengths. (maybe 4x8?) . it was only about 1/4 of an inch thick. It is layered over 5/8" sheetrock. However, there is a 1/8" layer of acoustical foam buffering the layers. I just felt that keeping the wood from direct contact with the walls would be a good idea. I dont remember the brand. but i got it from a "builders surplus" in my area. I put 2 coats of poly on it and thats all.
Hope this helps! good luck!

Thanks!

1/4" thick... and 8' lengths... this may be the stuff (or very similar) that is currently available at Home Depot.

I assume you nailed it in, yes? I guess with the foam underneath, you had to nail it. One good thing about the 1/4" stuff is that it's so thin and light that you can affix it with construction adhesive instead of nails if needed or so desired. But I did noticed that with some of the 1/4" thick stuff I have here (not yet installed), it started warping / cupping over time... so I'm thinking that nailing would be a better choice in any case to help hold it down tight and not move.

I originally had felt that the "thin" 1/4" stuff did not offer a deep enough bevel / groove at the seams for a lush look, but your finished installation looks great. I will reconsider the 1/4" stuff. It's important to see a finished installation, very hard to picture things in your head sometimes.

[Rod Gervais]

OK - confusion here in the terminology.

Paneling is something that comes in 4'x8' sheets - of varying thicknesses - generally 1/8" thick - but possible up to 1/4",

Anything over 1/4" is considered plywood.

What Max has in his room is wood boards - not paneling.

the boards have specific spaces between them - and they are not tight to the wall - they have fabric behind the wood slats - with 703 behind the fabric.

the open space between the "slats" sets the amount of reflective versus absorptive surface of the room.

These rooms are big time sweet..........

Rod

[WalkoftheEarth]

Originally Posted by Rod Gervais

OK - confusion here in the terminology.

Paneling is something that comes in 4'x8' sheets - of varying thicknesses - generally 1/8" thick - but possible up to 1/4",

Anything over 1/4" is considered plywood.

What Max has in his room is wood boards - not paneling.

the boards have specific spaces between them - and they are not tight to the wall - they have fabric behind the wood slats - with 703 behind the fabric.

the open space between the "slats" sets the amount of reflective versus absorptive surface of the room.


Rod

Sorry for any "confusion in terminology". I answered his question to the best of my knowledge. Im sure Max's room sounds great. So does mine. Different approach, different results... as is with music.