Ship Lap?

[EP]

One of the HGTV shows features a couple - Waco TX. I think it is Fixer Upper. It seems like in every show they get all excited when they find a wall with what they call - ship lap. Are they just finding old interior sheathing with 3/4" planks? Or is it really boards with opposing rabbets in the woodworking sense?

And do those people ever give any consideration to insulation? I know it is just a show.

[PhilJoines]

I had a house in Bryan Tx built in 1906. It had 1 x 6 rough boards on the inside. No ship lap. Canvas tacked over them them wallpaper.

[Snipe Hunter]

Yes, that's what they're finding. Johanna calls it "ship lap" when in fact it's really just the old walls. Ship lap is "lapped" siding.

Still.... Love the show. I saw an interview with one of their customers and she said Johanna and Chip are exactly what you see on the show except Chip is actually goofier in person

[crokett™]

I'd be Chip Gaines if I turned down my anti-goof filter a bit. My wife gives me a lot of the same looks he gets from Joanna.

As for the insulation, there's a lot of the renovation they don't show you.

[blackhat]

Nearly every house here built before the mid 50s will have 3/4 ship lapped boards for sub floor, roof deck and exterior sheathing. Keep in mind that reasonably dry and properly installed ship lapped material will not open gaps with seasonal humidity changes.

[Robert Adams]

Some of that they find does have the rabbeted joints. However ship lap is used to describe several types of joints. It's like how people call a divided light door a "french door" when a french door is two doors...

There are some older houses around the Waco area that were built very differently than here in dfw. It doesn't get as hot for as long as you go south and they get much more rain. I don't spend any time in Waco as its our version of Gary indiana. Allot of crime there...

Speaking of old construction... When my dad visited some real it eve's on my mom's side in Mississippi in the 80s... Very old house with single wall construction so you could look through the gaps and see outside. They didn't heat or cool so no need to over build I guess.

[joe1086]

LIL

Wife loves the show too. But she's tired of me commenting "that's not shiplap" every time Joanna sees a horizontal board and calls it shiplap.

Another interesting bit on the show is the finished reveal is beautifully decorated, but the cost of furnishings/decorations are not included in any of the budget summaries. Most or all of the staged decor comes from the Magnolia shop they run separately. The home buyers can either purchase some of the items, or the furnishings go back to the store. Then the owners can move all of their old cr*p into the house. Yuck.

[arthropod98]

ya know, we were wondering exactly what was in that magnolia shop of theirs. kinda figured it was her hoarding ( ), but wasn't sure.

[JosephP]

I don't think staging houses is all that shocking... There are plenty of companies paid to nothing except that and it obviously adds value because the stick around.

[Trusty Rusty]

It depends on the house. Lots of these old houses have ship lap interior walls, usually with canvas over them for wall paper. Some are just flat boards but most of the really old ones are 3/4" to 1" ship lap.
It's been inside so it's really well preserved and makes great project wood.
I'm working on a 1900 house right now with walls like that. She is leaving them unfinished to n the original state. Pretty cool look.
Rusty