Carpenter peeps….

[JackBootedThug]

Need to enclose a staircase going to my upstairs. I converted it into a big ass bedroom and full bath. Anyway all my heat goes up, and in the summer the ac flows down…because science Bigot!!!!! What would be my cheapest wall covering..luan? Or go bead board or something else. I did the upstairs in tounge and groove pine….walls and ceiling. Floors and stairs are ash. That ship has sailed. Plan on framing, insulation for sound and cover. Cheap, quick and easy. It’s teenagers. They appreciate nothing anyway..lol

 

[JackBootedThug]

I actually refinished a bathroom at my mom’s house. Ripped everything out. You open the bathroom door and there was four walls and a ceiling. Couple decent floor joists and that was it. I somehow had quite a few sheets of luan. Covered the walls with it. Slapped some paint over it, trimmed it out and done. Looks great. Cheap and easy. That was a nightmare. A little bathroom should not have been that much work. Eventually I had to do the whole back of the house. It was falling in. She’s fixed now but damn what a nightmare. Old Jenny Lynn houses are hard to work on.

 

[VonBonfire]

Please don't waste your money on that cheap MDF/fiberboard bead board. You will be hard pressed to get one sheet in place without damaging it. You'll be lucky to get it home from the store without damaging it to be quite honest. I have a whole stack of it in the shed. I did one wall with it and refused to use any more.....

 

[MadAsAHatter]

Don't know the price, but plywood beadboard might be an affordable alternative.
I agree with Von. Stay away from MDF. It's easy to damage when installing and likely won't hold up for even the short term.

 

[JackBootedThug]

They use mdf in trailer floors. I couldn’t believe it.

 

[84superchamp]

I actually refinished a bathroom at my mom’s house. Ripped everything out. You open the bathroom door and there was four walls and a ceiling. Couple decent floor joists and that was it. I somehow had quite a few sheets of luan. Covered the walls with it. Slapped some paint over it, trimmed it out and done. Looks great. Cheap and easy. That was a nightmare. A little bathroom should not have been that much work. Eventually I had to do the whole back of the house. It was falling in. She’s fixed now but damn what a nightmare. Old Jenny Lynn houses are hard to work on.

Luan looks great if you have good backing, it's mighty thin. The flooring guys used it for cover after tearing up old linoleum (hellacious job) and putting down new linoleum.
I admire your abilities JBT, those are jobs I wouldn't even attempt myself.

 

[IndyWS6]

Luan looks great if you have good backing, it's mighty thin. The flooring guys used it for cover after tearing up old linoleum (hellacious job) and putting down new linoleum.
I admire your abilities JBT, those are jobs I wouldn't even attempt myself.

Luan as a wall covering MIGHT be OK. As a floor layer, it F’n sucks. It moves, swells and contracts and squeaks. Never, ever, ever, again. Would gladly spend 3x for quality sheet lumber. Do it once, do it right and move on…

 

[84superchamp]

Luan as a wall covering MIGHT be OK. As a floor layer, it F’n sucks. It moves, swells and contracts and squeaks. Never, ever, ever, again. Would gladly spend 3x for quality sheet lumber. Do it once, do it right and move on…

Hmm, not my experience. It may have been because the floor was in such bad shape (we had just moved in) and needed to be smooth moreso than level. So far so good.

 

[billsbigego]

Need to enclose a staircase going to my upstairs. I converted it into a big ass bedroom and full bath. Anyway all my heat goes up, and in the summer the ac flows down…because science Bigot!!!!! What would be my cheapest wall covering..luan? Or go bead board or something else. I did the upstairs in tounge and groove pine….walls and ceiling. Floors and stairs are ash. That ship has sailed. Plan on framing, insulation for sound and cover. Cheap, quick and easy. It’s teenagers. They appreciate nothing anyway..lol

Well I just re-read this. Teenagers eh? Cover it with cardboard. I tell my kid, no fucking wire ties on the wall for his stupid LED lights. Doesn't listen to me, then takes down the clips when he gets bored of them and a chunk of paint and drywall comes off with it. I showed him how to fill the holes in the wall in his room when he wanted to repaint it himself. When he saw how much work was required in painting, he got lazy and the whole room looks like shit. I told him to keep the fucking door closed so I don't have to look at it.

I did a hallway recently with this stuff for a customer. Not sure what it's called. She bought the stuff.

 

[JackBootedThug]

Yeah I just want something cheap. Need to run to lowes or 84 and see what they have.

 

[VonBonfire]

They use mdf in trailer floors. I couldn’t believe it.

Yep, cheaper trailers use MDF floors. I tore down my single wide. Since it had leaks around the windows, which of course leaked down into the floor where the wall met it, you'd actually have to remove the wall to fix it since once it gets wet is expands and turns to shit. Complete junk.

 

[Monkey Man]

MDF's too keen to suck up water and swell in the long term IMHO.

HDF's better but heavy and sooo expensive.

I'd go T&G pine or ply.

EDIT
I'm not a carpenter of course (just remembered the thread's title); just useless observations based on my limited experience.