DIY Cedar Plank Ceiling

We are in the process of remodeling our home from top to bottom, and we had this little hallway that needed some pizazz.

Not only did it need pizazz, it needed a ceiling, so we accomplished both by adding a cedar plank ceiling. It was a simple project that we completed in a weekend.

Several weeks ago Scott took down the old ceiling in this hall way due to water damage and the presence of a popcorn ceiling. It was easier to tear it out than repair it.

Since then, it's been just blank drywall with exposed nails.

If you're looking to plank a ceiling, here's what you need:

Materials

Cedar plank, we used this kind from home depot, each package covers 14 square feet and runs about $20

Brad nails or finishing nails for nail gun

Optional

Sealer of your choice, we used 3:2:1

3 parts Mineral Spirits

2 parts Oil Based Poly

1 part Linseed oil

Rag/ brush for applying sealer

Tools

Stud finder

Level

Nail Gun

Jigsaw (for cutting around things like vents)

Miter Saw (for cutting the length of boards)

Table or Circular Saw (for cutting length wise for the first and last row)

Site Protractor (If you have angled cuts like we did, here's one similar to what we used)

1) Start by calculating the Sq ft of your ceiling. Measure the length and the width and multiply those two numbers to find the area.

Our ceiling wasn't a perfect rectangle, but we knew we'd want a little extra wood in case of mistakes, so we used the total measurement as if it was a rectangle to give us some wiggle room, so we used 28 sq ft as our area. Below you can see what our ceiling looks like, image not to scale ;)

2) Once you've calculated the area, buy your materials. We actually bought 3 packages of wood for a total of 42 sq ft, just in case, but ended up only needing two packages.

3) Seal your planks, you'll want to do this while they're flat so you can easily coat them. We used a 3:2:1 sealer recipe that Scott found online. It's 3 parts mineral spirits, 2 parts oil based poly, and 1 part linseed oil. I don't know the science behind why it's great, but it was SO easy to apply, I just used a rag and rubbed it on, it did separate, so I had to stir frequently, but it gave the wood a gorgeous sheen without looking too shiny, and it didn't really change the color of the wood, other than making it look a little richer.

4) While your board are drying, use your stud finder and a level to locate and mark your studs on the ceiling. We didn't need this part because we had bare drywall up, so we could see the lines where the screws were, but this is important, you need the studs to hold the brad nails in, and hold your planks up.

5) Once your boards are dry, it's time to start putting them up. Pick a corner to start (if there's supposed to be a method to the madness here, I don't know it). Take the width of the room and divide it by the width of the boards, you want to make sure you don't have like an inch on your last board. If you get a weird number (as in, 10.1 boards) you'll want to cut a little off of your first row with your table saw. You'll want to make it so that your last board is at least 1/3 of a board just so it 1) looks nice and 2) is easier to put up.

We didn't measure, we just got extremely lucky. Don't rely on luck. MEASURE IT.

Our first board had to have a notch out of it to go around the air vent. We held the board up to the ceiling and traced the opening onto the back side of the board, then used the jigsaw to cut it out.

Once the notch was cut, we held the board up to the ceiling and nailed it into place at each of the studs. We face-nailed and didn't fill the holes. I don't think you can see the tiny brad nail holes, and this was easier than trying to get a nail into the tiny tongue part of the planks.

For us, the hallway was just barely longer than one board, so we measured the remaining amount and cut a board to fit. Once this board was cut, we used the rest of the board in the second row. We worked in a zig zag pattern back and forth across the ceiling so that a long board was next to a short board and we didn't have a hard stop in boards anywhere. Like this:

Continue this pattern back and forth, fitting the tongue of one row into the groove of the next, cutting out notches for anything you need to work around (vents, lights, etc) if you have a square/rectangular room it really is that simple.

Angled cuts

For us, we had an angled wall, so when we got to the corner, we used our protractor to measure the angle (the actual angle measurement doesn't matter, we used it so we could transfer the angle to the wood we needed to cut.

Once we had the angle, we took a scrap board and fit it into the tongue of the board we wanted to cut so we could see how much to cut (I hope the photos make more sense than my words do).

Remember, you're looking at this down flat on a table, but the angle is overhead. We cut the first one wrong, so you may need to actually hold the board over head to make sure you're cutting the right angle.

We used the jigsaw to cut the angle we needed.

We definitely over-thought this. It's not math, it's just matching a pattern.

Final row

The final row might not be a full board wide. Ours was about 1/4 in short of being a full board, so we used our table saw the rip the board lengthwise.

I didn't get an action shot, it was pretty quick, so here's the "after" with Scott still holding his board-pusher that keeps his fingers safe from that blade. That's especially important with these skinny boards!

If you were awesome at measuring and cutting, that might be it, Ta-Da! You now have a cedar ceiling!

If you had a few wonky boards/cuts you may want to finish with some trim around the ceiling. We will be doing this later just to give it that super-finished look, but honestly if a stranger came in our house today they would never know that 1) amateurs did this ceiling or 2) that some boards were 1/16-1/8" too short (I imagine it's hard to measure over your head, Scott did this part fabulously while I held tools). It's definitely up to your preference.