1920s Rehab - Remove or Keep Planking Under Drywall

[Kevin Castaneda]

Hey BP friends,

I'm rehabbing a 1920s house in San Antonio, Texas, that has shiplap planking covered by vinyl siding on the exterior and shiplap covered by drywall on the interior walls and ceiling.

My family and I are demoing the house and have already removed the interior drywall and trim, but... what about the planking?

Should I remove all the shiplap planking from all interior walls/ceilings and replace it with drywall?...Or would you recommend keeping the interior shiplap planking and putting new drywall over it?

Considerations:

A. The foundation is pier and beam

B. The house will need all new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, trim/casings

C. The house will need exterior wall insulation

D. Most of the old shiplap planking is splitting as we remove it, so it isn't even salvageable

E. Would the interior planking help at all with insulation since the house is so old??

My thoughts are rather than take all the planking off, we could remove the bottom few planks in order to facilitate all new electrical and plumbing replacement. After these trades are done, I can install new planking at the bottom and use blow-in insulation to fill the wall stud cavities. What do you think?

Thanks for all your advice!

[Rick Pozos]

Those boards going cross-wise really add to the stability of the house. Most of the 20s and 30s homes in San Antonio are going to be built that way. I would use 1/4" sheetrock over the shiplap. It is so easy to add wiring with the shiplap. All you have to do is cut a board with a recipricating saw or a jigsaw or remove a board and then put it back. If you take it out completely and leave it out, you would be making a big mistake.

@Seth Teel is the one to talk to locally. He has done the most historic home rehabs that I know.

I have seen some homes in Dignowity where they leave the shiplap exposed and stain it. Beautiful. You can also talk with people at the city development office more specifically at the historic design and review office. They are very knowledgeable.

I am just getting ready to work on my personal home that was purchased a few months ago. It is a 1935 build in the Jefferson Conservation District. The HDRC has helped me tremendously. So has Seth.