Installing a Cheap Plywood Plank Ceiling

Stephanie Abbott
by Stephanie Abbott
8 Materials
$200
2 Days
Medium

I just did a huge remodel of our Master Bathroom that included ripping everything out and replacing it. And, I also got to add a few new upgrades, like this extremely cheap plywood plank ceiling, guys.

I love this project! And, because of the strange layout of my bathroom ceiling, I can never get good enough pictures to show how pretty this turned out. It's a huge improvement over what my ceiling looked like before. It also made all of the weird angles in my ceiling disappear and turned them into a planned and pretty ceiling feature. What do you think?

Watch the video to see a walk through of how I did this update and how it turned out. Head over to my DIY tutorial to see all of the pictures and details.

Here's a quick look at my bathroom before any remodeling started.

I was able to do this whole ceiling for just a couple hundred dollars because I used 1/4" cabinet grade plywood instead of shiplap or tongue and groove. I cut my own planks with my table saw (shown in video). I cut them to about 5 3/4" wide strips. After using my table saw, I think a straight edge cutting guide and a circular saw would have probably been an easier way to cut.

I primed both sides of the planks before hanging, it's much easier to paint 1 or 2 coats before hanging.

I decided which direction to run my lines in and hung them with construction adhesive and my brad nailer. Keeping the lines nice and straight across the ceiling gives it a professional looking finish.

I always touch up nail holes with wood filler, then sand them smooth once that dries.

To trim out the ceiling, I went with 1x3 trim around most of the ceiling, then lattice where the angled peak meets the flat part of the ceiling. I would have loved to have used crown moulding instead, but the angles made that way too complicated for me.

After finishing the trim, I wasn't in love with how rustic the lines looked in my bathroom. It could work with some styles but I was going for a polished look. So, I added caulk along each line to make them more subtle and clean looking. You can see the before and after here.

And, now the after pics. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this ceiling. It finally makes this ceiling stand out in a good way. I honestly spent years trying to figure out how to down play all the weird angles on that ceiling. I think the planked plywood PLUS lightening the walls changed the ceiling into a feature.

You can see a bit more of the bathroom near the end of the ceiling video. Or head over to the DIY Plank Ceiling tutorial to see all the ceiling pictures and more of the bathroom.

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Stephanie Abbott
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  2 questions
  • Ida9464 Ida9464 on Sep 09, 2019

    Btw what is the flooring made of and what color is the vanity?

  • Dainamd Dainamd on Sep 16, 2019

    What did you do with the area above your shower?

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