Gib a Lockwood style house

[honey]

Our "Lockwood style" house was built in the 80's and we want to modernise it. It has gone very 'dark golden'.

We have discussed painting the walls but are now thinking about gibbing it as we were told at the end of the day painting is alot of work preparing and you would still end up with walls that still looked wooden.

Does any one have any idea as a ball park figure what it would cost to gib an average size house. 4 bedrooms, lounge, large dining kitchen, hall. We would do all the stripping around the edges and supply the gib

[Re@der]

Just another potentially cheaper idea. One of my friends plastered the inside walls of a lockwood. Looked great with its paint finish. Might be worth while getting a quote in these times of low building employment. Remember Gib walls also need to be plastered but much cheaper that filling all the joints of a lockwood.

[DamonH]

With gibbing you might run into trouble with door frames etc as you are adding additional thickness.

But regardless of that, if you do choose that route - consider puting up the gib yourself and get a plasterer in to do the finishing. Gibbing is fairly easy. The very first job I did myself (had watched others before), the plasterer asked who did the gibbing, I meekly said I did, expecting some complaint, but he just said, its a good show better than most gibbies do.

With a lockwood, you could hardly miss the stud!

[Aston]

We have discussed painting the walls but are now thinking about gibbing it as we were told at the end of the day painting is alot of work preparing and you would still end up with walls that still looked wooden.

Don't paint the walls, they will look terrible. Also... don't plaster the timber walls, the plaster will crack on most, if not all, of the gaps.

You will need to do a bit of research on this one, as you know Lockwood walls move a lot, hence all the creaking. Gib moves also but not at the same rate as a Lockwood wall. If you attach a sheet of Gib directly onto this wall, there is a strong likelihood that the nails/ screws will "pop" and joints in the Gib will crack.

In my opinion you will be better to screw 18mm battens to the walls and attach the Gib to these. You will also need to pack out the window and door jambs to suit but you will need to do that regardless of the battens.

[Stickman]

Don't paint the walls, they will look terrible. Also... don't plaster the timber walls, the plaster will crack on most, if not all, of the gaps.

You will need to do a bit of research on this one, as you know Lockwood walls move a lot, hence all the creaking. Gib moves also but not at the same rate as a Lockwood wall. If you attach a sheet of Gib directly onto this wall, there is a strong likelihood that the nails/ screws will "pop" and joints in the Gib will crack.

In my opinion you will be better to screw 18mm battens to the walls and attach the Gib to these. You will also need to pack out the window and door jambs to suit but you will need to do that regardless of the battens.

+1. Exactly what I was going to say.

[Green Fish]

Ditto: Do nothing. The movement in a Lockwood will crack everything.

[honey]

I think I should make it clear. It is not a Lockwood but built on the look.

It has a solid timber frame and the timber is fixed to the frame. It does not creak at all and looking at the boards there has been no movement. All the joins are very solid with no gaps at all. I will take a picture and add when the camera has charged up

[Aston]

All the joins are very solid with no gaps at all.

My advice remains much the same:

Don't paint, it will not be a good look.

Plastering the timber will not work, because it will crack.

If it were me, I'd still be inclined to put battens up to attach the Gib but I'd need to see the job before commenting further.

[MikeO]

Remove and replace?

Sounds like one of those places that had internal pine cladding rather than gib board. How much do you dislike what is there as it strikes me as a fairly major undertaking.
Gut feel says if you are committed to a plaster finish and will definitely not want to go back then the best option would be to remove what is there and replace with gib. The problem with this is likely to be that the cladding is a structural element so you will probably need a building consent.
Agree with the other posters - don't plaster over the timber it will be a disaster. Battening out and regibbing sounds like the second best option to me but you are probably going to have problems around window and door frames as you are packing things out quite a bit. You are also going to have to replace all of the skirting boards and architrave and re-do all switches etc.
Unless you plan to live there for a long time and seriously dislike what you have and any painting or refinishing options I would consider keeping what you have. Timber walls won't offend everyone but dodgy skirting boards etc etc really suck.

[Aston]

the best option would be to remove what is there and replace with gib.

Agree with this totally. If this is your PPOR and it is a nice house and you want the job done properly, rip the timber lining off first.

As MikeO says, you may need consent for this.

[wildthing]

If you house is a Modulock, with vertical internal wood, rather than the horizontal Lockwood/Signature style, removing the internal timber first may be easy to do

[Stickman]

I think I should make it clear. It is not a Lockwood but built on the look.

It has a solid timber frame and the timber is fixed to the frame. It does not creak at all and looking at the boards there has been no movement. All the joins are very solid with no gaps at all. I will take a picture and add when the camera has charged up

Where in NZ are you located?

[honey]

Hibiscas Coast/Dairy Flat

[donthatetheplayer]

I've got a second lounge / family room in this style. I'm looking to paint it with a resene whitewash paint designed to go straight over the old varnish. Has anyone done this?

The finish will be a semi-translucent white. I can do a second coat for a fuller white but I want to still be able to see the grain of the timber. Just in a white rather than yellow.

[John the builder]

Agree with the other posters - don't plaster over the timber it will be a disaster. Battening out and regibbing sounds like the second best option to me but you are probably going to have problems around window and door frames as you are packing things out quite a bit. You are also going to have to replace all of the skirting boards and architrave and re-do all switches etc.
Unless you plan to live there for a long time and seriously dislike what you have and any painting or refinishing options I would consider keeping what you have. Timber walls won't offend everyone but dodgy skirting boards etc etc really suck.

replacing skirting and architraves may depend on their profile but not a biggy?

redo switches should only mean longer screws

Do a test wall to see if plastering works but safer to Gib. but battens are over the top

Is walls insulated? 1980's perhaps not very well? if not removing would give access to the frame in this case?