Tongue and Groove boards

[mlemke58]

I am finishing my basement and covering the walls with 6 inch tongue and groove knotty pine horizontally on the studs. What is the best way join the ends of the boards to as best to hide gaps due to drying of the wood?

 

[DIY_MAD]

Its always best to join the boards over the studs, that way if you push on the board, no boards deflects. The normal way to joint these would be a standard butt joint. If you dont want to see the joints either use longer pieces of timber that span the full length of the room or cover the butt joint with a small piece of timber say 6mm x 20mm. Don't forget, timber will move with moisture, You need to allow for this with expansion gaps at the ends and joints. If its a small room put the boards full width with expansion gaps at the ends. If its a large room put a central expansion joint in an cover with a strip of timber. Good Luck

 

[dispatch19]

you culd also scarf the joints ie cut them at 45 degrees then if the joint does shrink you wont be able to see right through it

 

[xerxes]

Timber expands and contracts across the grain, but the length remains constant.

A butt joint, therefore, does not open up if the boards shrink; and you don't need to provide 'expansion gaps'. A scarf joint will open in those circumstances; and unless you use unusually wide studs or battens behind it, a good part of the joint would be unsupported.

Shrinkage across the width is taken care of by tongue and groove boards because the tongue is deep enough to cover any gap that would otherwise appear.

 

[dextrous]

Leaving the boards in the room for a at least a few days prior to fixing them in place to acclimatise them will help too