Featured
cedar slat wall
Anyone who really ”knows” me, is aware that I am addicted to Starbucks… hell, I don’t even wake up until I have had my grande latte. I do know how to make coffee at home but this has just become part of my spoiled daily ritual and I deserve it! The “powers that be” at Starbucks must have recognized what an awesome customer I am and built a new location right around the corner from the house, so now I can get my “fix” even quicker! What does this have to do with the cedar slat wall? Well, this new Starbucks location used a cedar slat wall to block the trash cans and the back door from being visible while sitting in the drive-thru. I fell in love with this concept. At the time, I was looking for a solution for displaying bromeliads and orchids and this idea hit the nail on the head. Sammy built two of these slat walls on the back patio, which can be seen from inside the house. I think they came out awesome and are sooo functional as well!
shopping list
1×4x10 cedar planks (or whatever maximum length is required)
1×2x8 cedar runners
mounting hardware (depends on application)
a pencil
circular saw
pneumatic nail gun able to shoot 2” brad nails
2″ brad nails
exterior wood stain or polyurethane (optional - I didn’t use)
Take the 1×2x8 cedar runners and place them vertically against the desired wall. You will need to make sure the height of the runners will fit the location where you want to install them, if not cut to fit. Mount the runners to the wall leaving approximately 3 feet in between them and space as evenly as possible across the width of the mounting area. Depending on the amount of space that you decide to leave between the horizontally mounted cedar planks, you may or may not see the runners. Fasten the runners to the wall using the proper screws, bolts or concrete anchors for your application. The runners should be mounted to the wall in such a way that the 1″ side is facing you, which leaves a 2″ space off the wall. This will space the cedar slats 2” off the surface it is mounted to which will allow air circulation behind it.
After securing the runners to the wall in an evenly spaced manner, you are now ready to begin installing the 1×4x10 cedar planks to the runners using a pneumatic nail gun*. A little pre-planning and simple math is needed to mount the cedar planks aesthetically. Draw a line with a pencil on the cedar runners exactly where you want the 1×4 cedar planks to be nailed. After marking the cedar runners, make sure the lines are all level before installing the 1×4 cedar planks.
Each 1×4 cedar plank should have at least 2 nails per runner; You will need to make sure the pneumatic nail gun is set correctly for the amount of force it shoots the nail. In other words, you don’t want the nail to go too deep into the cedar planks, maybe like 1/8 th inch or so. Starting at the top of the wall, continue mounting the cedar planks horizontally, checking level and spacing until all planks are mounted.
The last step is to take 2 cedar runners and install them on the left and right sides of the newly created cedar plank wall. This is done by carefully attaching the 1×2 cedar runner to the exposed sides of the 1×4’s. Each plank will need 2 nails. Make sure the 2 pieces of wood are square before you shoot the nails. Optionally, you can stain and/or polyurethane the wood, but I chose not to. Cedar will age and “grey” naturally with time, but it is under a covered patio and would age quicker if it is out in the elements. Thank you Sammy for installing the wall and helping me with this how-to article.
* Caution: Use eye protection when using the pneumatic nail gun.
quick step-by-step checklist…
Mount 1×2 cedar runners to wall vertically, space evenly.
Attach 1×4 cedar planks to runners horizontally, pre-plan spacing in advance.
Attach 1×2 cedar runners to left and right sides of 1×4 cedar planks to create a finish edge.
Mount plants to wall… enjoy!
Tags: Discussion
15 comments for “cedar slat wall”
Post a comment
Good post.
Thank you for commenting and stopping by, I will post more pictures soon.
That looks really fantastic. Do the plants you put there need much sun?
This area is covered and has greenhouse like conditions (hot tub area on back patio). I would say these plants are in more or less part sun for most of the day, except in the morning they are in full sun. My plan for this area since I currently don’t have a greenhouse is to display mount bromeliads and orchids. The plants near the top of the wall will primarily be mounted tillandsia, they can handle the sun better and offer some shade to the plants below. Thanks for stopping by!
I like the wall with the bromeliads and water fountain. It is very attractive. Good job.
Thank you… it is a work in progress but I am very happy with it so far. Glad to share…
Your blog is interesting! Keep up the good work!
Thanks Alex, please check back soon…
It does look great; I’m glad you made this your featured post.
What is the air-space for? I know, you say circulation, but why is that important?
My best guess is that since you’ve got plants on the wall, water could seep through it, and air circulation helpd ensure that that water doesn’t get trapped there and start rotting whatever’s behind the cedar. But that’s definitely a guess. Can you help me out here? Thanks!
–Kate
Kate… To answer your question, my house is very contemporary and covered with stucco except for these 2 inset sections of wall under the front portico and the 2 on the back patio. It was built in the early 70s and these walls are covered with 1 inch square “pool tile” that the previous owner painted the same color as the house, but I always HATED it.
Rotting the tile walls would not be an issue, but we left the air space for a couple of reasons. I needed to be able to hang plants with wire hooks on the cedar and also when I water the plants it doesn’t get trapped between the walls… we have major problems down here with formosan termites and mosquitos. The dampness that it could create it it were mounted flat would be a breeding ground for those critters.
[...] is very unusual and I hung it from a ceiling hook on the back patio in front of the cedar wall, which is covered. I need to be careful not to water it because everything I’ve read on [...]
[...] I have professed my love for Starbucks before. I go there a lot and the lattes are still awesome but the oleander in the drive-thru, not [...]
Thanks for the explanation, Ms. Dawlins! Mosquitoes in the wall, ugh.
–Kate
Kate,
I have to dump out my bromeliad cups every other day and replace the water because they will actually breed in the water on my back patio.
[...] water. The problem is that I am horizontally challenged for space and wanted to mount these to the cedar wall. I also had this great piece of driftwood that I purchased this summer at the annual Bromeliad [...]