Odd question regarding covering studwalls

11 years ago

Our basement is partially finished...we have worked on it as we could afford to. We currently have a finished office, bathroom, and bedroom (complete with window and closet). The rest of the basement is not done....and that consists of a large area with a patio door, large window, and it has pretty much become my son's "man-cave," when he has friends over, they often sleep down there.

It's unfinished, yet we have TV/DVD, and lots of furniture, pool table, air hockey table, dart board...etc etc. Last year I had a Halloween party for my son and his friends. The basement was "haunted." We replaced all the lights with blacklights, and had all sorts of spooky decorations. One thing I did was buy this thin fabric with skulls on it...I pinned it to one wall to cover up the stud wall/insulation behind. That is the only decoration that hasn't been taken down. It got me thinking....are there other, cheaper ways to cover up those walls down there than drywall or paneling? It doesn't have to be anything fancy.... but drywall will be a lot of work (we have done ALL the work ourselves, so I know all about drywall now!), panelling could get expensive...and really, it's just a party area I guess you could call it. Just some way to cover up the stud wall and insulation. Wondering if anyone's done this.... putting this thin skull material on the wall really made quite a difference to the look of the room! With NO drywalling!

Comments (3)

brickeyee
11 years ago
Cloth covered or thin paneling (1/8 to 1/4 inch stuff) without drywall behind them as a fire barrier is actually pretty dangerous.

Flame spread can be VERY fast (especially with cloth).

If it is just a man cave you could always hang drywall and not finish the seams.
worthy
11 years ago
Cheap and safe rarely go together. As posted above, get rid of the fabric firetrap. I often saw such "solutions" when I was a real estate agent; usually they were covered in visible mould, as a result of people who were saving money by not using dehumidifiers in the summer.

The only safe alternatives to drywall are more expensive.
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andrelaplume2
11 years ago
I understand the mess and work involved (for the non professional) of putting up drywall. If you have a fairly simple straight run, especially one with no corners then just do the drywall. Its cheap and safe. Put it up. Filling the screw / nail holes requires almost no effort or sanding or cost. Leave the seams or by strips of lattice to cover them. You could put moulding on the croners too. It will look waaaaay better than what you have for little effort or cost....about $10 a sheet, installed (by you), and painted (by you). I am not sure how much drywall you are looking at and I know lugging it home is a pian. They rent a truck for $20 at HD or Lowes. Take a weekend day and get the drywall. Put of the sheets the next week. Paint it a week later. In other words take it slow and its not so bad. Good Luck!