How do I skin my stand? (plywood & barn boards)

Lylelovett · Aug 10, 2018

Hi all,

I'm finishing my 2x6/2x6 stand and want to finish the outside with barn boards. Should I skin my stand first with plywood and attach the barn boards to that? Or put the barn boards directly on the 2x4s?

(My gut tells me skin with plywood first.)

Thanks in advance,
J

Diesel · Aug 10, 2018

Skin it first as you have something extra to nail the barn woods against.

ddrueckh · Aug 10, 2018

A solid skin can make the stand much more rigid and helps make sure your tank doesn’t sway side to side. I would skin it first. A 1/4” skin is probably all you need as long as you assembled your frame properly.

Erica-Renee · Aug 10, 2018

Depends on the boards. Since you built the stand out of 2x lumber i would cut rabbit in boards for a over and under over lap and NOT Put plywood first.. Save a few tree bits..

Lylelovett · Aug 10, 2018

ddrueckh said:
A solid skin can make the stand much more rigid and helps make sure your tank doesn’t sway side to side. I would skin it first. A 1/4” skin is probably all you need as long as you assembled your frame properly.

It's 60x24x24 like the drawing below, but with blue cross braces at each end to lock the greens in place top and bottom and a center support on the back.

The plywood I have to skin with is 3/8" I think. Then I'll have 3/4" plywood on top and 9/32" on the bottom.

I may install some 2x6 legs (laying flat) under each corner so I can clean and ventilate underneath for a total height of 41-ish.

Lylelovett · Aug 10, 2018

Erica-Renee said:
Depends on the boards. Since you built the stand out of 2x lumber i would cut rabbit in boards for a over and under over lap and NOT Put plywood first.. Save a few tree bits..

I could go with cedar siding/paneling or something similar to barn boards with the over under. But my plan was to use Redguard to seal the inside of the stand. Not sure how well that would work straight on the back of siding/paneling?

Diesel · Aug 10, 2018

Ship lap is a option.

Don’t use red guard but instead kilz, just less aggressive.

http://www.kilz.com/primer/kilz-kitchen-bath

Dystinction · Aug 10, 2018

I believe that your stand is structurally capable without the need of sheeting for structural stability. It would never hurt, but I don't think required.
Other things to consider:
I assume sump under the tank? If so, then you have potentially better cooling with the planking without the sheeting. More likely than not minimal, however, something to consider in how you lay out the planking.
If you (1) have a sump under the tank, and (b) decide to run a refugium or chaeto reactor, light bleed-out may be noticeable with the planking vice sheeting/planking.

Ahhh...decisions. Good luck with your choice and build, and don't forget to throw us some pics!

Lylelovett · Aug 10, 2018

Dystinction said:
I believe that your stand is structurally capable without the need of sheeting for structural stability. It would never hurt, but I don't think required.
Other things to consider:
I assume sump under the tank? If so, then you have potentially better cooling with the planking without the sheeting. More likely than not minimal, however, something to consider in how you lay out the planking.
If you (1) have a sump under the tank, and (b) decide to run a refugium or chaeto reactor, light bleed-out may be noticeable with the planking vice sheeting/planking.

Ahhh...decisions. Good luck with your choice and build, and don't forget to throw us some pics!

Cool!

The sump is under the tank with refugium. I live in Arizona and we keep our house around 80-82 degrees so I will have a chiller so while I understand the cooling needs, the sound/light issue is more important since the tank is the middle of a great room/living room.

That plus lending some structure to doors, I'm leaning toward plywood skin.

Yes SOOOOOO many decisions.

I'll drop some pics tomorrow.

Lylelovett · Aug 10, 2018

Diesel said:
Ship lap is a option.

Don’t use red guard but instead kilz, just less aggressive.

http://www.kilz.com/primer/kilz-kitchen-bath

Interesting. I'll take a look!

dbl · Aug 11, 2018

If the stand is built correctly (like the diagram above), I personally don't think you need to skin it first. I built a stand, although likely a little smaller, that I finished using pallet wood. The only "skin" was a couple pieces of plywood on the back. Everything else was pallet wood secured to the frame itself. And my frame was built with 1x3's.

Also, if I read your comments above correctly, you intend to have your chiller under your stand. Depending on the size of the chiller and actual run time, it may also very well generate heat so the chiller will need a lot of ventilation. So I would suggest keeping the back open as much as possible.

My thoughts for what they're worth...

davocean · Aug 14, 2018

A ply skin will not only add strength, but will help those barn boards land flush, and depending on how you stagger them, may also give you a surface to land on at butt joints.

Stonekeg · Aug 14, 2018

My stand is currently a work in progress (see my build thread in my signature for pictures) and is very similar to yours. I do NOT plan on skinning mine, and will just do the barnwood on the outside. It's actually the very next step I'll be doing now that I've applied all the sealing coats that I had planned.

*Edit* I did think about skinning it, but in the end I felt like it wasn't structurally needed. Also, I'm really liking the "barn" feel of it. I feel like the plywood skin would take away from that. The barn I built as a teenager was open in this regard, so I'm biased.

Lylelovett · Aug 14, 2018

Stonekeg said:
My stand is currently a work in progress (see my build thread in my signature for pictures) and is very similar to yours. I do NOT plan on skinning mine, and will just do the barnwood on the outside. It's actually the very next step I'll be doing now that I've applied all the sealing coats that I had planned.

Thanks, I'll take a look!

Lylelovett · Aug 14, 2018

davocean said:
A ply skin will not only add strength, but will help those barn boards land flush, and depending on how you stagger them, may also give you a surface to land on at butt joints.

That's what I was thinking. It's amazing how unbelievably heavy the stand is even before skinning and then of course the barn boards are going to make it heavier. These designs are beasts!