Replacing headliner - could I use planking on the ceiling instead of fabric?

[zachduckworth]

Wow. So... battens it is.
That's an incredible look. And my cabin already has the plywood beams attached to the overhead. Stoke is very high for this upgrade.

[zachduckworth]

Where fid you get your battens from? I really want to do this but I can't find a place to get these cuts made. Are they custom? And what kind of wood is that? it looks great!

[Madehn]

I used plastic tongue and groove. Was easy to do and should last forever. Wood planking sounds very thick for this purpose

[zachduckworth]

I’m looking around at options. I found the right wood. 3/8” x 2.5” x 8’ pine..Very light, fairly cheap. Wood prices are insane in the US still. I’m holding off on that buy until I can see if I can find redwood for cheaper, which in CA might be possible. I don’t know if it will be as light though. I’m probably going to paint them white to brighten up the otherwise all wood-tone wood cabin. The headliner is slightly off white but it’s getting a bit rough in spots so it really needs to either be fixed or replaced. The effect should be pretty cool. Of course the PVC stuff looks good too, and it would also be painted. It’s sort of a question of whether I want to pay an extra $300 over the cost of tongue in groove PVC.

[Manateeman]

Each to his own but we would never use plastic or fabric or thin ply covered with anything. If you have a big boat, varnished overhead is fine but on a smaller vessel, white. Wood, even 3/8 “ or 1/4” will help a lot with the heat. If you are going to go tongue and groove, start at the center with a plank with double grooves, and work one side of the boat to the other. Keep a 1/8” gap around dorade down pipes if you have an aluminum boat. Laying out the overhead lights and wire runs is just a matter of thinking ahead for replacement and in some places we’ve left parachute cord to help. We’ve had bronze rig fast nails turn green if we didn’t keep up the white paint, but that’s not fatal. People look at the overhead a lot so do a nice job that you can be proud of.
We’ve done boats in cherry, watch the color as you buy the wood but it can be stained. Not sure about walking on it or water damage.
The more you build, the happier you’ll get. Happy Boatbuilding.
Mark