If your home is traditional, consider a tongue & grove ceiling. The wood is generally pine and can either be stained/varnished or painted. For the "look" I'd go with the individal strips - about 3" x 1/2" in randon lengths. There are also 4' x 8' sheets but they scream plywood.

Thanks fnmroberts. That is what we thought too. The actual cost of the material is not bad but the labor is pretty expensive. I appreciate your help. Andrea

I agree. Tongue and groove is the best looking in my opinion.
Kathy

I'm installing paint-grade t&g beadboard on a porch ceiling today. Comes in 16' strips, this is a narrower look so I'm using 1x4 versus 1x6. Goes up quickly.

Very appropriate for msot porch ceilings. Just need to decide if you want paint or stain.

Mongo

Mongo, I am confused. T & G beadboard? Do you have a picture of what you mean? I understand the 16' strips but I can't envision the 1x4 or 1x6 part. Thank you for your help. Andrea

I have the 1X4 T&G beadboard cut to 10 long. I guess they come in 12 ft cause they cut off 2 ft...waste of money. You know beadboard...it's what alot of wainscote looks like...once installed you see a groove every 1.75 inch. Mine is painted white, just like Grandma had.

If you are considering stucco, keep in mind that traditional stucco is extremely heavy, so your concern would be that the structural is engineered to handle it. The lathing process is different for lids than it is for walls, another concern.

My porch ceiling has been started. My standard answer to everything when asked what I wanted, was "cheap" ha.

And I dont mean cheap as in dime store stuff that falls apart, but I am all about saving money here and there in areas where I could because my main systems cost me a fortune.

Okay, so anyways.... Here is mine. So far, I like it just fine for our farm house look. This will be on all the wrap around except for the barrel over the front door. That will be this metal of some sort that looks like mahogany wood.

It is simply soffit without the ventilation holes.

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Build in Pictures

GoPintos, what a lovely home you have. So the ceiling of the porch is made of what? Is it tongue & groove? Cedar, pine,? May I also ask the size of your exterior posts? Are they maybe 10 x 10? Love the standing seam roof. What kind of windows have you installed. Thanks again for all the info. Andrea

The walkout section for the stairs....the post that connects to the railing going down has to be exactly lined up with the corner of the house, or there will be problems. We had to insist it be moved to get it right.

OH thank you very much. It is my first build, hopefully my last, but I think I am doing okay, well okay enough I guess. I decided that so long as we are happy... :-)

My ceiling porch is just soffit. Plain ole vinyl soffit. Same stuff that goes around my porch under the roof but without the ventilation.

I am not sure about the posts, except that I think they are not one solid piece, they are several boards nailed together .... I think... But I do know they will be wrapped in white of some sort. I guess a vinyl product but it has some wood grains I think, I can't really think or remember at the moment.

My windows are ViWinTech. All I can think of at the moment is they have the argon gas, they were a little tinted but I had them tinted even more.

The coloring in those pics is a little funky. My ceiling and trim is white. Siding is called Autumn Taupe. Stone on front is called Autumn Blend, with some white washed brick panels. 24 guage Medium Bronze standing seam roof.

My railing across the back is this clear stuff... I am sorry that I am about brain dead this evening and I can't think of many details, but I wanted to see the pond and my horses and any other critters, so it is something along the lines of plexiglas but especially made for railing.

HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Build in Pictures

Ok so maybe it is aluminum, not vinyl. I am really not sure at the moment, I am pretty pretty tired, but I do know it is soffit :-)

Hope that Still helps a little :0)

Thanks everybody for all the info about the exterior lids. Well we bit the bullet today and ordered the T & G for that authentic beadboard look. I wanted to cheap out but this is going to be the LAST house we build and we did not want to take a chance on the brown board & plaster solution, although many people around here are very happy with that application. I will have to post a pic in a couple of weeks when we get some up. That is one decision done and only a million more to go. We are trying for a May 15th move in but our contractor, bless his heart, is so picky that he mostly works alone so the going is kind of slow. We love him. Thanks again for all the help. Love this forum. Andrea

Just a thought...if you're paying the interest on a construction loan, slow is not good.

Srercrcr, that is a good point. We are kind of the opposite. We are paying all cash and because this has taken so long we are earning a bit of interest but not much. Also, we have been able to negotiate lower prices on a bunch of things such as the concrete work, the tape & texture, the painting, and the price of lumber. So for us it has worked out to our advantage. We are working very hard to not owe any money at the end of the build. So far we are ahead of the game but I am on Craig's List, eBay, & Google Shopping all the time. We are about to burst at the seams with everything I have waiting to be installed. We began building April 15, 2009 and we hoped to be finished in one year. Looks like we are off by a month. But good things come to those who wait. I hope. Cheers! Andrea

Well let's see if I can get a picture to post. Crossing my fingers...

Ok, I got the pic to post and forgot to thank everyone for help in deciding. I love, love, love, the look. Now if it will just stop raining so we can paint. The yellow you see is actually how they sent out the siding with primer. House will be kind of a greenish/grey with white trim. I can't stop looking at the house and all the detail work like the fluted posts. My contractor built those posts and did the routering. I got to primer each post as he finished so not rain would get on any raw wood. The brick guy comes this week. Very excited! Cheers, Andrea