# Cement board for concrete wall look.



## marcus22 (Apr 28, 2013)

I'm pulling down all the drywall in my warehouse as its old, was put up poorly by a previous tenant and I'd like to add a little character. 

That said I was thinking to avoid doing drywall for 1200sqft of perfectly flat 20ft by 60ft of wall.. that I would just do cement board similar to this:










Does anyone have any experience doing this? I imagine there are a few tips/tricks to making it look good, or which cement board to use.


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## jsbuilders (Apr 13, 2013)

Hardie board smooth panel siding. But it should be sheathed first, not just put on studs.

It's about 30 bucks a sheet.


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## Seattle2k (Mar 26, 2012)

Cement board, especially Durock, like shown in that picture has zero structural strength. It bends and flexes quite a bit, therefore, you would at least need a layer of 1/2" plywood or OSB behind it. Of course, that would bring out the wall about 1/4", after the CBU is attached to it (assuming you used 1/4" thick CBU). And then you have to figure out a way to seal the CBU panels, because they shed sand when you touch them. Keep in mind, you're going to have a lot of cement board screws to hold those panels up too, and they're green, so you may want to paint each one with a coat of gray paint, to help hide them. I don't see any screws in that picture, so it may have just been stuck on with thinset or construction adhesive. Is that picture from an advertisement? If so, it was probably just put together for a few pictures and may not actually be practical for real-world environment. It might be easier to have an artist do a faux painting, after applying a sand coat to a drywall wall.


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## Seattle2k (Mar 26, 2012)

jsbuilders said:


> Hardie board smooth panel siding. But it should be sheathed first, not just put on studs.
> 
> It's about 30 bucks a sheet.


 
hardiebacker has a different look and has the screw grid formed into it..wouldn't give the same look.

On the other hand, Durock has their name printed on it...at least on one side, not sure if its on both sides.


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## jsbuilders (Apr 13, 2013)

Seattle2k said:


> hardiebacker has a different look and has the screw grid formed into it..wouldn't give the same look.
> 
> On the other hand, Durock has their name printed on it...at least on one side, not sure if its on both sides.


But that's not backer board. It's fiber cement panel siding. Actually I'm pretty sure it's certainteed not Hardie, the lines in it are pretty distinct.


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## jsbuilders (Apr 13, 2013)

Seattle2k said:


> Keep in mind, you're going to have a lot of cement board screws to hold those panels up too, and they're green, so you may want to paint each one with a coat of gray paint, to help hide them. I don't see any screws in that picture


Most likely spiral shank siding nails.


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## marcus22 (Apr 28, 2013)

Being the wall is 60ft long by 20ft tall and has no outlets/etc on it I figured that cement board without any finishing would be the quickest and easiest way to finish the wall while still looking nice.

But if I need backer, and sealer, and special screws, or paint then sealer, etc.. then I'm just back to where I started with the painting and what not.

I'd still entertain doing it if only backer was needed.. and even sealer.. but if I have to paint and seal.. and all that I think just drywall is likely the route I'll go.

I found that picture in google images searching for "cement board loft" or something similar to that.


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## marcus22 (Apr 28, 2013)

What about something like this, with a backer.

http://en.gt-sgbc.com/ProductInfoEx...&comp_stats=comp-FrontProduct_list-cp004.html


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## marcus22 (Apr 28, 2013)

or even this: http://www.fibercementproducts.com/blog/?page_id=905


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## jsbuilders (Apr 13, 2013)

What about galvanized barn siding. Dent it up a little to give it a nice commercial look. 

A local restaurant did it, and it really looks good.


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