Shiplap is new lumber milled with a rabbeted edge, usually pine, and it’s almost always painted. Reclaimed wood is salvaged from buildings that stood for a century or more, and it goes on your wall with its original surface intact. Both make a good accent wall, but they give you very different rooms. Shiplap reads clean and modern farmhouse. Reclaimed wood reads warm and aged, with a history you can’t fake. Here’s how the two compare on looks, cost, installation, and upkeep, so you can pick the right one for your space.
What each one actually is
Shiplap started life as exterior sheathing on barns and sheds. The boards have an overlapping rabbet joint that self-spaces into even horizontal lines with a small shadow gap between courses. Most of what’s sold as shiplap today is new pine or primed MDF milled to a uniform profile, and the standard finish is paint, usually white.
Reclaimed wood planks come out of old barns and farm structures. The reclaimed barn wood planks we ship are real wood about 3/8″ thick, cut from barns that are 100+ years old, in 3.5″ and 5.5″ widths and random lengths up to 48″. Every board carries its own nail holes and saw kerf marks. No two are alike, which is exactly the point.
Looks: painted uniformity vs a century of character
Shiplap gives you crisp, repeating lines in whatever paint color you choose. It photographs clean and it suits coastal and farmhouse rooms. It’s also everywhere, so it doesn’t surprise anyone anymore.
Reclaimed wood does the opposite. The brown line mixes warm walnut, honey, and tan tones that shift board to board. The grey reclaimed wood planks run from weathered silver to charcoal. That variation is why aged barn wood keeps showing up in serious spaces: it’s the look Gordon Ramsay picked for a Hell’s Kitchen winner’s home makeover, and the Baltimore Ravens put the same boards in their studio.
Paint covers wood. Patina is the whole point.
Cost: what you’ll actually spend
New pine shiplap typically runs a few dollars per square foot for the boards, with MDF versions cheaper still. That number is deceiving, though, because it’s for raw material. Add primer, paint, caulk for the nail holes and seams, and a weekend of finishing work before the wall looks done.
Our reclaimed planks are $10.75 per square foot, sold in 20 sq ft boxes at $215, with free US shipping on orders over $200. That’s more up front, no way around it. But the board that comes out of the box is the finished product. You hang it and you’re done. No paint, no caulk, no touch-up cycle every few years.
For a full budget breakdown by wall size, see our reclaimed wood accent wall cost guide.
Installation: both are DIY jobs, with one big difference
Both go up over existing drywall with no demolition. Shiplap boards are long, often 8 feet, so you’ll want a second set of hands and a miter saw for length cuts. The rabbeted edges set the spacing for you.
Reclaimed planks max out at 48″, so one person can hang them solo. You stagger the random lengths in a brick pattern, fix each board with construction adhesive and a couple of brad nails, and work across the wall row by row. Our step-by-step install guide walks through the whole process. Most accent walls are a single afternoon.
Here’s the trap with shiplap: the wall isn’t finished when the boards are up. Priming and painting is the second half of the project, and it’s the half people forget to budget time for.
Which one should you pick?
If you want smooth painted lines to match a bright, modern room, buy shiplap and don’t look back. It’s the cheaper route to that specific look.
If you want the wall guests ask about, go reclaimed. Real age can’t be milled into new pine, and it never needs repainting. We’ve shipped 1,100+ orders of this wood to homes across the US, and the accent wall is far and away what people build with it.
Frequently asked questions
Is reclaimed wood more expensive than shiplap?
Up front, yes. Reclaimed barn wood runs $10.75 per square foot versus a few dollars for new pine shiplap. The gap narrows once you add paint, supplies, and finishing time to the shiplap side, and reclaimed wood never needs refinishing after it’s up.
Can you paint reclaimed wood to look like shiplap?
You can, but you shouldn’t. Painting over a century of patina erases the thing you paid for. If a painted wall is the goal, new shiplap gets you there for less money.
Does reclaimed wood install the same way as shiplap?
Close. Both attach over drywall with nails, and reclaimed planks add construction adhesive. Reclaimed boards have no rabbet joint, so instead of self-spacing rows you stagger random lengths in a brick pattern, which is the classic barn wood look.
Is shiplap going out of style?
White shiplap peaked with the modern farmhouse trend, and designers have been cooling on it for a few years. Aged natural wood predates the trend cycle, which is why 100 year old boards don’t really date a room the way a trend finish can.
Related reading
- Reclaimed wood vs engineered wood panels
- How much does a reclaimed wood accent wall cost?
- How to install a reclaimed wood accent wall
- Reclaimed wood paneling: the full guide
- DIY accent walls
Ready to see the wood in person?
Browse our DIY reclaimed wood accent wall planks in brown or grey, 3.5″ and 5.5″ widths, priced per square foot with free US shipping over $200. The wood is cut from real 100+ year old barns and ships ready to hang.