Weldex — an authentic decorative finish for vintage homes
We first learned about Eichler Siding from readers Marty and Flip, who have original Weldtex ceilings in their 1950 home. They wanted to add more Weldtex ceilings in other rooms in their home and after some searching, came upon Eichler Siding, which now has a second website, VintagePlywood.com to showcase their Weldtex-style paneling product.
Marty writes:
We purchased the house my parents built in 1950 and have been working hard on the renovation. Wanted to share the ceiling story and a supplier website that we found in California. Can’t wait to get the new ceiling up downstairs.We have some pics of the original striated ply ceilings from upstairs that we are going to continue with through more of the house.
We are so pleased to hear you’re doing a story on the striated plywood and Eichler Siding. Jeff and his wife provide a quality product and are fellow small business folks. They were easy to work with and it was a coast to coast shipment that arrived in good shape to us in Florida from San Fran! Attached are some photos of the original ceiling in our house and we found a huge bonus surprise behind some junky wall paneling, pickwick pine paneling!!!! Our ceiling project is still a work in progress so we don’t have any of the new stuff up yet but we can tell it will be a fantastic match.
I researched the history of the striated plywood and it is a very interesting story. The old advertisments for it are awesome, gave us some cool ideas.
Looking forward to your article and as always I will continue to ‘renovate safely’ 🙂
Coinkindinkly, we also just spotted Weldtex ceilings in a 1960 time capsule in Tulsa, Oklahoma — see it here — this time with a natural wood finish. Stunning!
Where to find Weldtex wood panels today
Eichler Siding got its start in 1987 after owners Jeff and Annette Nichols noticed a niche they could fill in the market. At the time, homeowners looking to repair and restore the original grooved siding on their Eichlerand other midcentury homes couldn’t find a source for the specialty grooved plywood they needed to get the job done. Eichler Siding came to the rescue — manufacturing several popular siding patterns as well as taking custom orders.
In 2012, the company began producing Weldtex striated plywood again — the first time this style of plywood had been produced since the 1970s.
From their website:
PRODUCERS OF MID CENTURY MODERN PANELS EICHLER, STRENG BROS., CUSTOM SIDING
And Now Weldtex, Combed, Striated PlywoodFor over 25 years we have produced Eichler style siding for San Francisco Bay area homes and beyond. We deliver locally, and we ship nationwide via common carrier. We also can produce a variety of custom grooved interior and exterior plywood panels for both mid-century modern homes in the Eichler style or replicate plywood groove patterns that are no longer available.
Additionally, as far as we know, we are the only producers of “Weldtex” also commonly known as “Combed or Striated Plywood.” Invented in the 40’s, Weldtex is a very unique panel that was used as accent walls, wainscot, or even an entire room. We have shipped Weldtex to New York, New Jersey and Southern California.
Weldtex, Combed Plywood
Available in plywood panels and solid stock lumber (oak, birch, ash, etc.) for door panels or milled into clear cedar or redwood for tongue and groove exterior siding.Weldtex Panel Weldtex, which was originally manufactured by U.S. Plywood, has not been made since the 1970′s until now!
Sizes available in 3/8″ thick panels:
- 15 7/8″ x 96″
- 23 7/8″ x 96″
Note: Though we do not produce a 48″ wide panel, due to the nature of the unique Weldtex, or combed pattern, when you join two long edges together the joint appears to be seamless. So in reality you could cover an entire wall with the panels and never know that there were narrower than 48″
“Weldtex panels let you arrange horizontal or vertical stripes: checkerboard, diamond, and even herringbone patterns. You’ll discover countless decorating schemes!” (from Life Magazine ad, circa 1957)
Edge view of 3/4″ solid stock walnut showing the depth of the Weldtex pattern.
Edge view of 3/8″ plywood, these are available in 23 7/8″ x 96″ sheets.
Here’s a sample of 1×6 tongue and groove clear “A” grade redwood with the Weldtex texture milled into the face. We also added a V-groove at each joint to match the existing pattern a customer in Tulsa, OK has. The same material can be milled without the V-groove for a more continuous look. We can also mill this out of clear western red cedar, or pine for an interior application, like a wainscot installation.
History of Weldtex:
- Read this history of Weldtex in a paper written by Mary Ottoson, M.S. Historic Preservation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
I can think of about a hundred ways you could use Weldtex — from building furniture, to using it as siding or wall treatments. Heck, I bet it would even look good in a tiki bar. It is so exciting to have this vintage material with such an interesting history available to buy again.
Mega thanks to readers Marty and Flip for sharing their photos and tipping us to this interesting product!
Links:
- Weldtex plywood for sale from VintagePlywood.com
- Paper on the history of Weldtex written by Mary Ottoson, M.S. Historic Preservation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Weldtex Striated Plywood For Walls Which Grow Old Gracefully from Archive.org
That last sentence is an understatement! Homes built in the last-40 years leave a lot to be desired in many respects, and this is just one of them. We’ve got vinyl siding in the HOA in which I live, and, as far as we’re concerned, it’s nothing-but trash. Of course we’re in Colorado. The lack of humidity, the temperature extremes, and the proximity to the sun all wreak havoc on vinyl. It comes with a “lifetime warranty,” but because of our unique conditions, which I’m sure are shared by some of our neighbors up north in the Rockies, the courts have ruled that “lifetime” means 7 years. As far as we are concerned, vinyl siding should be outlawed in Colorado. Maybe it’s suitable in other places, but certainly not here.
But James Hardie–now there is indeed a good product, and the 50-year warranty holds, even in Colorado. If you get the pre-painted version, you get a 25-year guarantee on the paint, as well.
Brian. It’s interesting to us that several folks have purchased our product who live in Canada and used it on the exterior of their homes most often to replace pre-existing
Thanks for the update on your project if there’s anything we can do to help, keep in mind we do ship our product.
Jeff Nichols
My grandmother’s century home in Wisconsin (unfortunately remodeled over the years) had this throughout her kitchen and huge pantry. My parents current home with addition from the 50’s has a den/music room with this on the walls and fabulous cork floors! Love this stuff – many memories.
Hi Dana
I’d love to see some pictures of your parents home and the look of this on their walls. Maybe I can get some ideas from them.
Thanks
Marty
Thanks for the info! We had this as paneling in our living room in the rancher I grew up in. It was painted. I always liked it , but never saw it anywhere else. Would love to be in that house now!
Do you have any extra pieces of this paneling left? I need a piece about 16×16 to patch a hole in the paneling in our 1950s sunroom. Can’t get a response from the SF company and am getting desperate and running out of options. I would pay for the remnant and shipping to Des Plaines IL.
Carol, no buying/selling here on the main blog or it becomes chaos. I will leave this up for a day or two so you can see it then delete.
Carol sorry for the delay we’ve been really busy. I’ll follow up today.
Hi Carol, I can help you out too. I’m just a homeowner and will have some extra. Pam, how would I get my info to Carol? Super happy Jeff has been busy, great company!
Set up a craiglist listing. Carol: Search for craigslist listings. No buying/selling here on the blog or it becomes chaos. I will be deleting all these comments shortly.
cool! Hi Jeff!
I will probably take your link and make it an affiliate link (keeps the blog boat afloat)! and/or do a story!
My husband and I have a beautiful 1940’s custom home. I was so excited when I found your site as no one new what kind of wall covering I described.
The walls, built in selves, cornice board, window seal and ceiling Of which is the chess board pattern are all Weldex. A few ceiling tiles need replacement due to a roof leak. I am also interested in a few boards to make some floating shelves for the room. To match the cornice board.
Please contact me as to size, price and shipping. Any information on what’s been the outcome painting it? Etc….
Hi Tabitha, your Weldtex sounds great. Note, I do not sell anything — I identify and write about the companies that do. Look for their hotlinks — brite bold blue text.
You can also ask the company about painting it. But that said, I think the idea of this high-end treatment was to see the wood…. If you are new to your house, I advise, live with it a while — and you may learn to adore it!
So happy to stumble on this. I live in a wonderful 50s ranch in the bay area, California and my “rumpus room” (as the electrical panel calls it- it’s really just an office with a closet) has this redwood paneling lining 3 walls. It was very dry and I experimented with products to bring the luster back… Settled on teak oil and let me tell you I don’t think that wood has ever looked so beautiful! Now I know what it is and can’t wait to finish restoring that room. I’ve always loved Eichler and it’s kind of exciting to have some similar elements in my own home. … Without even knowing it! Thanks as always for your wealth of knowledge.