SLAT HALLWAY Questions? Please help!

[Dr Spooktakular]

We are adding a slat hallway in our mansion and I have a couple questions:
1. An economical way to make the slats? Type of wood?
2. Best way to light hallway or slats?
3. Coloring or distressing of the wood?
The more that chime in the merrier, all suggestions welcome.

[Jim Warfield]

I just didn't throw away the lath boards as I ripped them out of the wall here, ....and there they were!
In 1870 laths were thicker than usual maybe 3/8 of an inch ? Tough spruce.
I didn't make a slat hallway, I sharpened points on them and positioned them to rake the customer's eyes and faces as they walked passed them........
No.
I nailed them on a backing board so the points would NOT get anyone , shaped it like a doorway/arch and created my "Pointless Hallway", dipping the points in "real" red blood! hahahha!

[damon carson]

Jims right try to come up with old wood laths out of an old house being gutted for dryway. Pick out the best ones longest and not broken. Ask anyone who is remolding an old house. They will give them to you for free im sure. Go to Halloween Productions website. Look at the detail of there slat walls and how they aged them. They make the best looking ones in the industry I think.
Damon

[Tattoo]

We build a lot of Lath Halls in Terror on the Fox, you can buy bundles from Home Depot or Lowes. We buy the bundles that are banged up (you know, the ugly bundles) We build 4 x 8 frames out of 2 x 2's and staple the lath to the frames, we than cover the frames with luan that has had holes cut or broken through. We stain or dirty water wash the lath once installed under scene light.

Hope this helps,

Tattoo

[Jim Warfield]

when my Dad was a kid there was a man in town who was a "Lather", that's all he did for a living, tok a mouthfull of those nasty little nails and his little hammer that had an ax blade on one end and went like crazy spitting, nailing nails erecting lath boards.
One day his phone stopped ringing, nobody did lath anymore.
He just sat around waiting for work until he died.......

Gas is $3.19 a gallon, I hope I'n not sitting around waiting for business this year...
"Who are you, ghostly one?"
"I was Joe, Joe the "lather",pull up a seat, Jim."

[UnDeRTaKer313]

i love the way that terror on the fox made this hallway
i was trying to think of some scares you could do in this hallway but with how narrow it appears i would worry how safe have any scares would be.
If your willing to share what scarres
you used Terr on the fox it would be greatly appreciated

[Jim Warfield]

Ah! but a narrow hallway can be much safer because :
A) The customer has less distance to get a "run" at banging into the opposing wall if you scare them that badly.
B) If you scare them real badly the narrow hallway might sort of hold them up , keeping them from falling and hurting themselves if they went weak in the knees.

Any surface the customers are rubbing shoulders against (potentially) has to be smooth, no nail heads(use screws) no splinters, no hard edgs/angles. Use screws, bury their head below the surface, fill in the surface divot with Elmer's wood putty, smooth it over. When you are done run Your bare hand over it all, fix anything that "catches"
Of course if you are too cheap and don't put enough screws in a board to hold up against the customer's banging then the screws can break and open up such problems too..

[Brckee1]

If you are doing slats for the entire wall. I would rip strips of luan. It is longer and less likely to split compared to lath. Less likely to break and cause a splinter hazard. It also gives you the option of having wider slats, or various widths. It will hold up better in storage too.

For color, just water down some brown or gray paint and use it like a stain. You can add shading, stains and whatever else you want.

[MindWerxKMG]

I make my own by ripping 3/8" thick plywood into strips.

[spookologist]

One way is to get the wood snow fencing in a roll and frame them. It has the wire already attached and with the proper lighting you'll never see it. Here's a link so you can see what it looks like: http://www.discountfence.com/snowfen...snow_fence.htm

Home Depot also carries them but its not always in stock.

Good luck.

Wayne
www.trailofterror.com

[Dr Spooktakular]

I'm in Texas, I wish I could get that snow fencing, we've had only 3 or so days in the 30's this winter.

[Empressnightshade]

I make my own by ripping 3/8" thick plywood into strips.

I always like the "make my own" way of doing things -- especially if I already have what I need to make it. I'm gonna use your method and rip it...rip it real good!

[Infoamtek]

So, will we see a video when you Devo... I mean demo that?

[Empressnightshade]

So, will we see a video when you Devo... I mean demo that?

You're so funny, hunny.

[The Mad Hatter]

Slats

These slats are made from 2x4's that I ripped down a few times. I used roofing nails when i attached them to give the panel more detail Then I used one of those weed sprayers and sprayed a washed down Walnut stain in random places. After that I sprayed it with a watered down Black. Then I splashed white pain on it with a brush. For the Insulation I used Cotton batting from a quilting store which i then stained with brown and black. (Lots safer to use then fiber glass insulation.) I tacked the batting down with staples on the back of the slats.



Theses panels are not done yet. When done they will look like falling apart walls. I will also post a how to on my website.
Not bad for an 18 year old eh?