Painting - T1-11 interior staining?

I am moving into my first house and of course there are a few projects on my ever growing list. Number one is to do some interior painting. One of the "unique" things the previous owner did was to use exterior T1-11 siding in the living room and bedroom as paneling. I want to do a light colored stain in both rooms. Does any one have any experience or advice with something "weird" like this. My questions are about sanding, primering, do I use interior or exterior stain. I know this is may be an different approach to paneling but it is also easier than ripping it all out, and I think the end result may look good. Can anyone help?

jeffrocket

Welcome to the forums
Because of the roughness of the plywood it doesn't lend it self to the conventional way of staining wood work. Applying several coats of poly will deepen the color of the wood a little. You can also use tinted poly [minwax brand-polyshades] I hesitate to recomend it because it is a little difficult to get an even looking job over unsealed wood. The roughness of the T-111 makes it even harder to apply.

thanks marksr,

Maybe staining isn't a good idea, so what would you suggest. Primer and then a light interior latex? Light prep or should the T1-11 be sanded smooth as a babies butt? I have a friend that has T1-11 interior and he painted it with a high gloss(I have not seen it yet), but I don't think that's the effect I want.

jeffrocket

The easiest 2 options are either clear poly or paint. Sanding the T-111 smooth would be a big job. I've done a few jobs where the rough sawn wood was varnished and although the results were rough wood I thought it looked nice. Most importantly the customer was happy. Traditional wainscotting and paneling is smooth but that doesn't mean that yours has to be. :)