Thread: Walls - HELP!

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So, the "walls" I had in my haunt this year didn't really work out. They were just black polyvinyl and rather shiny. It basically looked like really large black trash bags.

This year, one of the major changes to my haunt, I hope, will be the walls. I am planning on making "Hollywood Flats" so that I can easily resize/shape my haunt in future years.

So, here's my question: Do I go with plywood, masonite, or homasote? I know that each material has pros and cons, and I would be willing to spend more on a better material if it'll last me a long time and be super durable. Also, each material paints differently.

Has anybody done this before? Have any advice?

You'll get mixed answers on here. Some use fabric/canvas over 1x2s or 2x2s. Some use plastic. Some even use cardboard.

It also depends on where you'll have the walls. OSB has a habit of falling apart after being in the rain after a while. Some don't mind the way it looks. some (myself) do. However, if your walls will be inside (like in a garage) OSB is the cheapest way to go.

If they are outside, I would use plywood. It simply holds up the best. I'm not sure if Masonite would be waterproof or if paint would stick to it after being rained on. Hopefully someone will chime in with an experience they had with using the stuff.

I personally use plywood and 2x4 frames for my outdoor haunts and OSB (Wafferboard) and 2x3s for my garage haunt.

Hope this helps!
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I would vote on plain BC grade 1/8" playwood. 4x8 oughta cost around 10-12 bucks each. And with wood you can apply pretty much any coating you want to it, or screw in what ever you want to hang from it.

we get free hollow core doors. this years supply came from our local college (construction class) and a few apartment buildings just happen to be changing their doors out. we had about 50 closet and bi-fold doors. People contacted me after I put an ad on kijiji (craigslist).

I was doing research on this last year. You could also consider lauan. What is lauan? It is the thinnest (1/4") wood sheathing I ever saw. Home Depot carries it in 4 x 8's. It needs to have support backing... 1 x 2's because it won't support itself.

Another idea if you want to stay with the fabric idea is landscape fabric. I store my panels in the basement so I needed them to be broken down. I bought black landscape fabric and velcro'd it to the 1 x 2 frames. The frames were 5 x 8. A happy accident was I didn't need to break them down to get down the stairs. The panels flex just enough that I was able to make the turn on the stairs

Pro's of landscape fabric: CHEAP! Plus, I used safety pins to join the panels together and they started to reinforce each other so I ended up with a very strong maze. By the way, I hung the panels from the ceiling.

Con's...if you want to paint them, you have to prime it first. I thought I was going to just airbrush them but the design of the fabric just sucked up the paint.

Here's a picture of the panel under construction. You can also see pile of the already built ones leaning against the wall.



Here's a shot of the panels being put up:

Thanks for all the tips and advice. I can't believe I forgot about Lauan as an option. The walls are going to stay indoors, so I'm not super worried about what happens when they get wet or transporting them up and down stairs.

The fabric was a good idea terra, but I'm looking for something a little stronger as part of the scare in my haunt is an inability to find the exit, so I end up having people bang on the walls, or feel their way along them for a break through which to exit.

I think I need to take a trip to home depot and check out prices.

If you want something more permanent, I would go with blue or pink 1" foam board. I used to use weed fabric when I first got started and then moved to 1" white foam board which worked really well for many years but age and the heat took it's toll. Two years ago, the Lowes near me got in 1" blue foam in 2X4X8 sheets. I bought a bunch and carved them to look like stone.





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I have a few more in my album. Halloween Forum - dionicia's Album: Haunt Walls.

I hope this helps.

P.S. Davisgraveyard was my inspiration.

One main consideration is what strangth do you need for your walls. Will it need to support a 150 mom clutching her 60 pound child as they fall backwards in fear? Or do you just need some separation from other displays and don't expect anyone to fall against it?

Two years ago I built a maze in my front yard using 6mil roofing plastic (100' foot rol for about $70). I anchored the frame to the ground, and used a staple gun and screws to secure the plastic to the frame. At one point I had a 150 pound mom clutching her 60 pound kid, cringing in fear and screaming, leaning against the plastic wall. The wall flexed but didn't break. However, I would not want to stress it regularly like that.

I had that happen the year before last only the ToT mowed his Mom down trying to get out. Luckily the foam cushioned her fall, but it didn't break. The walls keep it nice and warm in the garage too so if it's too cold, the actors can hang out in there to warm up.

I plan on 1x2 framing covered with a sheet of 4x8 luan or other cheap wood, but may resort to heavy plastic.