Great article!! Thank you so much for such detail. No one person has this level of info. Cheers! Will be looking for some popular now to make some doors!

Once MDF is painted/sealed, it won’t be effected by moisture (unless it’s saturated in water — that’s probably not a good idea. Lots of pre-primed trim is made of MDF.

If you use a very sharp sawblade you can get clean cuts. If you are doing the traditional faux “shiplap”, you will have a small gap between the boards and probably won’t care too much if the edges are smooth to the touch, because no one will ever touch them (once they are on the wall). Most people I know that have done faux shiplap have used hardboard or cheap 1/4″ underlayment, neither of which will have smooth cut edges. It really depends on the look you are going after. If you want a country farmhouse look, I think it’s fine. If you want a more polished look, I wouldn’t do a “faux shiplap” at all.