Add character to a builder primary lounge by putting in a board and batten wall remedy! Comply with the step-by-step DIY tutorial — it’s simpler than you suppose!
Of the entire rooms in our home, the lounge is the one which was essentially the most intimidating to me when it got here to adorning. It began out as this large, clean white field and was simply empty!
It nonetheless felt so empty even after we had put in our furnishings that the day after we moved in, I had Donnie run to IKEA to purchase the matching love seat for our couch simply so it wouldn’t look so unhappy and naked! Ultimately we stuffed it up little by little, and here’s what the lounge seemed like after a number of months in our home:
It was getting higher, but it surely nonetheless wanted a bit of one thing. I had identified that I needed to place a board and batten remedy on the partitions nearly as quickly as we moved in.
We constructed our home with a neighborhood builder (It’s the Palermo mannequin by Ryan Houses.) so it began out fairly generic, and I knew that board and batten can be a good way so as to add a few of that character that we had been craving.
However getting located in a brand new home takes time and comes with a number of tasks, so placing up board and batten wasn’t precisely on the tippy high of the precedence record.
However now that we’ve accomplished a few of our highest precedence tasks (just like the boys’ room, the kitchen, and my workplace!), we lastly made time to get round to the board and batten in the lounge, and I couldn’t be extra thrilled!
Methods to Set up a Board and Batten Wall Therapy
This put up accommodates affiliate hyperlinks. For extra data, see my disclosures right here.
Earlier than I dive in to the method, I really feel like I ought to point out that ours is definitely a “fake” board and batten remedy, that means that we used the wall as our base moderately than placing flat boards over the wall and inserting the “batten” over high. Since our partitions aren’t textured, this labored simply fantastic for us and was a lot simpler than including an additional layer.
Step 1- Collect Board and Batten Wall Provides
We used the next provides for our mission:
Step 2- Resolve the way you to deal with the baseboards.
One of many first issues we needed to resolve was if we’d use the prevailing baseboards or rip them out and put in new ones. We didn’t thoughts the look of our earlier baseboards, however since they had been narrower than the vertical boards we’d be attaching to the wall, the vertical boards would cling excessive moderately than butting up in opposition to them neatly.
(This picture of Donnie putting in our craftsman model window trim was the clearest shot I might discover of our earlier baseboard. You possibly can see the way it narrowed on the high, which might make our vertical boards hang around over it.)
When putting in board and batten, ought to I take advantage of the prevailing baseboards or rip them out?
There are methods to make use of the prevailing baseboards when putting in board and batten with out having to take away them. However in some situations, eradicating the baseboards altogether could also be preferable.
For instance, we had been in a position to maintain our present baseboards with the board and batten wall in our townhouse bed room by slicing the underside of the vertical boards at an angle so that they wouldn’t look as blunt hanging over the baseboard. In that scenario, although, a lot of the vertical boards had been behind items of furnishings, so our little “hack” wasn’t apparent.
picture from our townhouse master suite, with the vertical board reduce at an angle subsequent to the baseboard
In our present lounge the place it will be simpler to see the intersection of the vertical boards and the baseboard, although, we determined to tear out the prevailing baseboards and use a lot taller craftsman model baseboards from WindsorOne. These baseboards had been extra sq. than our earlier ones, permitting the vertical board to relaxation completely in opposition to the baseboard.
As soon as we eliminated the prevailing baseboards and added the brand new ones, we might begin putting in the board and batten.
Step 3- Resolve what sort of trim items to make use of.
This step will usually occur in tandem with choosing baseboards. It’s essential to decide on items that work nicely collectively.
Which kind of boards ought to I take advantage of when putting in a board and batten wall remedy?
For the entire board and batten trim, we determined to make use of commonplace 1×4 primed flat inventory. This may be discovered at nearly any dwelling enchancment retailer or lumberyard. We felt it was the right width for the look we had been going for.
Together with the flat inventory, we topped off the best horizontal row with a header cease trim piece from Windsor One to create a bit of ledge and make it seemed extra completed. We connected this piece with wooden glue and 1/2″ brads.
Step 4- Plan out the design of the board and batten.
There are various various factors to think about when deciding on a board and batten design that can fit your particular house.
How excessive ought to board and batten be?
That is extra of a private choice, however I’m pleased to share the thought course of we went by means of when selecting the peak of our board and batten.
We knew we didn’t wish to reduce the room precisely in half as a result of that may make the house really feel a bit uneven. Once I was [hundreds and hundreds of] images of board and batten, I saved discovering myself being drawn to increased wall therapies, so we determined to go about 2/3 up the wall with our board and batten, with the highest of our higher horizontal board at 6’4″. (We have now 9′ ceilings.)
Whereas we had been serious about the location of the higher horizontal board, we additionally had to consider the location of the decrease horizontal board. We bumped into some limitations with this decrease board as a result of it couldn’t go straight by means of the realm the place our gentle switches had been positioned. After making an attempt many alternative configurations, the highest of the decrease horizontal board ended up at 4’10”.
How far aside ought to I house my vertical boards when putting in a board and batten wall remedy?
Spacing the vertical boards generally is a little difficult as a result of there are sometimes a number of “obstacles” that it’s a must to account for– home windows, retailers, cable hookups, and different issues which will get in the way in which.
Once more, the spacing of the verticals is essentially primarily based on private choice. We first discovered what the spacing can be if we divided our wall into even sections, then checked to ensure our vertical boards wouldn’t be hitting any obstructions and made changes if needed. There are 25.5″ between the boards on the window wall…
And 34.5″ between the boards on the love seat wall:
Step 5- Set up the board and batten items.
As soon as we had double and triple checked our design plan, we had been prepared for set up! It was truly a reasonably easy course of.
What’s the easiest way to connect boards to the wall with board and batten?
As soon as we had selected the peak of our horizontal boards, we used a pencil and a degree to mark a line all the way in which across the room. Donnie put in each horizontal rows with a brad nailer, ensuring he discovered many studs.
He used wooden glue and a mitered reduce to affix two boards collectively when one board wasn’t lengthy sufficient to stretch the size of the wall. The vertical rows had been then connected utilizing the brad nailer as nicely.
Step 6- Prep and paint the board and batten wall.
Prepping for portray sounds simple, however it may be a tedious process. It was essential to take our time and pay shut consideration to element in order that the completed product seemed clean and seamless.
After the entire boards for board and batten are in place, how do you prep them for portray?
As soon as the entire boards had been put in, Donnie used spackling to fill in nail holes and any gaps bigger than 1/8″. After the spackling had dried, he evenly sanded it after which used caulking to fill the small gaps and the areas the place the boards butted up in opposition to the wall. Then we had been prepared for paint!
We have now at all times executed all of our portray ourselves, however we had been bringing in a painter to color our stairwell (which is excessive and really scary and would have most likely despatched me to the ER with damaged limbs if I had tried to color it myself!) anyway, so we had him paint the lounge and kitchen whereas he was at it, and he did an incredible job!
(In case you are within the Pittsburgh, PA space and are on the lookout for a painter, we extremely advocate Jason from Artistry Houses!)
My pals at Behr had been sort sufficient to offer my favourite paint for this mission– the highest of the house is Behr Marquee Silver Metropolis in an eggshell end, and the underside is Behr Marquee Cameo White in a satin end.
Step 7- Get pleasure from your new board and batten!
I lastly really feel just like the room has misplaced the stark, naked look that it at all times had earlier than and is beginning to really feel extra cozy and welcoming! I nonetheless want so as to add some wall decor and little equipment, however this house could be very almost completed! Woohoo!
Let’s check out some earlier than and after pictures:
Board and Batten Wall DIY: Steadily Requested Questions
Yippee! I’m to listen to if you happen to’ve ever taken on a board and batten mission! If in case you have any extra ideas or methods so as to add, please share within the feedback beneath!
Have an amazing day!
This put up accommodates affiliate hyperlinks. For extra data, see my disclosures right here.
