In this post I cover how I built two board and batten walls in my home. I share tips and tricks on how to get a professional looking finish.
If you would like to see the main bedroom design, visit this post.
Office Wall
I have completed two board and batten walls in my home. The first was in Alan's office. He uses it as his video meeting background. He gets compliments all the time. We joke that it has helped him get over two jobs.
Alan asked for a Navy Blue wall, after looking at a few samples, we landed on "Naval" from HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams.
I started by painting the office wall. I didn't worry about the edges because trim was going to go there. It was very warm outside so I struggled to keep the paint from getting streaky. But then I spoke to one of the paint people at Lowes and they recommended Floetrol. It helped a ton and led to a much smoother finish.
You'll notice I also took off the baseboard. This is a really good idea if you want the board and batten wall to look built-in. The trim pieces would be thicker than the 1/2 inch base board.
Here was the plan:
Boards: 1" x 3" primed pine
You can use this board and batten calculator from 'Let's DIY Big' to see how far a part to space your boards.
I cut a board to act as the spacer to make sure that each vertical board was the correct width a part. I used my brad nailer to attach the boards to the wall, I used Liquid Nails on some of the places were the wall was a little uneven. I ended up using Liquid Nails on all the horizontal pieces to make for firmer joints. It made it much easier to sand and make those joints disappear because the boards stayed still and didn't shift around from the vibrations. I know some DIYers don't recommend liquid nails because it is a pain to clean up after if you ever decide to take it down. I feel pretty confident this style will be around for a while so it is worth it to have it looking perfect.
I did the the top and bottom horizontal rows and then the middle horizontal row first. Then measured to place the next pieces in between.
I put a 1x4 piece under the bottom trim for the base board to sit against. This is what makes the wall look more custom.
Next, I filled in all the joints and nail holes and then caulked everywhere the boards met the wall or ceiling.
I also used tiny shims of cereal boxes to push up any of the pieces that were not matching perfectly. It look a lot of work, but was worth it to get everything looking smooth/flush.
Next I painted over every thing. This was before I knew about priming over wood filler and caulk so there is a tiny bit of flashing. It still turned out great.
I reattached the baseboard and caulked where it met the trim to give the wall a built-in custom look.
This was my very first board and batten wall and I learned a ton. I really struggled with the project. It took me over 4 weeks to complete.
Bedroom Wall
This was my second board and batten wall. I used everything Learned from the first one and I do think this wall turned out even better.
I wanted our bedroom wall to have a more streamlined look to really accentuate the height of the ceiling. I used 2"x1" primed pine boards. Here is where the room started:
Here is the vision I mocked up on my phone using the photo "Mark-up" function. I wanted to keep the same width as the weird lopsided bump-out on one side of the room to help it feel more balanced.
We tried out several colors, but the one that looked best in this space was "Thermal" by Behr paint.
I pre-painted all the trim boards on this one. This turned out to be a major waste of time, which I will show you why later on.
I used Floetrol from the start to avoid any streaking. I don't think I will ever paint without it especially anything with a flat, matte, or eggshell sheen. Note, I also removed the baseboard before starting this one. I will put a board that matches the depth of the trim below the first piece of trim and then attach the baseboard back to that.
I marked all the studs. Then added the bottom piece of trim.
I put tape on the wall to make sure the spaces looked the way I wanted. My daughter Juniper was a great helper.
Next, I trimmed out the walls and ceilings and then the board that went across the top of the ceiling.
The hardest part was the angles. I used an angle detector to figure out the angles. But it was a little tricky even with that tool.
This time, I used Liquid Nails on every board. I also filled in all the gaps and nail holes with wood filler as I went along to cut down on time later on.
I cut a board to use as a spacer for the vertical pieces. I also used the level to make sure the boards were level. I nailed the board in the middle first then placed the level agains it to make sure it was level against the wall and then nailed up and down the wall at alternate angles to make sure it was secure. Special shout out to my sister-in-law in who came over to help me get up the boards (not pictured).
Then we moved on to the rest of the horizontals. The last thing we did was the top verticals with the angles. Those were incredibly tricky and took a lot of trial and error even with the angle finder. I used wood filler to make up for the mistakes and you cannot tell.
After sanding, I began to caulk everything. This stage always takes awhile.
Next, we primed over all the caulk and the wood filled places. Which is why pre-painting the boards was a waste of time. LOL.
Next, we finished up with painting. It took two more coats to cover the primer.
The second time doing a board and batten wall, things went much much faster. I started this project while I was on break over Christmas vacation. It took me about 15-18 hours total with my Sister-in-laws help getting the boards up.
To learn about the design process visit this post.
I can help you create the vision for your space and give you a virtual blueprint to refer to as you have money or budget to bring it to life. I can help you plan out the necessary DIY and give you the confidence you need to carry it out. I will make sure that the items selected are within a price range and budget you are comfortable with. DIY or Interior Design don't need to feel intimidating or be out of your reach financially. Shoot me an email and we can set up a time to chat and walk through the process.
Tools Used:
2' Level
4' Level
Comments