Board and Batten Complete!
March 3, 2011
At last, it is done. Oh my word I am so loving this wall treatment in my little boy’s room! I’ve always loved the paint color (Valspar’s ‘La Fonda Villa Fountain’), yet somehow this wall treatment not only mellows all the intense teal blue but also provides such beautiful contrast. Heart!
I know there are so many ‘how to’ tutorials in blog land about board and batten, and truly they are all worth reading. Everyone has a different approach. I installed this same wall treatment last month in my friend Mia’s loft, and finally had the opportunity to install board and batten around an entire bedroom in our house.
Pay no attention to the variance in color from scene to scene you’re about to see. These pictures were taken in the brightest morning light and under the dimmest incandescent light over the course of several weeks ~ basically whenever I could get around to working on this project. Want to know how we did it? I’ll tell ya!
Obviously we started with a blank wall like this:
Midway through the madness the room looked like this:
Then we got it closer to this:
And now this:
Ack, what the heck?
This is the section under the window, but (duh) I never captured it at any other angle. You’ll have to wait for the room reveal to see this wall, but I have more ‘final’ pics of the other walls at the end, just scroll down. But first, the play by play.
Dealing with Baseboards:
One of the first things anyone must think about when installing board and batten is the baseboards. Depending on how thick your battens (the vertical strips) are, they will overhang most existing baseboard. What to do? Well, you can roll with it and let them extend out beyond the baseboard, or you can replace your baseboard. This time, I did something in between.
I reused my existing baseboard, but I trimmed them to accommodate the battens. The existing baseboard is ½ inch thick but it had a decorative lip or trim on top. It came to me in the middle of the night, why I didn’t need to replace my baseboard, I could just repurpose it if I trimmed it!
I decided to cut out that top decorative trim with my Dremel MultiMax. It worked great, but it was really slow. And I kept having to stop to recharge my battery. I’m an impatient gal in these circumstances, so instead I popped off the baseboards and simply ran them through a table saw, borrowed from a friend.
Here’s a peek at what they looked like after we ripped them on the table saw. The same baseboards, just trimmed. Look how those battens line up perfectly now!
Momma happy.
To Panel or Not to Panel, That is the Question
Plenty of people don’t bother with paneling the lower half of the wall when installing board and batten. I’m cool with that. If you have smooth walls, there is no need. But as I recently explained, this room has orange peel textured walls, and that just wasn’t going to fly with me. When we added wainscoting to our living room, we used 4’ x 8’ dry erase boards from Lowes to panel the bottom part of the wall (no kidding), and we did it again in this room. These panels are 1/8” thick; thin enough to set on top of the baseboards, but perfect for covering texture and providing a smooth surface below. And they only cost $12 bucks each, yo.
My local Lowes also carries tongue & groove panels and beadboard panels in 4’ x 8’ sheets, so if you prefer that style of paneling, look for it in the lumber department.
You have to notch out wherever the electrical sockets are on the lower sections of your wall. Again, the Dremel MultiMax comes in handy, but in the past we’ve used a jig saw too. A really sharp box cutter will work as well.
Always use outlet spacers (as with any paneling like beadboard, tongue and groove, etc.) to extend your sockets, and consult an electrician if necessary.
Apply some construction adhesive to the back of your panel . . . .
. . . then use a brad nailer to attach the panels to the wall.
Pa bang! Pa bang! Pa bang!
Love that sound.
If you measure precisely, your cutout will be covered by your socket plate. Notice those sassy spacers to the left, bringing florescent back!
Rails, Battens, Shelves and Other Details
Above the paneling, we installed a 2 ½” thick horizontal rail with our finish nailer, then cut the 2” pre-primed MDF battens to fit underneath, attaching them with the brad nailer.
If you don’t own a brad nailer, don’t sweat it. You do not need one to complete this project. You can use good old fashioned hammer and nails, it will just take you a bit longer.
You can see in this picture how the boards truly are dry erase boards, I let the kids doodle on them for a just a day.
And I managed to repair those holes too.
Above the paneling is the 2 ½” rail, then below are the 2” battens, cut to the proper height with a compound miter saw, and spaced 12” apart.
I like to fill seams with caulking and patch holes with spackling. Caulking will shrink, so you might have to apply it more than once. I always keep a wet rag handy because caulking is paintable, but not sandable, so make sure you wipe it off any surface where you don’t want it to dry.
Brad and finish nail holes are easily patched with spackling.
The pre-primed MDF rails and battens don’t need primer, but the dry erase board panels do. Be sure to use a primer that will adhere to slick or glossy surfaces! In this case, I choose Zinsser’s Bulls Eye 123 Primer (Water Based) in the blue can.
Then I finished it all off with a coat of Benjamin Moore’s ‘Dove White’.
As a final note, we also installed a small shelf above the rail with cove molding ~ I explain the installation in greater detail in this post on basic board and batten.
If you opt for any shelf above your board and batten wall treatment, study where it will end as it wraps around the room. Naturally it will stick out if it ends on a window or a door frame so be prepared for that!
I’m not too worried about it. I see greater value in the display space, since my boy will be using his ledge to hoist his sails . . .
Can’t wait to put his room together this weekend!
What about you? Have you installed any board and batten or wainscoting in your home? Got any tips or tricks you’d like to share ?
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Tags: board and batten
Congrats! Can’t wait to see it all pulled together… that display space will become prime real estate as he gets older. :)
We did bead-board in our guest room 3/4′s up the wall. We put a little ledge at the top too. On the ends that ended at door or window molding I rounded the corner by placing a glass on the edge, marking the radius and cutting it off with a saw, then sanding to smooth it out. It really looks cute and I have enough space on the ledge to lean pictures, place my angel figurines, etc.
Love the B&B treatment. I may try to talk My Handyman into doing it in our Master BR, but not sure I can convince him.
CG–how long did it take you from start to finish? I’d really like to do B&B in our home, but it seems to take us forever to do a task. Maybe I can convince DH if it’s not too time intensive. LOVE the room and the tips. Great!
Amazingly gorgeous!!! It’s just so pretty. And that blue color is great!
Um…very embarassed…while showing hubby your very cool project, I found the paragraph about not needing to use board if you have smooth walls…please disregard my previous comment and go have a glass of wine…you’ve earned it!!
Amy Dow
Polka Dots and Stripes
http://thoughtsandsnipits.blogspot.com/
It looks AWESOME!
I didn’t even know the term…so this is new to me. I love the look, can’t wait to see the completed room.
Kathy, you are BRILLANT! I love that idea, I think I’ll try that out!
xo
Kate
Colleen ~ Cutting the boards takes the longest time. We had the guys in the lumber department make all the vertical cuts for each portion of the wall. Notching each socket takes a few minutes too. I’d allow yourself at least 4-5 hours for that process. Cutting the battens takes about 45 minutes to an hour, but installing them goes very quickly if you have a brad or finish nailer. Caulking and spackling takes another hour. Priming and painting another hour each. Total for this 10 x 13 room: 9-10 hours, so it’s doable in a weekend!
Love the transformation… gotta love a classic board & batten!
What an inspiration you are! I read your blog and am so inspired, if somewhat intimidated, by your projects. I appreciate your careful instructions and comments on what products to use. One day, perhaps, I’ll make the leap and do something in my own house. Thanks for posting.
The whiteboards are a fantastic idea! Do you find that the paint holds up well on such a glossy surface to start?
Your inspiring blog content is of a great use to me,am so happy to have found it,love the way you guide us through you instructions.though it is my first time to read your blogs ,surely i will be your best follower of your blogs thanks
I admire your tenacity to start and FINISH a project! It looks lovely! Thank you for all the wonderful tips and for sharing the name of that beautiful wall color! I’m excited to do a B&B project of my own!
Wow! Inspiring-and an awesome tutorial- Thanks!
Ummm, no, Kate, I don’t have any tips to share because your fabulosity faaaar outshines my own. :) I learn something new everyday at CG. It looks fantastic! Can’t wait to see the finished room.
Looks great, Kate! We have board and batten in the kids’ playroom and I love it. It was totally worth all the time it took to paint all those strips and hang them and paint them again.
Can’t wait to see how this room comes together! :-)
Congrats Kate! I will be placing my order for your services this week – can you make it down in May :) But honestly, beautiful job and I am loving the blue color!
I cannot wait to see this room all finished! The color is perfection and what a great tutorial~
xo
Absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to see it all finished!
Kate, it looks awesome! Can’t wait to see the final pics…I know it will be fabulous!
Thank you so much for your thorough tutorials. Thanks to your dining room project we are tackling our dining room this weekend. You have lots of helpful hints to complete it. One thing i thought i would mention is that we ended up buying plain, unprimed mdf sheets with a glossy finish. Since yours needed to be primed too you might want to look into those- they are about 50% less per sheet than the dry erase boards.
Thank you again though, we absolutely could not have done this project without some of your great tips- i.e. the spacers, etc!
looks fab! cant wait til spring temps rise–i call it “spray painting season”–I have plans to do wainscoting in my dining room…after I repaint my 1991 orange oak kitchen cabinets (and secretly repaint the kitchen a vivid orchid color…dont tell hubby!)!
Was the Benjamin Moore paint you used a semi gloss, or flat finish paint? It doesn’t look too glossy in your pics, but I couldn’t tell for sure.
Looking good! I can hardly wait for the full reveal.
Julia, another brilliant solution! For some reason, my local Lowes doesn’t carry those so I opted for the DE boards, but good for others to know, and saves some cash too, thanks!
Aimee, the paint is eggshell, not flat or glossy, my favorite sheen to use in a bedroom.
xo
Kate
i loooove this. if i could convince my fiance, i’d have this in every room in my house. ;) jk that might be a little overkill but i definitely need at least a room or two.
i loooove this. if i could convince my fiance, i’d have this in every room in my house. ;) jk that might be a little overkill but i definitely need at least a room or two.
Looks wonderful! Beautiful job, Kate!
Are the bookcases in your son’s room standard that you added moulding to? If so, how easy is this to do? I’d love to replicate this in my daughter’s room. We have two store bought bookcases in pink that are stacked on top of each other and just need to be “jazzed up”.
You are amazing! That looks great!
Love it! We just finished a large project like this in our bedroom and I am now about to paint it. Can you tell me what method you use to get a smooth finish with the paint, i.e., brush, roller (if so, what nap), sprayer, etc.? I want as smooth of finish as possible with the least amount of work :) Great job…love your blog!!
I have a quick question regarding the DE boards—do they paint well? Or did you not have to paint them? The people at my Lowes said they wouldn’t paint, the paint would just scratch off. Have you found this to the case?
Thanks!
Hi! I just picked up all the supplies today to add B&B to my den. I wanted to ask though if you mitered any corners 45 degrees or if you just overlapped them? I intend to do the entire room (12 x 12) and am a little confused on that. Also, do you add any battens in the corners or not? How would you deal with off center window for the spacing of the battens? I know, many questions, but I want to “do it right”. Thanks! Edna
In the same general theme of Edna, I was wondering about the spacing of the battens. Where do you start?? It seems they will not be even with all windows on ends, or into all of the corners. There are always doorways and windows to contend with and my room is not an even dimension.
THanks
Denise
I absolutely love this look! I was considering it for my master bedroom, but I’m not sure if I could handle all that caulking. We recently did our laundry room from floor to ceiling in bead board with a LOT of trim and it took abut 4 big tubes of that Dap.
Did you caulk all the seams – even on all the vertical sides of the battens?
Love your board & batten! I would like to replicate your sons’ room, especially the display shelf that is created all around the room. I read back through all your posts with regards to the board and batten, but could not find the length or dimensions of the strips of mdf. From the photos you posted, the height of the board and batten is perfect for my daughter’s room. Can you please tell me the length of the mdf, as well as the total height of the board and batten? I was thinking about going 5 feet high. Which means, if I subtract the top strip, the shelf and the crown molding, that should give me the length of the mdf, correct? Thanks!
Now that it’s been a while since you’ve done this project I wanted to check in on 2 things (before my hubs and I embark on this):
1) how are the white boards holding onto the paint? We have 2 little guys that are going to be kick jumping off these walls and I want to be certain it’s not going to chip. I didn’t see that you sanded the white boards down or anything. Is the paint staying put?
2) did you find that the boards in the middle stick out a smidge since they’re up against panel while the top piece and bottom piece are fixed directly to the wall? I’m wondering why I don’t see a little bit of overhang in your images cause when we hold up the pieces in our home there is definite overhang! HELP!!
THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE IDEA!!!
Hi Amy, the B&B still looks fabulous, no issues with the paint, I did prime it first, it still looks fantastic. If I understand #2, you mean the vertical battens, and they’re flush with the boards – I filled any gaps or imperfections with caulking. Good luck with your project!
Kate