DIY Board and Batten | ORC Week 2

Go beyond the standard painting and update your bedroom with these easy to follow tips for DIY Board and Batten.

We’ve officially got one week under our belt for the One Room Challenge. Things are definitely moving along, although I was really hoping to be done with painting this week too but we got held up doing some plaster repair. (If you are just tuning in you can also head back to week 1 and start from the beginning.)

I shared some of the plaster issues on my stories, but basically we had quite a bit of damage in this room. This house was built before electricity was installed so when they did install the wiring for this room someone just cut a channel all the way around the room just above the baseboards. The walls are already old so matching the plaster would’ve been difficult and we didn’t want to hire out this particular project. Since it’s just a cosmetic issue and nothing structural we decided to repair it best we could and add a wall treatment (which I wanted anyways).

You can see the before photos in my week 1 post.

Let’s talk about this board and batten. I know there are like a million and one tutorials on this project, but we did end up doing things a little different, so I’ll just share the products we used and the decisions we made.

Supplies:

• Baseboards
• Top Rail
• Vertical Boards (Battens – we used a 2 1/4″ wide x 5/8″ deep trim piece)
• Underlayment (used on the walls)
• Finish Nailer & Nails
• Liquid Nails (optional)
• Wood Filler (my new favorite brand!!)
• Putty Knife
• Orbital Sander 
• Corner Sander
• Jig Saw
• Miter Saw

DIY Board and Batten

Just a little side note… I didn’t actually take progress pictures along the way, so the pictures below are just close ups of what I’m talking about ; )

Add Baseboards

We installed new baseboards first. I would have loved to keep the original baseboards, but they were in very poor condition and didn’t match behind where that makeshift closet was. And since we decided to go with board and batten in this room it just made sense to replace all the baseboards.

Attach Underlayment to Wall

To get started we did complete our plaster repairs behind where the board and batten would go. And because the walls aren’t in the best shape, we decided to use sheets of underlayment behind the battens vs how a lot of other people do it and just paint the wall to match the trim. To apply the underlayment you can use liquid nails in combination with a finish nailer, or just use the nails. If you’re using just the nails it is extra important to make sure you are hitting studs.

Make sure your sheets of plywood are flush though because the seam might not end up behind a batten and you will want to use wood filler to hide that seam.

(This picture below shows where we removed the closet. You can see where exactly it was based on the paint. It was literally just a poorly constructed plywood box, luckily the floor wasn’t damaged!)

Attach Top Rail & Battens

Once the underlayment is in place it’s time to attach the top rail and battens. The top rail goes on first, just attach that across the top of the plywood, but make sure it is level… you can always fill any gaps between the rail and the underlayment with wood filler or caulk.

We ended up spacing the battens 16″. Tip… cut a spacer that’s 16″ to make sure everything is consistent.

An important tip if you end up doing things the way we did. You have to make sure your battens are a little thinner because they sit in front of the underlayment, otherwise the battens will stick out past your baseboards.

Wood Filler for Days

Now it’s time to fill all the seams, nail holes, and any damage you might have accidentally caused. I shared a link to my new favorite brand in the supply list. I don’t know why, but I just love it! It goes on great and is suggested by a lot of contractors!

Once it’s all dry, time to sand it all down and make it smooth and pretty!

Then it’s al ready to paint!! Obviously I haven’t made it to this step yet, but I’m working on it this week for sure!!

Board and Batten Tutorial

Pink Paint Color: Behr  – Rosewater
White Paint Color: Behr – Swiss Coffee

Here’s a timeline of what I hope to share with you through the next 6 weeks, so make sure to check back next week, or you can sign up for my emails here so you don’t miss out on the posts!

• Week 1: Design Plans 

• Week 2: THIS WEEK

• Week 3: Paint

• Week 4: Pink Board and Batten

• Week 5: Refinished Wood Floors

• Week 6: Full Reveal

And a full list of our progress and the things we have accomplished… I’ve got a ways to go and I’m sure the last 2 weeks will be completed without sleep, but hey… It’s going to get done and that’s my goal!!

• Remove Closet
• Refinish Floors
• Add Board and Batten
• Paint Board and Batten
• Paint Walls
• Paint Trim and Door
• Change Light
• Decorate