Easy DIY Board & Batten Wainscoting
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Hi friends! This week I’m going to give ya’ll the tutorial for how I did my easy board and batten in my dining area. I’m not kidding you guys, it was so easy, and I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner! It adds so much character to my house and was super affordable too! Below are the materials you’ll need. Obviously amount of wood varies based on the size room you are doing. I bought 8ft primed boards that we’re the perfect length since I was cutting 30in for the vertical slats. I also opted for primed wood because it saved me from having to do 3 coats of white paint. (Raw wood takes a lot of paint to cover it)
Materials
1x4x8 Primed Pine Wood (this the horizontal railing)
1x3x8 Primed Pine Wood (these are the vertical slats)
White Paint (I used Behr Snowy Pine)
Tools
Tape Measure
Cut your Vertical Slats
You’ll use the 1x3s for the vertical slats of the wainscoting. I decided to do wainscoting about ⅓ of my walls and I have 8ft ceilings so I did 30 in for each piece. This may change for you depending on your ceiling height or how high you want it, but ⅓ is pretty standard if you want it at chair height. I decided to cut my vertical slats as I went because I wasn’t sure how many I would need. A miter saw is the best tool to use to ensure you get a straight edge for each piece.
2. Attach Vertical Slats to Wall
I spaced my boards 12 inches apart. I got kinda lucky with my spacing because it fit the wall, but you want to lay out your boards and see that your spacing works with the length of your wall. Some spots I had to fudge it an inch or so to evenly space them out on the wall. I then put some liquid nails on the board and also used my brad nailer to attach the vertical boards to the wall. You’ll do this all the way around.
3. Attach Horizontal Railing
Next I cut the horizontal railing. You’ll see in my kitchen the walls are pretty broken up with a doorway and 2 windows, so I just measured each section and cut to size. Then used liquid nails and a brand nails to attach to on top of the vertical slats. You may run into issues of your walls not being completely square like mine. This is where the brad nailer is helpful and help bend the wood a little bit. This is where caulk will be your best friend too.
4. Fill in all the nail holes and caulk!
This is the part where things really start to come together! I filled in all the nail holes with spackles, let that dry and then sanded it down. Then you will want to caulk all the seems where the wood meets the wall. This step is super important because it’s what gives it the “built-in” look. I caulked every seem possible.
You can see in this pictures all the cracks and seams before it’s been spackled and caulked.
5. Paint!
Once you’ve caulked everything and it’s dry, it’s time to paint! I would tape off the top of the horizontal railing, but otherwise just go to town painting it all white! And that’s it! You’re done! I finished the build in just a day, and painted the next day, so it’s a super easy project if you’re doing a small area.
