DIY Board and Batten: Part 2, The Dining Room

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Today we are going over DIY Board and Batten in the Dining Room. After doing Board and Batten in the Stairwell I realized this was going to be quite a large project. Let’s just say it did not disappoint! But man, what a difference it has made in the room. I think it looks FABULOUS!

I have to laugh when I go back to my original post on the dining room renovation, I thought I would have the room done by Valentines day! 😂😂😂

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo……like what was I thinking!

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Here is what we have accomplished so far…

First I refinished my dining table, I sanded it and stained it a gray finish mimicking the floors.

Then I refinished all the chairs in the room.  I re-stained the antique chairs and painted the ugly orange oak chairs.

Then I did the Board and Batten!

How to DIY Board and Batten

I used 1/2 inch MDF instead of 1X4’s.  The reason I did this is that when I held up a 1X4 it stuck out from the baseboards about 1/4 inch….that really bothered me.  Also, I saved a ton of money by using MDF, probably about $200.

Home Depot will rip boards down for you but depending on the day of the week, your store and your salesperson they all have different requirements.  I got frustrated and decided to buy a table saw because the guy wouldn’t rip them down any smaller than 12 inches.  Even though a month earlier another guy ripped the boards to 4 inches.  😐

I thought a table saw would have been much more expensive, I was pleasantly surprised that they also had the one I wanted on clearance!

My husband and I ripped the top board to 6 inches and all the rest at 4 inches.  This was after I drew on the walls where I wanted the boards to go and how I wanted the vertical boards spaced.  I am a visual person so this was necessary to know how many boards I was going to need.

Materials Used

2 sheets of MDF plus what was left over from the stairwell box molding

3 tubes of caulk

wood putty

White paint

Painters tape

2 tubes liquid nails

top molding – I used 1/2 inch by 1 inch

Miter saw

Table saw

nail gun and nails

level

The process of putting up the wood

After ripping down the boards I started with my 6 inch boards for the top rail.  First I put liquid nails on the back then my husband held up the board and I checked for level.  Once it was level I nailed it in place.  Continue on for the whole room.

Then I went to where I had marked the vertical boards and measured each one for length, cut the board and using the same process as the top board nailed them in place all around the room.

We were able to make it all the way around the room without hitting any outlets except here.  This is behind the piano so we did the easy thing and just stopped the wood, then restored it below.  you can cut it out but with the outlet taking up almost the whole board this just made more sense.  Plus no one will ever see it behind the piano.

I knew I wanted the vertical boards 16 inches apart so I cut a spacer and used it to make sure all the vertical boards were the same distance apart….gotta give credit for that one to my hubby.  Totally his idea and a great one!

Once all the vertical boards were in place I started on the second row of horizontal boards. I measured each one because the better the fit the less wood putty would be needed.  And a lot of times they would be 16 1/8 inch or maybe 15 5/8.  Sometimes you make minor adjustments when checking for level.  It’s the human error piece I guess!

Now time for the crown!  I added a piece of decorative molding at the top, I chose a piece that is 1/2 inch by 1 inch and it is a little bit rounded on the top edge.  I have seen people use a 1X2 inch piece and also do another decorative piece, like a crown molding look, between the 6 inch board and top piece.  It’s totally up to you!

How we did the corners

There were two corners in the room where we wanted to have the wood even on both walls.  So we used our new table saw and angled the blade to do a 45 degree rip all the way down the length of the board.  So we basically mitered the length of the boards together.

You can also see here on the wall where I drew out where I wanted the wood to go on the wall.  This helped me know how much wood I needed to purchase.

Once the wood is up

Once you get all the wood up it’s time to step back and take a deep breath!  You did good work!!!  There are three really time consuming and exhausting parts and you just finished the first one.  Good for you!

Next comes putty and caulk.  This is the next tough part, the caulking.  You want to putty the nail holes and the seams where the wood buts up against each other.  Where the wood meets the wall and between the 6 inch board and the top piece of finish molding you want to caulk there too.

My husband was in charge of putty, he basically fired me from doing it ever again! 😂  Apparently I am messy!  So I focused on caulk.

At this point you need to marvel at all the hard work!  You just gave your molding chicken pox!!!!  LOL, that’s kind of what it looks like.

Once the caulk is dry sand the wood putty smooth then clean it up.  And it’s time to paint!

I used the same paint for the dining room as I did for the stairwell.  This paint is a little thicker and tougher, it doesn’t ding as easy.

I painted all the board and batten as well as the existing trim on the baseboards, windows and door frame.  Here is the finished product!

What’s left to do in the room…

It looks amazing but not nearly finished, I agree with you.  So here is what is left to do:

1.  Refinish the buffet
2. Hang curtains
3. Buy a rug
4. Hang wall decor
5. Maybe, do something with the piano….jury is still out on that.

As you can see there is a bit left to do but I would say that the majority is done, definitely past the halfway point!

This was a big project, not something you can do in one weekend but definitely something that can be done over a few weekends.  It wasn’t hard really, just time consuming because of the size of the room.  If you were just doing an accent wall, definitely something you can do in a weekend.

Have you ever considered doing something like this?  If so what room would you do it in?  Please let me know in the comments!