Board & Batten on a Budget

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Board and Batten is a great way to give a new place a classic and timeless look. But, it can get a bit expensive. By using a thin underlayment instead of heavier lumber or boards, we achieved this fun look on a very tight shoe string budget. See the tutorial below!

In the summer of 2011, we did our first board and batten project in our hallway bathroom. You can see the post on that here. While it was a nice project and still looks great, it was a bit pricey (we used the Cadillac of lumber...apparently). And, it was very labor intensive. We did things completely different this time...and LOVED the result (and our pocketbooks are super happy, too). See our complete step-by-step tutorial below.

Board & Batten for Less than $30 

This is actually the first of several posts over our younger son's bedroom makeover.

He's ready to leave that alphabet quilt in the dust. 

And it was toy overload. I think we outgrew that little bookshelf about three birthday party hauls ago.

How to Create the Board and Batten Look for Less

Supplies:

• underlayment boards, cut to space (more on that below)
• sandpaper in a variety of grits
• Liquid Nails
• finishing nails
• paintable caulk
• paint
• You'll also need standard tools: hammer, nail punch, saw, etc.

The trick to making this project cheap:

We did NOT use the 1x4 boards like in our bathroom...I wanted a board & batten that was practically flush to the wall in Jonathan's room. I didn't want to worry about having to restrict where we'd hang artwork or place a headboard. I wanted to be able to hang pieces on top of the board and batten...from the wall above. And technically, most of us DIY board & batten folks aren't creating true board & batten...which is a siding style in which boards cover seams to create the board and batten pattern that we've all fallen in love with. 

• After chatting with our Home Depot guy, we arrived at: 5 MM 4x8 Underlayment (technically....insulation, if you will). But, it worked wonderfully for this. It took paint, it cut well and nailed flush to the wall. It did require more sanding...but that was a bridge we were willing to cross. 

Since these were 4'x8' sheets, we had Home Depot cut them down into strips for us (we used two sheets total). This was a HUGE time saver...and it's free, so why not take advantage of this delightful cutting service? 

• Our boards were cut into five foot lengths (that's how tall we wanted them).
• And then they were cut four inches wide. 
• In the three-foot sections that were "leftover", we had Gus (our awesome and patient Home Depot guy) cut them into four-inch strips, too. Then we used the shorter strips for the horizontal pieces. We didn't waste any of it!

These were what the strips looked like once cut. And here's the bar code if you're looking for this product.

Directions:

• There was LOTS of sanding to get these smooth...they were quite rough when we started. This was the trade off in using cheaper materials.
• I started with a course sand paper and worked my way down to a finer grit...this definitely took some time, but it's worth it.

• We used a vertical board as a guide to figure out where to place the top horizontal board.
• We pre-painted the top of the wall to make it easier.
• This blue is Twilight Chimes (#560F-7) from Behr.

• We also pre-painted the top horizontal boards before nailing them in place...to avoid having to cut in later on. This was also a major time saver.

And then we painted the bottom portion of the walls with Behr's Frost (swatch #1857).

• The first boards to go up were those pre-painted horizontal boards...around the entire room.
• We again just used a vertical board and the level to put them in place. 
• Then used a dab of Liquid Nails and finishing nails to get it in place.

• Then we started in on the vertical boards. Since we were doing the entire room (all four walls), we spaced them 18-inches apart (from the farthest side of the previous board). 
• Again, Liquid Nails, followed by finishing nails.

We used a nail punch to sink all the nails (pictured above). This is important for a smooth end result.

• Once a nail is sunk, you can fill it with putty, smooth and sand and then paint for a flawless finish.
• It looks tidier than having random nail heads everywhere. Plus, it's a lot smoother to the touch.

• Since we didn't have Home Depot cut our smaller horizontal slats (they weren't all perfectly the same sizes since we turned corners, etc.), we did pull in our miter saw to cut those.
• I'm proud to say that I did all the cutting by myself on those.

• The horizontal cross strips were just an extra touch to give the project a bit more dimension. 
• You can skip this step if you prefer (or if you're worn out!).

• I cut a template board (pictured above) so each horizontal board would be spaced from the top bar the same as the next.
• It's not actually attached here...just wedged so it stuck!

Once all of the horizontal boards were Liquid Nailed & finish nailed into place (and the nails were sunk)...then the fun really began.

• Filling. Ohhhh....filling. Such a necessary evil. I stayed up until 3 a.m. one night to just knock it out. It was pure misery. It's just an absolutely mundane task that has to be done. 
• Don't skip this step just because it's so utterly annoying...it definitely adds a lot to the look of the finished product. In fact, the project would look quite unfinished without the filling step.

• I use both spackle (or DryDex) for the nail holes and then paintable caulk (pictured above( for the spaces where the boards meet the walls. I like to use these tubes versus the caulk gun because I feel like this gives me a bit more control. 
• I also prefer the paintable caulk with latex instead of just clear silicone. The clear silicone dries clear and often times, I end up re-caulking the same spot because it's clear and I can't see it. But the kind with latex dries white...making it easier to see.

• I like to pay special attention to the corners when filling...just to get that seamless look.

• After it's all caulked and filled, I went over everything with sandpaper one more time...just to get a smooth finish. 
• I used a wet cloth (sometimes I use tack cloth...but I got lazy after the 3 am caulking party for one) to clean up all the sawdust. 

Then...paint the board and batten!

Annnnnnnnd.....done.

• This is a really cost-effective project with big impact. 
• The $30 up front cost (in 2013, keep that in mind) did not include the paint on this project...just the components of the actual board and batten (caulk, nails and underlayment). 
• We had sandpaper and putty already on hand. We actually had the white paint also (and all of our painting tools/drop cloths on hand)...so we only had to purchase one gallon of the navy paint in addition to the board and batten stuff. Even with our navy paint purchase, the grand total was still less than $50. 

UPDATE 02.10.15:

Here is what the room currently looks like. See all of its fun details here.

More DIY Projects 

• I love this tutorial from Family Handyman for How to Add Glass to Cabinet Doors. I've always loved that look!
• My DIY Crate Tutorial is my #1 tutorial here on the blog (it's also an oldie from 2012). These are so fun for storage in a small space.
• And our DIY Bathroom Floating Shelves are a great project for any skill level.
• I really love this DIY Floating Ladder Shelf from Annika's DIY Life.
• If you have open soffits in your kitchen, this tutorial for How to Enclose the Space Above Cabinets from Simply 2 Moms is a great one to keep on hand.