DIY Shiplap Wall.

Tools needed
-Brad nailer
-Small compressor
-Caulk gun
-Circular saw
-Sander

Materials
-Liquid nails
-brad nails
-4×8 1/4” underlayment 5-7 sheets depending on size of wall.

If Whitewashing:
-paint
-paint roller
-paint tray
-water
-mixing cup for paint and water

If Staining:
-Stain with polyurethane pre-mixed in
-Stain brush

Step One

Measure your wall and calculate how many square feet of wood you will need to cover the wall. Example; if your wall is 8’ tall and 20’ across then you would need to multiply 8×20=160sqft. One sheet of plywood is 32 sq ft. Then you divide your room size by 32 sq ft 160/32=5. So for this size wall you will need six sheets of plywood to cover the entire wall.

Step Two

The biggest part of doing this job is finding someone at Lowe’s or Home Depot that will cut the wood for you. We got lucky enough to find a guy at Lowe’s that could rip “cut longway” the sheets of 1/4” plywood to 8”. It was super helpful, especially with how much wood we were purchasing and planning to cut at home; it made it alot easier for us. I wish you the same luck we had!

Step Three

Now that you have all of your fresh cut lumber at your house you need to find a big open space to lay each piece out so that you can easily sand and paint them with a paint roller. We used our garage for this step. I used an orbital sander for this project and just laid them all right up against each other while I sat on the ground and sanded until smooth (you can see what difference sanding does my picture below- red circled board is not sanded yet). I wanted them white washed for the bedroom; so I took 1 part paint with 1/2 part water and mixed until I was happy with the white wash effect. I then used the roller to paint it on every board. It does not have to be perfect if you are going for the same white wash look I went for. For the bathroom- I used stain and a stain brush and I had to do two layers-since I used black. After they are dry, you can move to the next step!

Step Four

Start at the bottom of the wall and work your way up. We recommend measuring twice and cutting once. Use liquid nails adhesive on the back of each piece as you go. It’s helpful to have someone that can hold the boards in place while you use the brad nailer to fasten them to the wall. You will have to cut the last board for every row to make them fit. Make sure you are using the scrap boards along the way, it will make it look more rustic in the end.