DIY Board and Batten Accent Wall: The Easiest Method

Time needed: 2 days

Follow the steps below to learn how to install a DIY board and batten accent wall.

1. Decide on the height of your top board

   There is no magic formula for this. I simply looked at the wall and marked how high I wanted the top of our board and batten accent wall to be. I knew I wanted it to be roughly 2/3 the height of our doors. For us, that magic number was 58″ from the floor. But the height you choose is absolutely personal preference.
   
   I then used a level to mark a line 57″ from the floor around the space so I would know where to stop painting (more on that next).
   
   

2. Decide on the size of your horizontal pieces & batten pieces

   Again, a lot of this comes down to personal preference. But I would say that generally, I recommend making your top horizontal trim pieces narrower than your baseboards, but thicker than your battens. You can see the measurements we decided on below.
   
   

3. Paint

   I highly recommend painting your walls AND plywood ahead of time. You can absolutely wait to paint everything until after it is installed, but your paint job won't look nearly as clean and professional, in my opinion.
   
   I painted the walls where the battens would later be installed, up to the line I mentioned in step 1. I didn't try to make the paint line neat and tidy since I knew it would be covered by the horizontal trim pieces.
   
   I also painted the sheets of 1/4″ plywood with a paint roller before we cut them to size.

4. Rip your plywood down to size

   Ripping refers to cutting the wood along its grain for a lengthwise cut. This type of cut is easy to make, so don't be intimidated! All you need is a circular saw and rip-cut Circular Saw Guide. It took us less than 10 minutes to make all of our rip cuts. And I promise it's not scary, even if you are a beginner! After we ripped all of our horizontal pieces, we cut them to the correct lengths using our miter saw. Then we moved on to step 5.
   
   IMPORTANT NOTE: To avoid “tear out” and splintering from your saw, rip your wood with the good side facing DOWN. But trim it to length with your miter saw with the good side facing up.
   
   
   

5. Install your horizontal pieces

   Next, you want to set your laser level to mark where you will be placing the top of your horizontal pieces. Use your pin nailer/brad nailer to secure them to the wall. This will cover your messy paint line :)
   
   Note that we did not use Liquid Nails or any type of construction adhesive because it's really not necessary for 1/4″ plywood (the individual pieces aren't very heavy) and if we ever want to remove the board and batten years from now, using only pin nails will minimize any damage to the drywall. Since the wood pieces aren't very heavy, you don't need to be overly concerned about nailing into a stud or studs. We used a criss-cross nailing pattern for added strength.
   
   

6. Decide on the layout for your vertical pieces/battens

   This is BY FAR the most difficult part of this project. And we approached it a bit differently than most people because we were installing our board and batten in a hallway.
   
   Common spacing between battens is anywhere between 12″ – 20″. You need to know roughly how far apart you'd like your battens to be. I was aiming for around 18 inches between battens.
   
   If you are working in a room with long walls that aren't interrupted by lots of doors, you can most likely use the same formula for your entire wall/room.
   
   Here's the problem with using a single “formula” in a hallway…. Because you are going to have so many doors interrupting your wall space, if you try to use the exact same batten spacing between your doors, you will wind up with battens in weird places.
   
   We avoided that problem by treating each section of wall between doorways as independent when doing the math. I highly recommend doing this if you are installing board and batten in a hallway as well.

7. The Spacing Formula

   For each section, we measured the length of the wall space and divided it by 18″ (since that was our desired spacing).
   
   We then rounded up or down to the nearest whole number to determine the number of SPACES we would have on the wall.
   
   Subtract 1 to determine the number of battens.
   
   Then multiply the result by 4 (the width of the battens).
   
   We then subtracted that number from the length of the wall and divided it by the number wall spaces.
   
   I've written out an entire example and created a graphic for you below. Don't panic.
   For each section, we measured the length of the wall space and divided it by 18″ (since that was our desired spacing).
   
   We then rounded up or down to the nearest whole number to determine the number of SPACES we would have on the wall.
   
   Subtract 1 to determine the number of battens.
   
   Then multiply the result by 4 (the width of the battens).
   
   We then subtracted that number from the length of the wall and divided it by the number ofwall spaces.
   
   I've written out an entire example and created a graphic for you below. Don't panic.
   •Wall = 77 inches wide
   •77 inches ÷ 18 inches (desired spacing) = 4.2 (round down to 4) –> this determines the number of “spaces” you will have on your wall.
   •4 (number of spaces on wall) -1 = 3 —> this is the number of battens you will have
   •3 battens x 4 inches (width of battens) = 12 inches of total batten width
   •77 inches (wall width) – 12 inches of total batten width = 65 inches of wall space that will NOT be covered by battens
   •65 (wall space not covered by battens) ÷ 4 (number of wall spaces) = 16.25 inches —> space between battens from edge to edge
   
   
   
   So that means we didn't end up with 18-inch spacing on this wall, but that is OKAY!!!!! I just didn't want a span larger than 20 inches.
   
   We repeated this formula for each section of wall. We got as close as we could to 18-inch spacing between battens in each section of wall.
   
   Because we treated each wall independently, the spacing between battens is slightly different from wall to wall. But it's NOTHING the naked eye will ever notice!
   
   This is far preferable to following an exact formula and winding up with a batten right next to a door frame. Or a batten 6 inches before a wall ends. We wanted each board and batten section to look nice and symmetrical and this was the best way to do it!

8. Install your vertical pieces/battens

   Measure the length of each vertical batten one at a time. Unless your house is MAGIC, your floors/baseboard may not be perfectly level. Because your top horizontal board WAS installed perfectly level, the length of your battens may vary slightly.
   
   We found it helpful to tape our battens into place and double-check our measurements BEFORE nailing them into place.
   
   Use your pin nailer to attach your vertical boards/battens to the wall. Be sure to check for level as you nail them into place! If you are doing this by yourself, put one nail in the middle, make sure it’s level, and then nail up and down the board.
   
   

9. Fill nail holes, caulk and touch-up paint

   The hard part is over! All you need to do now is fill all of your nail holes with DAP Plastic Wood-X. Then let it dry and sand it smooth.
   
   You also want to caulk all of your edges and seams with DAP Alex Plus Caulk. To caulk, run a small bead of caulk where the trim pieces meet your wall and smooth the bead of caulk down with your finger. Keep a very wet rag with you so you can clean your finger between swipes.
   
   
   
   Once you've filled all your nail holes and caulked, paint over your wood filler and caulk lines. And do any other paint touch up that may be needed. These are the finishing details that will make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the world! Don't believe me? Check out the before and after below. If you want your board and batten to look professional, don’t skip this step.