DIY Board and Batten with Hot Glue

In case you missed it, we've been following a young couple on their journey of rehabbing a historic mansion in small town Indiana. Christian and Dea Rust are doing their best to restore the home while updating it to make it functional for their lifestyle today. The home was built in 1871 and poses many challenges that require some pretty genius solutions. This requires flexibility and a little creativity in order to work with what they have as much as possible. The latest room we are getting a peek into is this kids Woodland themed room. The couple added board and batten to the walls and ran into a little issue while they were trying to incorporate the existing trim into their design. Come see the solution they came up with and how you can DIY board and batten in your own space. I was a little surprised at the solution they came up with. I had no idea such a thing even existed!

DIY Board and Batten with Hot Glue

This room that would become the kids room had some amazing trim already in place. The homeowners wanted to use the existing trim as they incorporated board and batten into the room.

There was just one little issue. The baseboard trim wasn't very wide and the couple had to come up with a solution that would enable them to secure the board and batten to the walls without using screws or nails. The baseboard trim was only a quarter of an inch thick and the walls are made of plaster on top of brick walls. 

The couple found vertical boards that would work with the width of the trim and laid those out taking into consideration the spacing. The walls were marked to eye ball the proper spacing and make sure it was the right spacing they were looking for.

Dea tried several different construction adhesive's and finally found a construction grade hot glue gun that worked like a charm to adhere the boards to the wall. Who knew?

The couple glued the vertical boards to the wall using consistent spacing between each board.

Horizontal boards were then cut to fit just above the vertical boards to cap them off. The hot glue does require some pressure as you put them into place.

More trim detail was added to the top of the board and batten.

Caulk is then used to fill in the gaps between the boards and the walls. Remember, walls in an old home are notoriously uneven, so some may require more caulk to fill in than others.

Sand and fill in any remaining gaps in the trim and prep it for painting.

The trim was painted using a brush but because the plan was to add wallpaper above the board and batten, there was no need to be too careful during painting.

The HomeRight Finish Max paint sprayer is perfect for this project. It gives good even coverage and paints on a thin even coat that dries quickly.

As you can see, it's starting to come together and it looks like a natural addition to the room fitting in with the existing trim.

Come back tomorrow as we finish off the details of this DIY kids woodland bedroom.

disclaimer: this post may have affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing through them, I may receive a small commission. These small purchases help me to continue to keep writing content and creating at Rachel Teodoro. Thank you!