Wainscoting tutorial

I have had several people want me to do a tutorial for my wainscoting in my bedroom and I aim to please so here it is!

I went to Lowes and purchased a  sheet of MDF Sheets 1/2 inch thick x 4 feet x 8 feet. I had the cool guys cut it into strips for me after we figured that we could get 27,  3.5 inch wide slats from the board. They give you the first 5 cuts free then charge 25 cents per cut. The whole thing cost under $39. I then came home and painted my wall white with my trusty paint sprayer I also got at Lowes. 

Tip: The sides of the slats are a little sharp and rough so it is a good idea to give them a quick sanding. I have 1/4 inch molding (baseboards) on the bottom and didn't want to replace it for thicker so I used my saw to cut my slat bottoms at an angle like this.. Then sanded it smooth.

 One of my slats hit right on my outlet so this is how I cut around it. It is behind the bed so we will never see it.

 One of the thing that will help your wainscotting look fantastic is a goo calk job. I love this stuff.

Big Stretch make sure you get the paintable kind, very important!

 

I used my finger to go down all the sides, top of each board and holes from my nails. just keep a bowl of water and a paper towel to wipe your finger clean.

Before calk

After calking it.

 Okay don't laugh but when I painted I measured (or thought I measured up four feet) um as you can see I am a little short! I swear I have lost major brain cells after having four kiddos :/ Oh well, it was not something I couldn't fix.

I used my nail gun to nail up the first board then used my handy paint stick (14 inches long) to place in between the boards so they would be evenly spaced, real technical I know, I know. But it worked like a charm. Once I had a few boards nail up I did the top slat and kept going till I hit the end of my wall.

This is it, all boards in place ready for calking and a little sanding. I gave it two coats of paint in a bright Semi Gloss White.

 The finished product!

 The wainscoting is 4 feet tall not including the baseboards that were already there. Mine are about 4 inches tall. Total is 4 feet 4 inches tall.

Let me know if you have any questions.
You can comment or email me  @ lindsayga@msn.com