Come along for our DIY Shiplap Wall Tutorial! A few sheets of underlayment, saws, and a nail gun are all we needed to create this beautiful shiplap room for under $100!
My husband usually is on board for any project I ask him to do! This shiplap project was no different. He spent about an hour or two each night working on our sunroom for about a week. I helped as often as I could, but he was the muscle behind this project!
Two more rooms are in the line up after this one, our mudroom and front foyer!
We hung DIY shiplap in our last home one small wall, but I was so excited to finally get to shiplap an entire room! I have spent so much time in this beautiful room overlooking our pond since it has been completed!
We also have the perfect table in here to enjoy a morning cup of coffee or devotional together! This room is now my favorite in the house!
Here are some before photos of our sunroom!
And after!
Let’s dive into the details of the DIY shiplap wall tutorial!
PRELIMINARY STEPS TO CREATING A DIY SHIPLAP WALL
We purchased 7 sheets of underlayment at Home Depot for $14 each and had them cut into 6″ strips.
We used 8″ strips at our last house, but I do prefer the smaller 6″ for an entire room of shiplap walls. But you can use any width, and I think the shiplap will look great!
From each piece of 4ft x 8ft underlayment, we were able to cut 8 pieces of 6″ strips of “shiplap”. The last piece will be a tad bit smaller because of the blade width on the saw. We just used those next to the baseboards where you don’t notice the slight size difference between the shiplap.
UPDATE: My husband did go back for more underlayment for our next DIY shiplap project and the associate only said they could only cut 12″ strips this time. I guess it all depends on who you talk to at the store! This will add an extra step to your project, but is not a huge deal. You will just need to run them through the table saw to get the desired size.
WATCH THE TUTORIAL
TOOLS NEEDED FOR A DIY SHIPLAP WALL
- 4′ x 8′ sheets of underlayment– 1/5″ thickness
- Air compressor
- Nail gun
- 1.25” Nails
- Level
- 3 nickels to use for spacers between your boards
- Tape Measure
- Speed Square
- Miter Saw– to cut boards to length
- Table Saw- only if you don’t get all your shiplap strips cut at the store
- Oscillating Saw to cut out holes for light switches and outlets
THE PROCESS
STEP ONE: PREPARE MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENTS
- Purchase underlayment and have it cut into 6″ strips. Some stores ask you to pay per cut, sometimes its free, and sometime you may have to rip some of the boards at home with a table saw or circular saw. We were very fortunate to find an associate at Home Depot to rip them for us free of charge for this project!
- Using a level, mark studs on the wall so when you begin nailing the shiplap, you know it will be secured into a stud.
STEP TWO: NAIL SHIPLAP TO WALLS
- We like the joints of our shiplap staggered so that they do not all line up perfectly on walls. (See Photo Below) So, beginning on the right side of the wall, my husband cut a random length with the miter saw so that the next row would not line up perfectly with the previous row. This measurement was not precise, he simply cut an 8 foot board to any length desired and nailed it to the wall.
- The next plank of shiplap adjacent to this one was a full 8′ board.
- For the last piece, he measured the board to length to fit the space and cut a board with a miter saw.
- Beginning under that row, we used a full 8′ board. Again, we like our shiplap to NOT look perfectly uniform with staggered joints. You can alter these measurements based on your preferences.
- To keep that “shiplap” look, we used two nickels to keep a uniform gap between the rows of shiplap.
- Continue this process and use oscillating saw to cut around light switches and outlet holes. My husband is very tedious with these measurements and cuts, which is appreciated so much! 🙂
STEP THREE: ADD THE LAST ROW OF SHIPLAP ALONG THE BASEBOARDS
Now depending on if you removed your baseboards or not, this step will vary. We actually removed ours so that our shiplap would be neatly tucked behind the baseboard, but this is not necessary. More than likely this last row will NOT be the perfect 6″ space needed and boards will have to be ripped to fit.
You can use a table saw or circular saw to make these cuts.– Table saw is preferred!
- Measure the width needed to fill the bottom gap. Ours varied per wall because we have so many windows in this room.
- Run the strip of shiplap through table saw or carefully cut with a circular saw. Nail shiplap to wall.
STEP FOUR: PAINT
We had already painted all of the trim on the doors and windows prior to hanging the shiplap walls.
Before hanging this shiplap, I had FULL intentions to paint this entire room of shiplap white. I paint EVERYTHING white!
However, after hanging it, we decided we actually liked the contrast of the wood and white and are leaving it as is for now.
I am considering painting a white accent wall on the large wall opposite the windows, but we will see!
I couldn’t be happier with the way this room turned out and have enjoyed redecorating it and spending time in here!
FAQs
HOW MUCH DOES REAL SHIPLAP COST?
I have not actually priced it myself, because I knew it would be WAYYYY out of our renovation budget for this house. From a quick google search, I found that real tongue and groove shiplap is around $8-$9 per board!
We only paid only $14 per sheet of underlayment and got 8 strips of shiplap cut from this. That’s only $1.75 per board! What an astronomical price difference for DIY Shiplap!
CAN SHIPLAP BE HUNG OVER ANY WALL SURFACE?
YES! That’s why I love this DIY project so much! In this room, we hung the DIY shiplap over existing plywood walls. However, at our last home, we hung the shiplap over sheetrock. I cannot emphasize how much change this shiplap adds to a room for such a low price point!
This room still has a few more updates so these photos do not represent the completely finished look! We will be adding crown molding to cover a few imperfections, adding new french doors in place of the sliding doors, and a new door leading into our mudroom! Project by project, we are slowly starting to see changes in this house!
