Board & Batten Staircase

I’ve been sitting on the idea of doing some sort of textured/architectural feature (board & batten, wainscoting, etc) on the side of my staircase for some time now. After finally tackling my mauve living room, it seemed like the right time to JUST DO IT.

I did some research and took ideas from Young House Love and Abbots at Home. The common denominator between these two was using lattice instead of the traditional 1x2s. – it’s an easy way to avoid ripping off the baseboards.

All in all, this project was much faster and easier than I anticipated and only cost me about $60!

Quick History

When I told people I was thinking about doing Board & Batten, I got a lot of quizzical looks – to which I responded “it’s like wainscoting, but more Scandinavian and not as faaancy”. After getting so many questions about it I figure I’d give a quick history of the style!

Already popular in Sweden, Norway and England, Board & Batten was initially an exterior siding style. If you picture a cabin, there is a space between the boards, so on top of that seam, a batten (or a skinnier piece of wood) would be fastened on top. This trend took off in the US as frontiersmen preferred it over log cabins.

I have no idea how this became popular in homes’ interiors. I don’t want to ramble on about the history because that is not the point of this blog! Feel free to do your own research and comment below!

Anyway…

Planning

I think I went the most roundabout way to plan and before I went to Lowe’s to buy the wood; First, I used the markup feature on my phone to visually get an idea of how I wanted the battens to look. There are so many different styles – grid, partial grid, only verticals – that I played around with different designs on my phone until I got something I was happy with.

After that, I used some painter’s tape that I already had laying around to mark somewhat more technically on the wall where the boards would go (however, remember the lattice will be wider than the tape, so these still aren’t the final measurements. I essentially ended up with 19″ squares, which would become 18″ once I got the boards up.

From here, I calculated how many feet of tape I had up on the wall, rounded up to 8 feet (which is one of the sizes they come in) and added one extra board to be safe. You can probably get more specific here but I think that would involve more calculating which boards to cut into which pieces, etc. I’m too lazy to do that and opted for buying an extra board.

I also picked up Liquid Nails and a small box of 1 1/2 inch finishing nails.

Supplies

Below is a list of everything I used, most of which I had on hand.

• Hammer
• Finishing Nails – 1 1/2 inch
• Lattice Strips – I bought eight 8′ strips and two 10′ strips
• Measuring tape
• Level
• Miter box
• Liquid Nails
• Sandpaper
• White paint – I used leftover SW 7005 Pure White in a semi-gloss finish; which is the same color I painted my bookcases and open kitchen shelving.
• Standard paint brush & cutting in brush.

Attaching the Boards

Once I got back from Lowe’s and had all of my supplies laid out, I decided to start with the vertical boards, beginning with the tallest. I had to trim it down just a little and then attached it to the wall using the following steps:

• Put the board in place, make sure the board is level, and mark both sides. I like to make sure that I mark the wall AND the board, so it’s easier to line up.

• Add a squiggle of liquid nails, and attach to the wall using your marks, adjusting again with the level
• Hammer (or nail gun) in however many nails you feel like is necessary to keep the wood from bowing.

** Tip: YHL suggested letting the wood sit and acclimate in the house for a few days, which I did not do because I am impatient. But this is probably a good idea.

From here, still only doing the vertical boards, I went from the longest pieces to the shortest, because in my brain, mathematically that saves the most wood – I’m not sure if that’s true.

I measured 18″ from the center lattice boards working outward. Repeat the same steps and be sure to double check with the measuring tape that your boards are evenly spaced. And don’t forget, are you measuring inside to inside? Middle to middle? Outside to outside? etc.

Once I had all of the vertical lattice boards placed, I started working on the horizontal boards. This went a bit faster because they all technically should be 18″.

Along the Stairs

This is where the mitre box comes in. This is how I used it to cut my pieces, and I almost guarantee I’m using it wrong, but this is what I did:

• I marked the lattice board at the top and at the bottom, where it hit the stairs.
• Using a straight edge, connected the dots across the lattice.
• I lined it up in the mitre box with the angle that “fit” the best, and locked it into place with the peg thingys.

• from here, I placed the saw in the mitre box and cut the angle the best I could. Some of these came out almost perfect and some were a bit off. The good thing is that I just filled in the gaps with spackle later.

Finishing up

If you want to indulge in this fun custom, be sure to leave a note and some money (or a trinket!) in the wall for some homeowner to find years from now.

After getting all the wood set and glued, I went in and used the liquid nails as spackle to fill in all the gaps. You can also use regular spackle. I’m lazy.

Then, I used Sherwin Williams 7005 Pure White to do three coats of paint (you can also do one layer of primer, which would probably save on paint). And that’s it!

I got this done in a weekend, including a break for the trip to Lowe’s, a friend’s cookout, and plenty of time to spare. Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments!