Easy Peasy Cladding

One of the projects I have received a lot of compliments for recently is the cladding I did in my latest renovation. The thing is, its easier than a lot of people realise.

The room itself was a bathroom that had originally been a tiny bathroom and a small bedroom that we reconverted back to a decent sized bathroom and a small office. The large bathroom was half tiled on every wall so when the tiles were removed, the walls behind were badly damaged and in need of either reskimming or cladding. I chose to clad them as 1, I am terrible and plastering and 2, I strongly dislike blank white rooms and 3, believed the cladding would add character and interest. My little helpers joined me for this project, Noah helping carry and fetch the wood strips and Isla was in the sling on my back, sleeping whenever a power tool was turned on.

As the walls were so damaged, we glued 3mm Fibreboard to the walls using grab adhesive to give a smooth flat starting point. If your walls are sound this wouldn’t be necessary. We just used the boards whole to make it simpler and it set the level around the room for the detailing. Next, we used a circular saw to cut the 9mm MDF into 100mm strips. We used the edge guide for the circular saw which in hind sight was a mistake. When one cut went slightly wonky it compounded on the next one, and the one after that and the one after that until we had to restart from the other side of the board. A plunge saw on a guide rail would’ve given a straighter cut or a large table saw would have been the best option but sadly I did not have either. Some builders merchant will cut wood for you into whatever size you need so if you aren’t confident using saws then that is a good option. Another is to use pre-cut strip wood such as PSE. This would mean you would only need to cut the wood to the lengths required.

Once all the wood was cut, I tried a few different designs before deciding on the 3 square layout. I was advised to use a spray adhesive by a friend but it didn’t hold. Even when nailed using a nail gun (again another mistake but more on that later) it was only the nails which kept it attached. A grab adhesive worked far better and held without any other forms of fixings. First, I installed the uprights then levelled the horizontals and secured them in place before adding another upright. We used nails to hold them in place until the glue dried (again not actually necessary when using grab adhesive but you learn something new every day). At the corners, depending on where the upright fell, I either wrapped them around the corner or cut the horizontals short and put the upright at the corner. Once all the wood was glued and tacked into place, I left it to dry for a few days.

When I came back to it, I tried to remove the nails we had used to tac the MDF but the MDF came off the Fibreboard (again, I used the wrong adhesive) and as the nails were all proud due to going into brick behind the Fibreboard it left me with either removing all the nails and the MDF along with them and starting again, or use a nail punch to hammer all the nails in. I chose the latter. It was time consuming, awkward and drove me a little stir crazy but once done it meant all the MDF was secure. Next, I used a lightweight general-purpose filler to fill any of the larger gaps and the nail holes. I sanded this down and repeated to ensure an even and smooth finish. I thought at this point I would need to use decorators caulk on every join and around every square but decided to prime the wood beforehand with an MDF primer. If I had known what I know now, this stage would have taken a fraction of the time it did.

I thought the easiest and fastest way of doing this would be to use my new paint sprayer so while Granny took the kids out for the day I got prepped and started spraying. It did not go well. I didn’t prep paint properly and ended up with splodgy lumps and a gunked up gun. In the end I resorted to the good old roller and brush and after 2 coats it looked fantastic and only needed minor caulking as the primer had filled a lot of the smaller gaps. Once completely dried I painted the cladding with a stunning blue/grey premium matt emulsion by Colour Courage called Le Chat Gris. The paint was a joy to use, I will not hesitate to get it again. The colour was rich, the texture smooth and even, the coverage was fantastic. I also painted the window frame and the door frame to tie the cladding into the room and make it more cohesive.

So overall I would say this project could easily be accomplished by a DIYer. My main tips would be to make sure the initial cuts are straight, to use a grab adhesive without nails and to plan the design before you begin so you know how the corners will fall and the height of the horizontals. Seeing the finished room made me feel so proud and added such a wonderful layer of interest to a small room and actually made it feel bigger. The colour is relaxed yet indulgent and it created a room that would work wonderfully as either an office or nursery. Honestly, go give it a go, it’s easier than you think (once you know how).

N.B. for those concerned, I do not allow the kids near me when using saws, sanders or solvents to protect them from any nasties. I put their health and safety first at all times.