How To Create A Shiplap Accent Wall
Ready to be a DIY-er like Chip and Joana Gaines?
Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash
Ever since the famous couple, Chip and Joana Gaines came on HGTV, everyone is loving the shiplap tradition. What is shiplap exactly? It’s a kind of wooden board that’s often used for constructing barns, sheds or other rustic buildings. Traditional shiplap has a rabbet or a groove that is cut into the top and bottom which allows the pieces to fit together snugly and forms a tight seal. The early shipbuilding methods may have used a form of shiplap to construct the hull of a ship. The boards overlapped one another to form a watertight surface which would make the vessel seaworthy.
There are actually several ways to use shiplap within your home such as an accent wall or in your powder room, but there is also a way to incorporate in a different way that’s fun and unique way. Creating a shiplap placemat is such a different way to bring a beginner woodcarver to try something new ( and get used to their new tools ) because this doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s a great start and also a simple way to dress up your ordinary dining experience for friends and family this summer.
You’ll first need to grab all the materials which is a wooden square ( usually 12 ⅝ by 11 13/16 ) , 1 - 1x3 ( make sure to cut this down to 5 - 11 13/16” ) 2 quaters, gorilla wood glue, a sander and a nail gun, and a plastic wood filler.
The first thing you’ll want to do is nail the 1 x 3 blocks to the wood squares. You can use quarters to evenly space the blocks apart from one another.
After you nail down the boards, you can fill in all the nail holes.
Once the holes are filled, let the filler dry for about 5 - 10 minutes and then send it down.
After sanding, you can spray the shiplap place mat any color you like, let it dry and then you’re finished. Personally, I paint white because then you can dress it up with a fancy table cloth depending on the season.
Now, as a beginner woodworker, my advice would be to find the proper tools to help you cut the wood to the desired length. One such company is located in the Atlanta area called Saw Trax. They offer the most accurate and easy to use a vertical panel using real steel sealed bearings and a patented Accu-Square alignment System. Saw Trax is known for their panel saws, including their basic panel saw which is a universal saw insert that is mounted by a 7 ¼ inch circular saw. This plate can be inserted vertically for cross cuts or horizontally for rip cuts depending on what you need down.
Image: Saw Trax
Saw Trax also has dolly and cart solutions to help move these materials. Get help moving big screen TV’s, furniture, countertops and more! See what truly innovative about their dollies and why it’ll help save you plenty of man hours moving your project when it comes to these various sizes, and ability to make your job moving your item as easy as possible! For instance, their Rack and Roll dolly are like no other! It’s built to perform an all caster zero turn radius meaning that the casters are mounted to the corners of the dolly which gives it a more ground clearance and it allows you to go outside on uneven surfaces without worrying that your project will fall over. It’s portable and small and offers excellent maneuverability plus it can carry 3 to 4 times the load of traditional flat carts or hand trucks while being easier, safer and faster to load.
Lastly, they also provide various accessories for you to purchase such as a dust containment brush. This dust brush is under the saw plate and can channel saw dust up into the dust hose which helps keep debris getting knocked down when you are rip cutting. It’s highly helpful! They have a dust brush that surrounds a saw blade under the saw insert so the vacuum can draw out suspended dust.
Now that you’ve learned a bit about how to create this easy piece, I know there are lots of other beginner woodworking projects you can learn too. Some of these don’t even include power tools that I shared above but even just a hammer and nails. Of course, if you ever need help, talk to the professionals to help you perfect your technique and ask questions or concerns you have on what to use for cutting what types of wood. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
If you need me, I'll be watching HGTV and pinning all kinds of home inspiration.
xx,
Amanda
