DIY Farm Wall

Loren Rollf
by Loren Rollf
19 Materials
$450
3 Days
Medium

This inexpensive, functional, rustic farm wall will transform any room. Kid and pet friendly too!

The idea for this wall stemmed from us having messy pets. We have a raised feeder for our Great Danes, and every time they'd eat their canned food, they would lift their heads and pieces would slop all over the dry wall. Also, if the feeder rubbed the wall, it left marks. We came up with this idea because it covered two bases, 1). it was functional and protected the wall from the dogs, and 2). it looks amazing!


*Another plus for this project is, when we sell the house, if the new buyers don't like the wall, the materials are just nailed and screwed in, and can easily patch small holes. We didn't glue anything to the dry wall, so it would be a relatively easy to return to normal.

BEFORE PHOTO

Materials:

(5) 4ft Corrugated Metal Panels $9.98 ea

(3) 1”x 8”x6’ Whitewood Board (for shelves) $8.32 ea

(19) 1”x 6”x8’ Southern Pine Nickel Gap Shiplap $9.88 ea (wall panels)

(2) 1”x 2”x 8’ Select Pine Board (for borders) $5.73

(11) 1”x 2”x 6’ Select Pine Board (for borders and front trim) $4.82 ea

(2) ¾ “ x ¾ “x 8’ Pine Lattice Moulding $9.84 ea

Minwax Stain in Provincial $7.98 ea

Minwax Stain in Classic Gray $7.98 ea

(6) ½” Black Iron Plumbing Floor Flange $4.98 ea

(6) ½” Black Iron Plumbing Cap $1.60 ea

(6) ½” Black Iron Plumbing Elbow $2.58 ea

(6) ½” Black Iron Plumbing Pipe 8” long $3.68 ea

(10 pack) ½ “ two-hole pipe straps $1.91

Caulking in Clear $5.28

TOTAL PROJECT COST: $446.93


Tools:

Miter Saw with Laser (for wood)

Jig Saw (for metal)Pencil

Dremmel Saw (for fine cuts)

Nail Gun (and finishing nails)

Drill

Impact Drill

Pry Bar

Hammer 

Chalk Reel

Screws (for Metal and Wood Shelving)

Level


All photos are above each description of each step.

Stain wood in an area where it won’t get dust/dirt on it. We used the garage and left the garage door cracked for airflow (on a non-windy day). I used an old rag cut into pieces and applied one coat of the Provincial stain on all of the wood. After it dried, I took 6 of the 18 wall planks and put three heavy coats of the Classic Gray stain over them to give them a more weathered look. The Classic Gray is very transparent so you really have to put a lot on to even be able to see it, and allow extra dry time for these pieces, about three days extra.

While the stain dried, we prepped the work area. We carefully removed the baseboards with a razor blade and a pry bar.

Next, Adam located and marked all of the studs. He then used a chalk reel to mark the studs in a straight line vertically on the wall (this can get messy!) Make sure after you lay the chalk line that you measure the distance from the chalk line to the corner of the wall in three different places. While doing this, we realized that somehow, the studs don't run in perfectly straight lines. Some of our chalk lines measured differently at the bottom of the wall than they did at the top of the wall. Even though we were skeptical, we trusted this because we used a very good stud finder. 

Next, we used the 1”x 2”x 8’ board and laid the trim on the bottom of the wall. We used a nail gun to secure this to the wall. On the right side of the wall in the corner, we had to use the dremmel saw to make very precise cuts to the existing base boards on the adjoining wall, to be able to fit the new trim board in. 


Then we started placing our metal panels on the wall. The nice thing about these, is you don’t need to cut them (unless you have a wall that’s smaller than one panel) because they overlap perfectly. We used five panels to cover a 8’9” wall, and with some overlapping, they all fit with no cuts. We secured these panels with screws. The hard part is not all of the dips in the metal line up with the studs, so secure in the studs when you can, then for the rest, we just screwed into the drywall. Make sure the left and right panels of the metal end with the flat edge (not the bump) so it’s easier to secure the trim panel over it. 

Next, we placed our side trim pieces on. This was relatively easy. Again, we used the nail gun to secure it to the wall. Then we measured and secured the top border. We made sure it was level, then secured it with the nail gun. 


One the main wall was completed, we moved on the small 2ft divider wall. I won’t go into much detail here since we are not professionals, but I will say to carefully think out and weigh all options of how you want the finished product to look and how to complete hard to work areas such as this. This divider wall posed a problem with the front section (the side of the wall was 2ft and perfectly fit a trimmed piece of metal, the front part is where the issue was). The front section is 5” wide and each corner is rounded…our wood pieces have square corners. We ended up facing the front of the divider wall with trim pieces in order to get a clean finished look (Photo below shows divider wall unfinished. We eventually rant trim pieces up the whole length of the divider wall to the ceiling).

Once we completed the divider wall, we started on the shiplap. This was the easiest part of the project. Our wall was 8’9”, so we used 8’ long pieces of shiplap, then cut smaller pieces to fit the rest of the wall. We’d alternate with each row, so if we had a short piece on the right, the next row up the short piece would be on the left. The shiplap was interlocking, so once we got to the last row on the top, the interlocking piece was exposed. We bought a ¾” x ¾” piece of trim to cover this and really gave it a polished look. 


*With each row that we put up, we’d take painters tape and mark where the studs were, so when the shiplap was completed and we moved on to the shelving, we’d know where to anchor them into the studs. No guessing.

Next was the shelving. We had the painters tape up that showed where the studs were (which were not evenly spaced out, thanks builders). We used post-its to play around with where we wanted the shelving and in what pattern. We eventually found a pattern we liked, which was a step-like pattern. 


This was the most nerve-wracking part, and Adam was hesitant to do it. He even considered no shelves because he feared if we drilled into a piece of shiplap it would split, then we’d have to start removing pieces one by one and you can see where that would lead.

We took a flange, placed it on the shiplap, and Adam carefully and successfully drilled the holes. Then, he carefully and successfully drilled in the nails….right into the studs each time! Whew! We placed the shelving, then secured them underneath with pipe straps.

Since everyone is asking...here’s a pic of the girls!

Dint have a pic of them in the new area yet but here they are!

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Loren Rollf
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3 of 22 questions
  • Candace Candace on Feb 15, 2019

    What happened to the outlet?

  • Nancy Nancy on Feb 16, 2019

    If you were doing a hallway with the shiplap, would you stagger your boards more? I love the look and the shelves are great.

  • Kash Kash on Feb 17, 2019

    I want to build me a fire place entertainment stand! Please help and tell what all I need I have a small fire place to slide right in place of the stand.

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