Getting 1st Piece Level Is Key in Installing Panels

Putting up paneling is not difficult. But getting professional-looking results is not always easy. Here are some tips:

Beginning

If you install the first panel correctly, starting from a corner with its edges plumb (perfectly vertical), the rest will follow.

Butt the panel into the corner and temporarily tack it in place along the upper edge. Hold a carpenter’s level along the outer edge to make sure it is plumb. Check at the top and bottom.

Gaps

Paneling often butts against corners that are not straight or plumb, resulting in an unsightly gap. Molding can cover a small gap. With a large gap, trim the paneling to fit the adjoining wall.

After tacking the panel in place and plumbing it, find the widest gap between the panel and the corner. Fit an ordinary compass with a grease pencil and set the compass legs slightly wider than this gap. Run the compass along the wall to transfer its contours to the panel.

Remove the panel and cut along the line, using a fine-tooth saber saw--or sandpaper to remove small amounts.

With changes in humidity, paneling can contract, leaving gaps. To prevent this, store the panels in the room where they’ll be installed for a few days so that they adjust to the humidity; stack them with boards between to let air circulate.

To hide gaps that may develop, paint the wall behind the seams the color of the panel grooves.

Against the Ceiling

To push a panel against the ceiling, use a pry bar on a block of wood to lift the bottom of the panel. This leaves your hands free to nail the panel in place.

After lifting the panel, check that the top edge fits against the ceiling. If the top edge isn’t flush--and you can’t cover the gap with molding--scribe and trim it.

Mastic

You can use mastic, an adhesive sold in hardware stores, instead of nails. Mastic holds as well, although you can’t remove the paneling without damaging the wall surface. Mastic comes in tubes and is applied with a caulking gun. It is easily cleaned with mineral spirits while it is soft.

Apply a one-eighth-inch bead of mastic to the wall, 1 or 2 inches in from the panel edges so it won’t squeeze out. Make a large X of mastic on the panel back.

Push the panel against the mastic and tack a few nails along the top edge to hold it. Then prop the bottom edge of the panel away from the wall to allow the mastic to cure.

After three minutes, push the panel in place. Tap it lightly with a cloth-covered block to set it firmly. Remove the nails.

Electrical Outlets

Cut openings for electrical outlets and switches in the paneling as you go.

Before doing any work on an electrical box, cut off the power to the circuit that controls the box at your home’s main electrical service panel.

Remove each electrical box’s cover plate. Carefully measure and mark its outline on the paneling. Drill a hole in one corner of the outline and cut out the area with a keyhole saw or an electric saber saw.

After installing the paneling, use an electrical box extender--sold at hardware stores--to increase the depth of each box so that it covers the gap from the original wall surface to the paneling surface.

Reposition the switches and receptacles in the boxes so that they are even with the new paneling surface.