Wooden bead board crosses the length of this ceiling giving the room a straight and plumb appearance.
Creating a bead board ceiling involves nailing thin boards closely together to give a slatted appearance to the ceiling while covering over any possible blemishes in the ceiling surface. Once in place, it'll give your ceiling an old-fashioned look with a wooden surface that can last for decades while accenting any room's decor. The bead board is also easily painted, allowing you to change the color of your ceilings with a quick layer of primer and paint anytime you wish.
Instructions
1. Locate the direction that the ceiling joists run by taking a stud finder and passing it over the ceiling. Mark the location of any joists with a pencil. They should be spaced either 16 or 24 inches apart.
2. Place a ladder beneath the ceiling along one of the wall edges running perpendicular to the roof joists. Climb the ladder with one of the bead board planks, and then place a board along the ceiling against the edge of the wall. Have a helper place a second board onto the ceiling running parallel to the first, along the edge of the opposing wall.
3. Have a second helper run a measuring tape between both ends of the parallel boards, measuring the distance between them. If the distance is unequal from one end of the board to the other, then adjust the boards so that they run as closely to the edges of the ceiling as possible against the walls while being parallel to one another. You'll need the distance between the boards to be even on both ends so that your boards will run straight across the center of the room. Any gaps along the walls on the sides of the boards will be covered once you place molding around the board edges against the walls.
4. Use the board position along one wall to mark a line along its edge as a guide for placing the first line of boards onto the ceiling.
5. Line up the first row of boards, using the drawn line as a guide, with the groove running along the edge of the board pointed toward the wall. Nail the place with 4d finish nails through the tongue of the board into each joist location. Drive the head of the nail beneath the tongue surface with the point of a nailset. Attach the grooved side of the board in place by drilling a pilot hole through the grooved side into the joist and then driving the nails through the holes. Use the nailset on that line of nails as well.
6. Butt the end of the next plank in the row against the first and repeat the nailing process, continuing with planks until you have a single row of them against the wall. Cut any planks to fit, if needed, with a circular saw. Use this as the starting line for each additional row. Attach each new row to the one before it by sliding the groove of the boards over the tongue of the previous row, and then nailing it into place through the tongues only.
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